Potty Training Day #2

I'd say today was MUCH better than yesterday.  3 successes, 1 accident (wait, now 2...daddy came home and she had one for him).

First of all, she gets it.  She knows when she's about to pee and she knows when she's peeing, and a lot of the time, she'll stop peeing after a drop or two and hold it.  THAT is what I'd call success.  I feel validated in the knowledge that I didn't start her too early in that sense.  She totally, totally gets it.  Does she want to go in the potty?  Not so much.  So maybe it's a little too early for her in that sense.  Only time will tell, I guess.

I wanted to be consistent and I wanted to keep going today, but I realized that some of the way that we did it yesterday just wasn't working.  Sam's not really into rewards or consequences.  They don't seem to work as a motivator for her, but I really wanted her to have success today since it had been so long since the last one from yesterday.  So, this morning she spent most of her time naked and we were in the bathroom.  I wanted it to be so close that she could get there and get a significant amount in potty.  She had a lot of juice and she was dancing around like it was super hard for her to hold it.  Eventually, she sat on the potty and even though it kind of stressed her out, she went for a long time!  I didn't make a big deal about it (when I do, she gets a little freaked out) but just kept whispering that I was proud of her and good job, and other acknowledgements.  The smile she got on her face was priceless.  I may or may not have teared up a little.  After the fact, well, then we did the big celebration.  I threw her in the air (she loved that) and I made a MUCH bigger deal about it than yesterday because I felt like it was an actual accomplishment because she didn't really want to do it, but she did it anyway.  After that, I gave her a sticker book and we played with that for about an hour.  She had 2 more successes before her accident, but we had to be in the bathroom the whole time to get the successes.  One of the reasons we had the accident was because I was kind of done in the bathroom and wanted to see what would happen.

After her nap, I thought it might be a good idea to take a couple hours off.  For her sanity as well as mine.

Right after dinner, I tried taking her in the bathroom again and we stayed there for about 30 minutes.  Nothing.  I went upstairs to give Derek a turn (aren't I so nice) and she had another accident.

Overall, I'd say SUCCESS.  She's a pretty stubborn little girl, so it might take longer than I had anticipated for her to really want to do it.  She knows how, it's just a matter of getting her to want to.  It's been hard trying to figure out how to do that, as the rewards don't really seem to make much of a difference.  Yeah, she likes getting candy after going or whatever, but it's not really a motivator for her to do it the next time.  So, I don't know.  We'll just keep on keeping on and see where it takes us.  If we do end up taking a break for awhile, I don't have to feel like I started too early, because the kid's ready. I'll stick by that until I die.  We just have to get her to want to do it!!!