Hooray!! Potty Training.

With the next little ninja on it's way into our lives, one thing that I wanted to accomplish, no matter how difficult people told me it was going to be, was getting my daughter potty trained.  People told me that it was way too early , she was too young (she'll be two in December), she's just going to revert once the next baby comes, etc.  The list went on.  I don't care.  Not that we are totally there but we are getting closer with fewer and fewer wet/dirty diapers every day.

She clearly needed to take some business calls while she was using the facilities.  Haha!

Every time we get a dry diaper or a successful potty trip, I feel like jumping up and down cheering like a shameless teenage girl at a One Direction concert.  I usually don't take it as far as I want to but we do cheer and give lots of high fives.  I've asked multiple people for their advice regarding how they went about it.  I've gotten plenty of different answers leading to me to understand that it's really whatever works for you and your family.  So get on with the testing.

Obviously every child is different so the answer is going to vary by child.  We have found a few things that have and have not worked for us.

On the list of things that have not worked for us were:

The Minnie Mouse Potty seat with hook

Although it is really nice because as she uses this the waste goes directly into our flushable toilet, she can't get on it herself.  Not that I'm expecting that she were to just start heading right into the bathroom and handle her business right away, I think she felt uncomfortable on it.  Can you blame her?  No matter what kind of stool we purchased for her she couldn't get up there safely.  In addition because we don't have a round toilet (we have an elongated one) it never stayed in place and slid back and forth as she sat on it.  As her legs dangled and the seat slid around, I often worried that she would slip right into the toilet creating a traumatic experience that would halt all potty training for eternity.  I'm not going to be changing diapers forever kid!

These would work for me and my sweet tooth...

Second up, prizes that were food such as M&M mini's that I hear are such a great treat because they are small and kids love chocolate... she wanted nothing to do with such rewards.  I know a few kids that have been successfully trained with these tiny little candies.  We tried cookies and candies and a few other things but she just wasn't that interested if she wasn't hungry.

No... mommy says, "NO!" but if you want these for your kid, they are pretty cheap

Third up, stickers.  I'm not sure if these would have worked or not but I'm letting you know for the safety of all parties involved, stickers are a no-go at my house.  I'm not sure how I lived to be an adult because if my daughter drew on the walls and couch like I did and destroyed them as I did as a child I'd have her head!  We don't keep stickers at home and we definitely hide them when they are given as a gift.  The last thing that I want to do is clean and peel stickers off walls, furniture, toys, clothes, etc.  I don't like price tag stickers... Just say no.  

I'm sure there were more things that haven't worked but on to the more fun things...

Here are a few of the things that I have been LOVING since we've started this process:

This Minnie and Mickey potty has been a life saver for keeping her put

This is the most recent addition to out potty collection and I am perfectly happy knowing that she likes it.  The little hand on the side says, "Hip, hip, hooray!" every time you push it down.  I'll listen to that 100 times if it will keep here there long enough to do her business.  In addition it is a footstool that can hold up to 200 lbs!  Yup, I said it, 200 lbs.  Can you believe that?  I was surprised that it could hold that much.

The oversized seat covers are nice to keep germs and other disgusting things away from her body.  The folding potty is perfect for traveling to places that don't have a potty for her.

While we are out traveling these two items have become some of my favorites as well.  The first picture is the Summer Keep Me Clean oversized seat protectors.  They are awesome.  They are larger than the paper ones that you can sometimes find in public bathrooms.  If your kid needs to hold on to the seat or their legs dangle against the front of the toilet they don't actually touch anything but the cover.  There are also two tiny little stickeys on the underside if you need to stick them on the toilet so the cover doesn't move.  They are super portable and great for public places.  The only drawback is that they aren't flushable (yup, I made that mistake once) so don't let it slide into the toilet thinking that you are just going to flush that little sucker down.

The other favorite travel item of mine is the PRIMO folding potty seat.  This is good by itsself if you are going somewhere that you know the bathroom is clean but they don't have a child potty or seat for the big toilet.  It is compact enough to throw in the diaper bag with the rest of the child arsenal but not so big that it is half the bag.  I do keep ours in a zip top bag so that it isn't touching the bag or anything else because it is a potty seat and it was on a toilet.  Toilets are gross by nature so let's not be disgusting here.

Her bank is much like this one but is engraved from her Godfather

For a reward the best thing that we have used, has also made me the most broke... I guess I should be happy she's a saver not a spender.  A piggy bank.  A freaking piggy bank.  Don't get me wrong, I am all about money management and saving but it's like I'm walking around with a gaping hole in my pocket that only dumps change at this point.  I'm sure in the future I'm going to regret writing this post that complained about giving change and complain about the dollar bills that are rapidly being removed from my pocket but for now, it's just coins.  So long as she is happy with her reward, I am happy that she is going to the bathroom on the potty and not her diaper.  I guess this is the price I have to pay for avoiding purchasing bunches and bunches of disposable diapers since she's been born #makeclothmainstream.

On my wishlist... who knew I'd have a potty training wishlist but I guess it happens...

More potty paraphernalia... As my brother and I spoke the other day I mentioned to him that I wanted to put a potty in my car so that when there are those times that she asks to use the potty as we travel past nothing but empty fields or industrial buildings with no Starbucks or McDonald's in sight that we can still use a potty.  I was going to purchase some TravelJohn's and then he told me about this fancy little baby:

Oh cool, a potty seat 

Looking kind of perfect for the car or roadside stop

Wait?  It goes on a toilet too??

Oh snap!  And it has it's own bag? WINNING!

Say whaattt??  This is awesome.  This Kalencom 2-in-1 potty is not only perfect for the car but comes with a travel bag and can be used on a big toilet too?!  Oh my goodness all of my potty prayers have been answered.  I mean it certainly isn't as compact as the PRIMO or the seat covers but for the car it seems perfect.  I haven't purchased it yet, however I am going to be picking this bad boy up this week!  I mean this seems perfect! This is what I wanted and it comes with it's own travel bag and disposable potty waste bags.  I love that.

There is definitely work to be done however I'm happy to report that we are well on our way to being potty trained.  My next challenge is to find panties that fit my skinny kid.  In a minute, I'm going to have to go all Martha Stewart on the world and make panties for kids that are thinner than a 2T or 28 lbs.  For now we still rock our cute cloth diapers like treehuggers ;-)

If anyone else is potty training their little one, let me know what worked or didn't work for you.