Success, Finally!

Potty Training is WELL under way!

The unofficial first time we tried was way back in November. Mostly just a test run to see if she might be ready before Brigham came. It didn't happen. And that was OK.

Then came the day after Valentines day. I thought, "Let's try this again." It lasted about a day and a half. With Carrie peeing through about 8 pairs of panties a day. She kind of got it, but not quite enough. And I didn't care enough to force it. So we waited again.

Off and on for the last several months Carrie has gone on the potty. But it's been as rare as once a week mostly. After this last weekend in New Mexico, where all her cousins were going on the potty, I decided to try it again.

And it clicked! Finally!

Monday I put her in panties and checked with/reminded her to go often. I seemed to always be catching it right at the right time and the day went very smoothly. Tuesday, my timing and her timing were off each other by about 10 minutes. All. Day. Long. It was awful! Every time I'd go to remind her, she would have just barely within the last couple of minutes peed her pants.

I felt set back, but tried to remind myself, it's only day two and she's still little. It's a process. She'll get it. We had a little potty training guide thingy that said, "Once you start, don't go back to diapers" (this made sense to me... until...) "even at bedtime."Uh oh.... that sounds messy...."

They made a good point though. Even though they're sleeping, they're still potty training. Still learning to recognize those muscles. So, We got a mattress protector and put her in panties to bed. I was scared. I had spare jammies and sheets ready and waiting. But I didn't have to use them! We took her potty right before she went to bed, then I took her when I randomly woke up at 2:45am and she stayed dry until morning!

As I'm thinking about it now, I think it was really good for her. She practiced using those muscles when she wasn't consciously thinking about it. When I checked on her in the middle of the night and she was dry, I was pleasantly suprised. I took her to the bathroom, set her on the toilet and whispered, "Ok Carrie, You're on the potty. You can go pee pee now." A few seconds later, she did! She whispered, "Mommy, I'm all done" and went straight back to sleep. She was unconsciously holding it and consciously letting it out. Which is exactly what the body does once it's fully potty trained.

And then Wednesday went off without a hitch! We went into town, saw a movie *Ramona and Beezus. Took me back to my childhood, it was great!*, and went to Hobby Lobby,where she had one teeny little half-accident, but I was prepared with a change of clothes. Other than that one little incident, she did fabulously! Today's been a little harder than yesterday, but overall I'm calling it a success. I've cleaned up a few accidents this week and the #2 thing is going to take a little more work than #1, but she's proving she's ready now and I'm feeling confident she'll have it down pat in no time! Our baby is turning into a big girl!