Potty Training: Day 1

After my posting on here about potty training, my fears and concerns, I started doing some research. A friend of mine had sent me this pdf file about some three day potty training system. At first I was thinking "Yeah right. Like you can really potty train a kid in three days." Especially a very strong willed little girl like A. Not to mention I've put her in panties before only to have her pee in her panties as soon as she got of the potty. That led to me being frustrated and after a few times of her during that, I'd give up and back on the diaper went. The last week or so, she had been asking to wear big girl panties when we'd get dressed in the morning. I didn't know what her sudden interest was. I didn't know if it had anything with me having to wipe her bottom all the time, (she hates it) and telling her that if she was big girl and went on the potty I wouldn't need to anymore. I didn't know if something had finally clicked in head that it was gross to sit in diaper. I didn't know much of anything except that maybe I should read the pdf that my friend had sent me.
Still being completely skeptical, I sat down one night and started reading. I kept saying "yeah right" to a lot of it but for the most part it made a lot of sense. The only thing I was very concerned with is how she kept mentioning that you basically had to give up 3 whole days of your life and devote them completely to the child and potty training. With going back to school and of course the fact that K needs attention too (not to mention dishes, cooking and all those other things we stay at home moms magically do). There was no way I was going to be able to just sit and play with A all day long.
Fast forward to just a few days ago when I started implementing the "before" steps of this plan such as telling A how gross pooping in a diaper was and how big girls go on the potty. Things I was doing before, but maybe not doing the "correct" way. Then yesterday when we were out, I stopped at the store and let her pick out two new sets of panties. (The plan says to have 20-30 pairs on hand) I also started telling her that we were going to start using her potty tomorrow. I figured since nothing else had worked I might as well try the 3 day thing and do the best I can with it under my circumstances.
Day one, we woke up, came down stairs for breakfast, gave A a great big glass of milk, brushed teeth, yada yada yada. When were getting dressed I let her pick out the pair of panties she wanted to wear, making sure that I impressed upon her that she needed to keep them dry and to let me know when she had to go. When we got down stairs, again I told her "Make sure you tell mommy when you have to pee." The next thing I know she's telling me and trying to pull her panties. I kept thinking "Yeah right" (yes I'm that skeptical), but she sat down and when she stood up and there was pee in the potty I was overcome with joy. Sheer, pure joy. My daughter had just gone on the potty. (If you're not a mom, you probably don't get it.) I heaped so much praise upon her, told her what an awesome job she did and how such a big girl she was now. Then we called Oma and grandma and told them and she got a reward. She was the happiest little girl around.
Through out the morning I kept reminding her to tell me when she had to pee. r
Then came poop time. I knew she was doing but I wasn't quite quick enough getting her to the potty. I kept my calm, told her it was alright, cleaned her up and got her a new pair of panties. The next accident came when we in the tv room. She was sitting reading a book and all of sudden told me about all the water. Ok (see I knew it wasn't going to work), I clean her up again, get her another pair of panties. The whole time I acted like it was no big deal.
When we were back in the play room she was leaning up against the toy box and said "Mommy, Pee!" I noticed a small trickle going down her leg so I snatched up and putting on the potty where she finished going pee. Again I made a big deal of it, gave her more M&M (her reward) and of course a new pair of panties. Since then she's been dry. Every once in a while when she's involved with playing or such, I'll remind her to tell me about going pee. I never ask her if she has to go, just remind her to tell me when she has to go.
She's pee'd in her potty several times now. Ok 3 day system... you're working for the most part. My only complaint is this. She "has" to go potty now every 10 minutes. I'm not joking. She will go running to the potty, pull down her panties and pee. Then get so excited. I'll go and look and there is barely a drop of pee there. Then of course she asks for her M's. This is a flaw in the plan I think and I now that it's almost 4pm here and she hasn't "really" gone pee since lunch time, I don't know how well she's going to be trained. She knows what it feels like to have to pee, but she's doing it every few minutes to get some candy. I've stopped giving her M&M for these few drops, but still telling her she a big girl for using the potty.
My next concern is overnight. With the 3 day plan, you're supposed to keep them in panties overnight. She wakes up dry sometimes, usually when I limit what she's had to drink the night before, but I'm still worried. I tried to get her to take a nap today to see if she would wake when she had to go, but of course she didn't want to nap. Figures! Guess I'll just have to wait and see what happens.

For My Dad

It's a few days before Father's Day, but since I'm going to be down home during that time, I thought I would create a post real fast for my dad. Perfect father's day present for him and anyone who knows my dad would agree. Happy Father's Day Daddy!

Where Did I Go?

I lost a small child and I don't want them back either. In my last post I talked about my weight loss and mentioned that I needed to take an updated picture. Well I did. Oh and the child I am referring too, is 61lbs of fat gone from my life. It will NOT be missed.

My Transformation

Mind you, I'm not done. I have a goal of 200lbs. Yes that may seem excessive still to a lot of people, but I was happiest with my body at that weight. Besides, we all have to start somewhere. Oh and for those who are say "Wow! She must have some incredible will power, I could never loose all that weight!" I just want to say that I don't. I still have ice cream some times, I still eat chips every once in a while. In fact over the memorial day weekend, I enjoyed everything that everyone else did. My will power sucks, but I get a TON of support and lots of kicks in the butt from the incredible girls on a FB group that I belong too. So yes, even you can loose the weight too.

