Our Memorial Day weekend was filled with all kinds of excitement! We took advantage of our long weekend by ditching the diapers and beginning our potty training journey. Everly has been interested in the potty for a couple of months now. Ever since daycare moved her to the 2 year old room a while back (remember that story?) she had been asking me about it almost nonstop. She loved to sit on the potty. Every time Chad or I went into the bathroom she wanted to come with us. It was clear she was totally into it. She just didn't quite understand how to do it.
When I mentioned to a friend that Everly was showing many signs of being ready for potty training she introduced me to this book. It's a three day method that requires your undivided attention for 72 hours. The book emphasizes catching every single accident in the act. This helps them understand the signs of needing to go rather than just plopping them on the toilet and hoping for the best.
After giving the method some thought and observing Everly for a few days I took a look at my calendar. The only three day weekends we had coming up were Memorial Day, 4th of July, and then nothing until Labor Day in September. We will be on vacation on the 4th of July so that was out of the question. And if I was going to potty train Everly soon it needed to be well before vacation so she could have it mastered by then. So it was either now, or make her wait another three months. I took a look at my 21 month old, and even though she was a little young, I just knew she was ready.
After giving the method some thought and observing Everly for a few days I took a look at my calendar. The only three day weekends we had coming up were Memorial Day, 4th of July, and then nothing until Labor Day in September. We will be on vacation on the 4th of July so that was out of the question. And if I was going to potty train Everly soon it needed to be well before vacation so she could have it mastered by then. So it was either now, or make her wait another three months. I took a look at my 21 month old, and even though she was a little young, I just knew she was ready.
I decided to take a vacation day on Friday to give us a little extra time together in case it wasn't quite as easy as the book made it seem. So Friday morning first thing we tossed the diapers and put on our big girl panties. Our three day potty boot camp began. I lost count after accident number 12 the first morning. It was an exhausting day to say the least. But by the beginning of day two Everly really began to get the hang of it. There were accidents here and there, but we were peeing in the potty more so than not. By day three and four we were down to just two or three accidents.
I just knew sending her off to daycare on day five would totally throw a wrench in our progress with all the distractions and decrease in attention. But to my surprise Everly had ZERO accidents all day. I couldn't believe it. We haven't looked back since. She hasn't had one single accident all week, with the exception of night time. We're still working on that part. She has been dry three out of the seven nights this last week. I'll take it! We're only one week into this gig. Overall she has really surprised me with how quick she caught on. I am so proud of her and the success she has had. And I can tell how proud she is too.
Is Everly fully trained? Probably not. I'm sure we will still have accidents from time to time. And we have yet to fully conquer the night shift. But this method seemed to work great for Everly. My favorite part? Bypassing the pull-ups and getting the training over with in three days. I couldn't drag that nonsense out any longer. I was exhausted after three days!
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