After months of casual potty training and very little success there seems to be light at the end of the tunnel. My almost two and half year old daughter is finally successfully using the potty several times a day. I dress her in cloth trainers every day, except for nap times and night time. This means we do spend more time at home and indoors because the minute I put pants on her it seems to deter the process. But the weather has been gray and rainy anyway. The past week she has finally hit the point where she uses the potty while dry (and often at her own suggestion) rather than waiting until an accident happens and then head for the potty. I have to say while I don’t love emptying her little potty chair 10 times a day, I like it better than changing poppy diapers. Now she tells me she “no want to go in my big girl pants” and off we go to the potty. We had a major break through over the weekend when she asked to use the public restroom at church. I should clarify, she asked and then actually used the potty.
We have resorted to offering M&M’s or Nestle chocolate chips as a reward for using the potty. Once she’s pretty well trained I’m hoping to wean her off of them. I had hoped that we wouldn’t need a reward system, but it seemed that self-motivation was not going to be easy for her.
I know we still have a long way to go, but for the first time I feel like I see light at the end of the tunnel.
Congratulations. That’s a tricky hurdle, indeed. One of my least favorite, in fact!