Potty Training - The Real Deal

We have been working on a little bit of potty training the past couple of months. First we let Katie sit on the potty before bathtime. She would sit, read some books, and every once in a while actually use the potty. She was interested and asked each night before bath to sit and try....so we stuck with it. Eventually she started asking to use the potty at other times during the day and things progressed.

Katie's preschool teachers have also been working on potty training - its just part of the routine in her class. By the way - that is one of the things I love about Katie being in school.....the teachers help you through major milestones and often have terrific tips/tricks. Anyways, at first Katie told her teachers that she only went to the potty for her mommy. She eventually got more comfortable and started showing interest at school too. About a month ago one teacher suggested switching over to pull-ups instead of diapers. We did - both at school and at home (except for night time) which seemed like a natural next step.

The week before Thanksgiving - during the parent teacher conferences - Katie's teacher mentioned how much success Katie was having with potty training (dry pull-ups even through nap time). I asked if she thought Katie was ready for the real deal and her response was "Yes, definitely." Since I had vacation scheduled for all of Thanksgiving week I thought that would be the perfect time to make the big switch from pull-ups to big girl panties.

Overall the week went well! Don't get me wrong - it wasn't accident free. But there were 3 full days when we had no accidents (today included) which I considered a success. I still have to prompt Katie every 45 minutes or so with a "Let's go potty" or "Do you need to go potty?" If I don't she gets distracted and waits until the last possible minute to tell me she needs to go. Amazingly she didn't have any trouble during the car rides between Woolwine and Richmond.

I am a little nervous to see how Katie does at school tomorrow when I'm not there with her, but I'm hoping its not a problem. I'm packing an extra change of clothes just in case....