It was a constant mountain and valley of progress. The advice wasn't consistent, the suggestions were so varied it was hard to choose a plan and stick with it, especially since her interest varied. Some people said "they'll do it when they're ready" while other's went with the "no more diapers, period." I looked into getting the old school training pants my mom used for all of my brothers and sister. A far less expensive investment than the Pull-ups but not quite as cost effective as taking away all diaper related materials and just going for it. Some days I was on board with waiting for her to be ready, other's I had enough of the diapers and was ready to face the inevitable tears of her losing a staple and super gross attachment.
Most of the time, I try to involve Lilli in our decisions, especially those that have to do with her directly. So most of our talks about potty training, she was either in the room or involved in the discussion. We had many talks about how she was too big for diapers now, how some day she would have to say goodbye. We watched the videos, we discussed other people's "business", talked about how different animals did theirs (which resulted in peeing next to trees), we read any book we could find on the topic... She was well aware that the time was closing in and she'd have to make a move soon.
We started to talk about having a "naked day." She seemed interested, a whole day with no clothes?! She even seemed excited. We made a plan for a week at home, there wasn't much planned and sitting out a few activities wouldn't kill us. The weather was nice and we could take long walks instead. And on the very first day, before lunch even, we had a purposeful #2 success!
It's been a few weeks, I have every week's potty chart labeled with the date. There are still valleys and mountains of success. She's getting there, in her own time and no one else's. The weekends are the hardest, since we're out most of the time. Monday's are always the best, we almost always stay home. We're sticking with the pull-ups and haven't bought or used diapers for weeks (with the exception of a tummy situation for a few days). Some days I fight her to not wear a diaper, some days I have to argue with her to wear any underpants at all! We've found something that works, she will get there on her own with a few pushes along the way. Until then, I bought a star-sticker pack of 750, I hope not to have to use it all for this milestone.
It's been a few weeks, I have every week's potty chart labeled with the date. There are still valleys and mountains of success. She's getting there, in her own time and no one else's. The weekends are the hardest, since we're out most of the time. Monday's are always the best, we almost always stay home. We're sticking with the pull-ups and haven't bought or used diapers for weeks (with the exception of a tummy situation for a few days). Some days I fight her to not wear a diaper, some days I have to argue with her to wear any underpants at all! We've found something that works, she will get there on her own with a few pushes along the way. Until then, I bought a star-sticker pack of 750, I hope not to have to use it all for this milestone.
