Potty Training Eden

I can't believe that it is this time again! It literally seems like just yesterday that I was potty training Jude! But then again so much has changed in our lives since then, that looking back on the blog about his potty training experience seems a bit unreal. How does time fly so quickly!?!?

With this method of potty training, you need to clear your schedule for a week and not let your child out of your sight for the next 3 days! You start on day one throwing the diaper away, and go straight to undies (never using pull ups or diapers even during nap and night time!) You let and encourage your child to drink all day, cutting them off two hours before bed. And rush them to the potty each time you notice them starting to go. It is important to start positive and explain after each accident "that we go pee pee on the potty and you need to tell mommy when you need to go." It is ok to keep reminding your child to tell you when they have to go, but do not ask them if they have to go and do not make them sit on the potty. After your first three days to a week, you will have a new kid that will tell you when they have to use the potty!

I have to admit, that potty training this go round, has been way less stressful and I dare say even a bit fun! I knew what to expect and went into the whole thing with a different mindset. I knew she was going to pee all over the house for the next three days. I knew I could not leave the house for the next week. I knew I could not let her out of my sight. I knew this was something totally new for her. I knew we were never going to use diapers again. I knew this would be hard on us. I knew there was an end in sight. And I knew this method was going to work. 

With all that said, I started out Monday morning with a reluctant attitude, knowing that Eden was totally capable of being potty trained. Since Eden and Jude are so close in age, they practically do everything together. So she is with him, watching him use the potty multiple times a day. She often wants to sit on the potty herself. And even pulls her pants down when we are outside and copies peeing like him! (she never actually pees, just mimics his actions) For a while now, she insists on me putting a new diaper on her when she needs to poop and then insisting on it being changed immediately after she does her business. Even in the nursery at church, she asks to go "pee-pee" when all the other kids go. The only problem is that she is so small.

Being in 9 and 12 month clothes, it is not easy to find small panties. So for a month or so now, my mom and I have been buying the smallest panties we could find. By teaming up and hitting stores in FL and NC, I finally have enough! (however, I did find out after I started to put them on her that some of the brands still run bigger than others, so we have a whole set that can be used when she starts to grow more!)

Eden is 2 weeks shy of being 21 months. Jude was 2 weeks shy of being 22 months. But I figured I am only getting bigger, and I would rather do it now than wait until I have newborn to look after as well! I was prepared for it to take her longer to catch on being that she is quite a bit younger!

Each day I recorded what happened (This is really to help me remember, and Jude's account has been very helpful with training Eden.) If you are going to potty train, these details may help you out as well, otherwise you may just want to look at the pictures and skip to the end results! :)

Day One:

-9 pee accidents before nap.
-Peed once on the potty.
-Woke up wet after a 3 hour nap.
-9 more pee accidents before bedtime.
-Laid her down at 8:00.
-LOTS of pictures from day one! Eden was very happy to pose for the camera!

Day 2:

-Woke up soaked at 9:30.

-1 poop accident

-4 accidents before nap

-Once I laid her down for a nap, she yelled she wanted to "try again" and on the third time after laying her down, and getting her back up to "try again", she emptied her bladder on the potty. A very proud moment for us both.

-Preceded to get up 5 more times from her nap to "try more", I ended up just letting her stay awake!

-Went a total of 6 times on the potty after nap time.

-Had many false alarms through out the day, but she was excited to sit on the potty each time even if she didn't go.

-Had 8 more accidents before bed.
-Laid her down at 7:30.

Pictures of her after she peed in the potty for the first time:

Day 3:

-Woke up at 10:45 at night and had peed in the bed. continued to wake up 8 times between 11 and 1 saying she had to go pee pee. the first few times she did go on the potty and the last few were false alarms. so finally I just let her cry and she finally fell back asleep.
-My plan was to wake her up at 10am to take her to the bathroom, but I got sick and heard her make some noise and was too late when I got in the room. She had just stood up in her crib and peed (the sheets weren't even wet yet!
-Went poo on the potty.
-No accidents before nap
-At nap time the battle began again after I laid her down, she will yell "pee pee mommy" after about 5 minutes of being in her crib. I went a got her the first three times, and she did go once. Then I let her cry it out.
-BOTH kids took a 3 hour nap!! I was able to clean the house and cook dinner for the next two nights!!!!
-Eden woke up a little wet, and then had three minor accidents before dinner (daddy was watching her!)
-Went pee on the potty two more good times before bed!
-Laid her down at 7:30.

