Potty Training Wins

Potty Training....those two simple words can bring up so many emotions: dread, fear, exhilaration, joy, and of course exhaustion!  My first daughter was crazy advanced in a lot of ways and at 18 months came home from day care, where she often saw older kids using the potty and asked for a potty.  We went out, bought one, and she used it from then forward- easiest potty training ever!  (Of course during the day, I had help due to the awesome day care she had!)

Fast forward to kid #2, almost 11 years later.  The first attempt was when she was around 22 months, before #3 came around.  We used the 3-day potty training method and she took to it great.  That is...until she got a stomach bug a month later and all progress was lost.  By the time she was ready to try again, I was about to have #3 and I decided to wait. And wait we did.  I finally had enough of buying two sets of diapers and decided to commit.  On Monday, Sami woke up and we immediately changed her into panties and made a big deal about being a big girl.  I showed her the potty chart and bribed her with chocolate.  She did so much better the second time around (of course she is 9 months older this time with significantly more verbal skills.)  We hung out at home for 3 days and now she goes potty whenever she needs to.  She has even stayed dry all night the last two nights, wearing her big girl panties to bed.  I have also noticed a marked improvement in her behavior and attitude overall.  I attribute this to the fact that she is getting extra attention and extra praise from everyone.  It has been a great reminder about how well kids respond to positive reinforcement.  I plan to find all sorts of ways to praise her for all sorts of things even once she is 100% trained.

Sami excited about her new book she got as a reward for staying dry for 2 nights in a row!

We left the house for the first time today and this meant time to protect the car seat.  I went to Babies R Us hoping to find something like this: Kiddopotamus Deluxe Piddle Pad.

Then I decided I would just make more, that were cheaper and bleach-able :) I bought these "lap pads" a pack of 6 for $9.99 from Babies R Us.  I am sure you can find similar from Walmart or Target or the like. 

 I then laid it in the toddlers seat.  (Yes we are still rear-facing, no it isn't as reclined as it looks in the picture).  I cut a slit for the latch between the legs and for each strap on the sides so that they aren't impeded in any way.  This is an important step for keeping kiddo safe.

close-ups of cutting around the straps.

 

 I then used the one I cut on the seat as a template and cut the rest of them to match. 

 Lastly, I put one back onto the seat for the next time we leave the house and put the rest in the plastic bag they came in with the handy hook and hooked it to the back of the seat on the headrest.  You could always do this to the front seat if you don't have a minivan :)  Now I have plenty for longer car rides, or if I am behind on my laundry (NEVER! )  Having an easy way to protect the car seat saves the headache of washing the seat cover, having the seat out of commission and keeps mommy positively praising Sami and not freaking out over accidents that are bound to happen.  Totally worth the $10 and effort!

I need to make a set for the baby's seat next, for those random diaper explosions that only seem to happen in the car seat.

I am so happy that we are on the road to having Sami trained!  Now I only have one set of diapers to change!!! WOOOHOOOO!