Weight Loss

After getting back on track with a few kicks in the butt from some great girls that I know, I've started losing weight again. I'm down about 4 pounds from 2 weeks ago. It hasn't been easy but I'm sticking to it. I tend to be an emotional eater and when things get rough at home, I look to food for comfort. I wish I could say that I've been doing this all on my own, but I can't. It's been a huge struggle for me. HUGE struggle, Sumo wrestler sized struggle. I've been on a roller coaster this past month with my weight. Up and down, down and up so that when you compare my weight to what it was this time last month, I've really only lost about a pound. Normally, this would be discouraging to me, but some how it's not. A friend asked what my total lost was and since I started weight watchers on Feb 20th, I've lost a total of 14.8lbs. My total weight lost since K was born almost a year ago is about 55 lbs. Another great girl I know told me to look at this way, those 14 pounds make up 56 sticks of butter and the 55 pounds? Well that's 220 sticks of butter. Now that is also sumo wrestler sized HUGE! Can you image carrying around 220 sticks of butter? I can, and trust me, I don't want to ever again. 

bad picture, but this is me at
A's frist birthday

I was looking at pictures a couple days ago from A's first birthday party. I was over 300lbs and only 2ish months preggers with K. I look huge, uncomfortable and miserable. 

Then I have a picture from the end of February when I started Weight Watchers and I still look huge and uncomfortable, but not so miserable. I really need to get an updating one and maybe I'll do so later today when J gets home from work. It's nice to see the physical difference I can feel. My pants don't fit anymore. I know I've gone down at least a size in them and I really need to get the stupid sewing machine out and take them in. My tops are a different story. I went shopping and grabbed some 2x's and just for shits and giggles grab a few 1x's too. Well guess what... those 1x's fit. I was shocked. That makes two sizes down for my tops. 

So needless to say I'm still worried. I don't want to roller coaster anymore, I was to see the 240's by this time next month. I'm getting sick of the 250's. Wish me luck!

Lets Talk Dirty

Now before you all get your hopes up, I’m referring to dirty pants and floors, and my un-natural fear of potty training A. So before you read any further, if you are grossed out by any sort of bathroom talk, you might want to look away.


A is 2 1/2 and I feel this huge pressure to get her potty trained. Not only are diapers expensive for one, but I have two, both going through several diapers a day. With K it’s not such a big deal, he’s only 11 months. A though, is literally peeing through the diapers. She has shown some interested in the potty and will follow you in there and ask if your peeing or pooping. She likes to flush the potty too, so it should be a pretty easy task to do right?

Then why am I terrified of doing it??? It has nothing to do with the fact that she’s my baby and she’s growing up way to fast for my liking. I really wouldn’t mind skipping the terrible 2’s and all the tantrums, but when it comes to potty training I have some issues that I just don’t know how to overcome. Hence the blog post seeking HELP!!!!!

We spend most of our time in the bottom 1/2 of our house, basically in the kitchen and living areas. We built into a mountain side so 3/4 quarters of our walls are block, and the floor is a concrete pad. Think of it like living in a basement. I can not shampoo the carpets, not unless I want to run the risk of mold. I’m sure I could hire those professional guys to come do it but I still worry about it being steamed cleaned. So that means, when she has an accident, how the heck am I  going to clean it???? Problem two, out potty downstairs is out of commission right now.  It’s still hooked up and works but we’re renovating the house and that bathroom was next on the list. So that’s in shambles right now which means I have to take her upstairs each time. Normally, this wouldn’t be a big problem, but with K LOVING to climb UP the stairs and not knowing how to go down them, I have a baby gate blocking the stairs. I certainly can’t sit upstairs for 30 minutes, waiting for A to decide what’s she’s going while K is downstairs. Sure I could bring him upstairs but then what is he going to do except distract A and defeat the entire process.

The next issue is how the heck to I clean her panties and pants after accidents? We don’t have hot water hooked up to our washing machine. Up until about a month or so ago we only had a 20 gallon hot water heater. 20 gallons is nothing for a family of 4. Taking a 15 minute shower, used up all the water. We just didn’t have enough at the time to hook it up to washer too. Now we have 50 gallon, but with J working as much as he does and all the other things that NEED to be done around the house, it will be awhile before I see hot water hooked up to my washer, if ever. All I can think about is when I was using cloth diapers for Aurora. No matter how many times I washed them with the cold water, they still ended up stinking. I certainly don’t want A walking around smelling like pee! Which brings me to my last problem. Poop. What the heck do you do with that! Again I guess it wouldn’t be such a big deal if she had normal bowel movements where they were formed and you could just shake them into the potty, but hers are always soft, and always create a mess. Dunking them in the potty to remove the poo is not friendly to my gag reflex.

Now before you all say “Use pull-ups!”, we’ve been that route. I’ve actually tried getting her used to wearing panties and sitting on the potty. She doesn’t realize she’s wet in pull-ups. They’re to much like diapers for her and just defeat the purpose entirely.

So that’s where I am. I want to PT, but scared too. I don’t know how to go about this in the right way. Or in a way that will be sane about having pee stains on the floor.

Oh and be prepared for another one of these posts in about 18 months when I start with K. How the heck do you teach a boy to stand up and pee when you sit down!