Potty Training is an Individual Sport

Potty training essentially feels like a lot of trial and error with no rhyme or reason. My best advice...encourage them and just let them learn in the way they do best.

It actually came pretty easy many moons ago with my oldest. He was day trained at 22 months. Easy peasy. There wasn't much to it. He crawled early, walked early, so it made sense he potty trained early too.

10 years later with Lily, it was slightly more challenging. Now, we find ourselves in the throes of potty training our youngest, most stubborn little love.  What we're finding a little more difficult is that our lives are busier with more kids and activities and we just don't have the "let's stay home all day and just potty train" ability any longer.

There are articles and boasts all over the internet of how you can potty train your baby in 3 days, 18 hours, or whatever other time frame.

None of these folks sharing their magic time frames have ever met my Violet who entered the world on her own timetable and it seems potty training will be on her terms as well.  Let's just say we spend much time "fake pottying" throughout our day. Violet is that little one who refuses to spend her day sans diapers or undies, so there are a lot of wipes getting used during our potty training because each time--fake potty or real potty-- she needs a wipe.  Thankfully we have Cottonelle® FreshCare® Flushable Cleansing Cloths to help ease this last and latest potty trainer we have.

We have definitely learned that potty training is an individual sport! We don't push Violet and as much as I'm ready for her to be potty trained, she is taking her own sweet time. In addition to using the Cottonelle wipes to keep her bottom clean, she loves to sit on the potty and wipe her face with one.

Like I mentioned above, we are a busy, on-the-go family, so Cottonelle® FreshCare® Flushable Cleansing Cloths are a dream to have with us in the car!

The difference maker in these Cottonelle wipes versus regular baby wipes is that they are flushable! They feature SafeFlush Technology™, so they start to break down immediately after flushing. They are sewer and septic safe and they're alcohol free (so there's no burning bums!) 

Our entire family prefers wipes over regular toilet paper and I feel comfortable knowing we're using a safe product for our family and our house!

One thing that is very important in our household is saving money. We've found that Sam's Club helps make that possible!  Right now, you can get Cottonelle® FreshCare® Flushable Cleansing Cloths at Sam's Club and get a $3 instant savings coupon from 6/22-7/17!  The benefits of having a Sam's membership have allowed us to save money on products we use everyday.  I love that I can order online and pick up at the warehouse if I need to. Because, let's face it, saving time is just as valuable as saving money!

Thankfully Sam's and Cottonelle have us covered on both saving time and money!

What are your best potty training tips?

The Lily-Pop Reward

Late last week before Lily got in the tub, I put her on the potty because I could tell she was trying to poop.  I gave her my phone to do her flashcards while she sat there and we sang songs when she was bored with the flashcards.  No business completed.  She hopped down and while I was still sitting on the floor, she walked past me to get out of the bathroom, patted me on the back and said, "Get a diaper, Mom."

Ok kid. You know exactly what you are doing.

Yesterday when I woke up and decided we were going to just try to get this process moving along. I brought up the potty chair out of the basement, cleaned it up and put it in the livingroom. I gave her her new cup where the straw doesn't come out {score!} of water and set her down on it. I hyped up going potty and turned on her favorite show.  Pretty soon she peed.  Wooooo hoooo!

Upstairs we headed to wash hands and get her Minnie Mouse undies on.  We came back down and she got a "lily-pop" {lollipop}cheering, high-fiving and dancing happily around...both of us!

Minnie undies got wet pretty quickly as did the couch, so we changed them and cleaned up.  A little bit later, she started to pee in her newest Minnie undies and quickly ran over to her potty chair, pulled down her undies and sat down to pee.  Win! Another "lily-pop" for the happy girl!

I cleaned up the floor and decided to leave her undie-free for a little while.  That worked. She headed over and peed on the potty when she had to!  Lots of cheering, high-fiving, woo-hooing and dancing going on in this house yesterday morning!

We headed out to run a few errands with Daddy, so we diapered up--I'm not that brave on day one.

When we got home, it was naptime. She napped and then we were right back to it. After her nap, her diaper was dry too! She ran around sans undies and peed on the potty once again! "Lily-pops" for the win!

Clean undies back on to try that avenue once more and a little bit later I saw her making a beeline for her pooping hiding spot. I said, "Let's go on the potty!" She said, "Ok!" and headed up the stairs instead of the pottychair in the livingroom.  She didn't make it though, but happily helped me flush and wash her hands.  The attempt is a win in my book.

She peed on the pottychair one more time before bedtime while she was sans undies for a grand total of 4 times on the potty, one couch pee and one floor pee for day one. 

So far this morning, she started to pee in her undies and quickly ran to the pottychair to finish and has gone one more time in the potty.  She's super proud of herself! I'm thankful for legwarmers to make this easier!

Here's hoping that we have continued success as we navigate a new milestone for our baby girl!

...and thank God for the big bag of Dum-Dums I picked up after Halloween and I don't even care that she's having a lily-pop at 8:00am!

day one