Day 4:

-Woke up at 8:30 DRY and went straight to the potty to empty her bladder!!
-No accidents through lunch.
-Decided to take a trip out of the house to Walmart. She yelled she had to go pee pee while we where getting groceries. I made sure she was being serious before I rushed us all to the restrooms at the front of the store. Her undies were a bit wet, but she did go a lot on the potty! Yay for first time using a public restroom!
-Once we got home, I put the kids inside while I finished getting the groceries out of the car and Jude started yelling that Eden needed to go pee pee. I got there too late! At this point it is passed nap time and I know she was physically and mentally drained especially with waking up two hours early. I gave her a quick bath to clean her up and laid her down for a nap! (this was our biggest accident in the last two days)
-Woke up dry from 2 hour nap and went straight to potty.
-Played a little and asked to go night night again, so I laid her down for a second nap.
-She slept an hour and woke up dry and then we headed straight to the potty.
-I was so excited things were going so well, that a friend and I were going to go to dinner, so Nana was going to come watch Eden for a few hours. (I did not mention this before, but I was really potty training solo because Michael had to be somewhere Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday night right after work! So I really need a quick mental break!) However, it did not go well! Eden had 4 accidents and would not go on the potty for Nana. Michael got home before I did and she was already in bed when I got back.

Day 5:

-Eden woke up at 9:00 a little wet but would not go on the potty.
-She continued to have several accidents this morning.
-We HAD to leave the house today to get a new tag for the car. Our old one expired on July 30th, but I was waiting to get my new license in the mail before we could go (I was unaware that I had to be there too until Michael tried to get it and couldn't), plus today was the last day Michael would be able to go! So for fear of her peeing everywhere and not knowing how long we would have to wait, I put her undies on, and then put a diaper over them so she would at least still feel wet if she had an accident, but the pee would not go everywhere!
-She had no accidents there and we decided to run to banana Republic to get Michael a few dress clothes (Monday is his first day as a TEACHER with students!!!). As we were checking out she yelled pee pee, I went halfway across the outlets to the bathroom where she did not go on the potty, but was dry. She also kept touching the toilet and then put her hands in her mouth!!! After 3 spankings and a very frustrated child and Mommy we survived and made it to the car!
-We stopped at Chick-fil-a quickly for lunch where she finally did have an accident.
-Once we got home it was a quick bath and nap time for the entire family! (this trip wore us out!!)
-I heard Eden at 5 and rushed in a bit too late, she had pooped a little but was dry. And she still refused to go on the potty.
-After several accidents before dinner, we finally got her going again! And this time she would go pee pee for both Michael and I.
-No accidents after dinner with several successful trips to the potty! We decided to go ahead and clean the house really well, hoping for no more set backs! Michael and I mopped, vacuumed, cleaned the bathrooms and washed all the rugs.
-She went to bed close to 9:00.

I guess that me leaving her the night before was not a good idea. I am thinking of going ahead and staying home the rest of the weekend to make sure we have things under control! :)

Day 6:

-Woke up at 5am screaming (I don't know how long she had been calling my name, I guess I was in a deep sleep!). She had wet the bed and then went poop on the potty.
-No accidents the rest of the day with several trips to the potty for both #1 and #2! (We even had company over for dinner and she did fine!)

Day 7:

-Woke up at 9 dry, and went straight to the potty.
-I caught her with her undies down about to go potty by herself!
-Went to Nana's today, and to a friends house to pick up a special surprise: KITTENS!! (I will devote another post to the kittens)
-She went potty while we were out and had no accidents.
-Had several trips to the potty and wore the same panties all day long!!
-I went ahead and gave Eden a small doll I bought for her for potty training. She was instantly attached and would not put it down all day! I think she just loved taking off her clothes and then having me put them back on! Her favorite look, was the doll just in her undies (basically like she was all day!)

Funny things to remember: 

DO NOT let your child walk around wearing shoes! Eden has a shoe obsession! And will walk around the house wearing whoever's shoes are laying around. After she filled up her second pair with pee, I decided to hide all shoes around the house!

Jude was very excited to help potty train Eden, but a couple hours into it, he asked "Why does Eden keep peeing everywhere? Can we just put a diaper back on her!?"

Eden still likes to accessorize and talk on the phone even on the potty! When she has to go pee pee she first runs to grab both purses before heading to the bathroom!

Eden has gotten a diaper and asked both Michael and I to put it on her two different times!

Jude started crying when we suggested putting a diaper on Eden when we had to take our trip to the tag agency. He said "she is a big girl now and we need the diapers for when Asa gets her!"

Eden can put underwear on by herself better than Jude. And by the end of the week, she was wanting to take them off by herself each time she went to the potty. 

I know that because she is younger, we are still going to have accidents here and there, but for the most part I am excited to say EDEN IS POTTY TRAINED!

Overall, this time has been WAY less stressful! I have spent three whole days doing nothing but playing with my kids. If I talk on the phone or divert my attention to something else, that's when the accidents happen and I got the most frustrated. If I just focuses solely on Eden (and include Jude) I could notice when she was about to go and try to rush her to the potty! Both of the kids had good attitudes. Eden was very positive and excited to sit on the potty each time. I can honestly say that the last week has been fun! I know I am training my child to do something she will use for the rest of her life. It has really opened my eyes to focus more on them everyday and have fun building castles, and playing horses and to take intentional time to teach them constantly. The last week, I have had little to no behavior issues from either kid! Which makes me wonder, are the behavior problems I have beacuse I do not want to focus enough attention on my children throughout the day?

Again here is a link to the website that I used to potty train both Jude and Eden. 

http://www.3daypottytraining.com