Fresh off our trip from Utah I decided to tackle one of the most anticipated moments of toddlerhood. Potty training! Riley was getting more and more difficult about diaper changes (or so I thought...I learned later that Ana had to change Elena standing up for the longest time because she wouldn't lay down). Riley just never wanted to stop playing to let me change her diaper so she wouldn't tell me when she was dirty and she would get bad rashes. I kept thinking in the back of my head that I just wanted to get this over with, I didn't want potty training to be hanging over my head anymore. Ben and I had purchased a little toilet for Riley a long time ago just trying to get her used to the idea, but all our casual attempts of sitting her on the toilet yielded no results. So, on May 1st with my kindle app at the ready and Ben away for weekend on retreat I told Riley that we were done with diapers and she'd now be using the toilet.
The unfortunate casualty in all this was Britt. Although she tried, she didn't get much say in how this all down, but every moment the child was diaper-less she felt absolute terror. I knew that Britt was terrified that anything she regularly used would be soiled, but there were more precious things upstairs than down so I tried to force Riley downstairs all the first day, which happens to be Britt's lair. The book I was following tells you get your child naked (or at least bottomless) and watch your child 24/7 in the first step of the process. Luckily, Riley's first step didn't last too long, thank goodness, because it was exhausting. It was nice at first to have an excuse to not accomplish anything because I was potty training, but then I would have to get Riley a snack and I'd be trying to do it as fast as possible to not miss her going. Once nap time came I felt a ridiculous amount of relief putting a diaper back on her. Constantly staring at someone waiting for them to start peeing in a rough life. I was also pumping her full of fluid as the book suggests so that you can have plenty of chances to practice during the day. It took a while, but eventually she went...and I totally missed it. I saw it happening, but by the time I got to her she was done. Well it still served the purpose of showing her when we don't have a diaper on pee ends up on us and on the floor. After the second time of a puddle ending up on the floor something seemed to click and Riley started doing amazing! I tried to look for signs of her needing to go to the bathroom on day two, but she would run to the toilet before I even said anything! It was only day two and she was already self initiating! I was amazed!
I decided she could move up to step two on the third day which just meant she was allowed to have pants on. After an initial accident in the morning she breezed through phase two as well! By the fourth day I was hardly worried about her at all. She'd have, and still does, undies that get a little damp before she would realize she needs to run to the toilet, but I still count it as a win. But, then came phase 3 (there are 6 phases...I don't actually remember them all) short outings outside the house. That's what terrified me. Being out and about with a toddler without the security of the diaper. Luckily, we've never had a problem! Riley seemed to take after her mother and just tried to hold it all in when we were out and about because she wasn't going to go anywhere other than her toilet at home. Although, with an upcoming trip a few weeks away I realized I needed to start having practice with outings where she successfully used a toilet other than her little one. I bought a little portable frog toilet cover that makes the toilet more Riley's size. So Andrew, you have a cousin who would understand your call for frog meaning it's bathroom time! Riley is nervous about loud noises and some new things so I was sure the transition to a big toilet would be difficult, but man did that frog do the trick. Our first week at church with a potty trained kid went flawlessly, other than the fact the Riley enjoyed her time on the toilet so much we missed half of the sacrament. Ah the joys of determining if your child really needs the bathroom or just wants an excuse to get out of church or nap time.
I was also very relieved that she went #2 in the toilet without any problem as well! I know plenty of people have their kid totally potty trained with pee, but for whatever reason they will not poop in the toilet. (Not pointing any fingers...) So to have her totally breeze through that milestone as well did not go unnoticed!
A week or so into potty training I started thinking about nighttime training. The book I was reading said it was better to do it at the same time, but understandably some people don't want to deal with all of it at once. Well after seeing her doing so go at the daytime stuff this big part of me wanted to just be able to get diapers out of our life completely. So, I reread the chapter on nighttime training and reminded myself that to this lady Riley was on the older end of the spectrum of when she says to start all this stuff so I told myself that had to mean she could be ready for sleeping through the night without an accident. The process for night training was to wake up your child two times during the night to put them in the toilet. So at 10 pm and 2 am I set alarms to wake her up. These were definitely the darkest times of potty training. It was so frustrating to try and find the right timing, based on the previous night I would change the alarms to 11 and 3 only to find that I was too late and so I'd change it back to earlier, but then nothing would come out. It was so frustrating, mainly because she's not going to go at the exact same time each night! Trying to catch it was the worst. After a week or two of waking up in the middle of the night I had a moment of nearly grabbing the diapers again. Britt was literally the only person who believed in Riley enough to tell me to keep going. Mom and Ana thought the whole concept was crazy and had just lived by the you take the diaper away once your kid naturally wakes up dry. Ben told me the AAP thought kids could go without a diaper at night by 3 years old. But Britt would constantly tell me Riley was "advanced" and that she could figure it out. Well after slowly moving that 2 am wake up to 3 and 3:30 without accidents gave me real hope! Finally I moved it to 4 am, but that morning Riley almost didn't go back to sleep! So, I decided 3:30 was as close to her normal wake up time as I could take it and just got rid of that wake up call completely. Well, miracle of miracles it worked! The first few nights she woke herself up around 5:30 or 6 to tell us she needed to go to the bathroom, but since then she's just woken up at her normal time and just needed to go in the morning. I do still put her on the toilet before I go to bed, but it's not a big enough inconvenience to me to try and get rid of it since it's working.
Our motto through this whole thing was, "Pee is sterile." Every time Britt would freak out about me having to clean up a mess or the danger of Riley running around without undies on we'd remind her that pee is sterile. So much so that I have seriously considered making a cross-stitch that says that to hang in the bathroom. :)
So there you have it, a very boiled down version of the adventure we've all been on the past month. It's still not perfect. Riley is still in a crib so there is a lot more in and out at bedtime than there used to be. There is still the occasional accident. Sometimes it feels like life was easier in diapers, but that's raising a kid man. Every milestone is exciting because it means a step closer to independence, but it also means way more havoc because they don't know how to use that independence yet. I can't wait for my baby to crawl because then they can reach the toys and things they want without my help. Oh, but now they can reach other things. I can't wait for my baby to walk so I don't always have to carry them. Oh, well now everything I don't want the baby to get to has to move up another two feet. I can't wait for my baby to eat solid food and not be so dependent on me. Now I'm putting together 6 meals a day, trying to make them some what nutritious, and the amount of stains on her clothes just tripled.
After writing most of this post as if potty training was behind us Riley started struggling with getting to the toilet before she got some in her undies. The classic not wanting to stop playing until it's too late. Then we went to Idaho and she had a totally new toilet situation and it got even worse, but we started implementing scheduled toilet time and it's improved things. I guess even once you think your kid is potty trained there may be some more learning ahead. Well since you have sat through this whole boring potty training story here are some cute pictures of Riley to reward you.
The Many Smiles Of Riley
El Fin
