Wednesday, March 05, 2008

Spring Break '08 - Potty Train or Bust

So I have big plans for Spring Break this year! Granted they are very different from Spring Break plans of years past. No, I'm not going to Panama City, Destin or any other cold beach location with a gaggle of girls as I've done so many times before. Instead we are staying home and potty training.

I've decided to do the "One Day" potty training method. This involves among other things a pee-pee doll, cleaning up several messes and eventually a "potty party" at the end of the day. I think Claire is quite ready it's just a matter of finding the time when we are at home. It seems as though most weeks we are "busy" most days of the week. So finally we have a week where most activities have been canceled due to the American phenomenon known as Spring Break so we are going to go for it.

I've been kind of conflicted about it because I'm not sure how to manage in public. How do I take a toddler to the potty with a 4month old in tow? I manage to avoid public restrooms at almost all costs so I guess I need to deal with the fact that I am going to have to just suck it up and venture into the yucky, dirty, inhospitable world of public restrooms.

We are gearing up by reading a potty book which Claire absolutely loves. It is quite hysterical bordering on ridiculous. Anytime you are rhyming "pee" and "poo" it's over the line. Who write this stuff anyway? I guess they know what they are doing because Claire loves it and wants to read the potty book all the time, go figure. We are talking about the upcoming "Potty Party" with the promise of her absolute favorite - a cake!! No, the cake will not have a potty or anything like that on it although that would be kind of fun and gross at the same time. She is genuinely excited about the party and is looking forward to this special day.

I'm trying to research the "One Day" method without actually purchasing the book. Everything I've read so far sounds like this is the way to go for us. So if you are planning an actual spring break think of me while you are sipping your fruity drink on the beach. I'll be in the trenches of motherhood trying to come up with a big victory. I probably should have waited to post about this after the fact IF it works but I decided to lay it all out there and raise the stakes a little bit. I know a lot of us are going through the same stages right now so I'd love advice and encouragement from those who have been there done that (especially if you did the One Day method) or if you are there and doing it now.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

I tried the One Day Method with Craig and it worked somewhat. There were a few accidents but as long as I reminded him, we was really good about it. He is still terrified to poo in the potty but hopefully he will be over that soon. Good Luck!

Kate

The Kenyons said...

As you know we are in the home stretch of it!!! So far only one accident since the beginning. I stocked the bathroom with tons of cheap rewards and he got to pick a prize from the treasure chest everytime he went. We have not had one poo accident and this is from a child who while in diapers would run and hide to poo and would hold it if you looked at him. TMI!!! Whatever you do, don't get discouraged! She will get it. The first day I set the timer every ten min. to remind him until I figured out how often he seems to go. I did not leave the house for 3 days till I knew he had it down and now, after a week and a half, we can go out and so far, so good! GOOD LUCK!

Are We There Yet?? said...

We tried this as well. It worked great for peeing, but the pooping was a whole other ordeal. We had a cake with Elmo on it that said "Congratulations Dawson" and Elmo (me) called him on the phone. It was really cute. The pooping side of potty training took Dawson quite a while longer, but we went ahead and put him in underwear and just let him deal with being dirty. I think he eventualy got sick of it and decided it would be much easier to poop in the potty.

Megan said...

Thanks for your war stories. I guess the thing I've got going for me is that she goes #2 in the potty about 90% of the time. She freaks out when she needs to go and yells "poo poo potty!". She only gives us a few seconds notice but is getting better about it. I'm just so inconsistent with it. Some days she will go several times and others none basically because I just don't make the effort. I guess the Potty Party is just as much for me as for her! I'm going to steal the Elmo cake and phone call idea. She will love it!

Elizabeth said...

I think if we ventured back to PCB we would all have to re-potty train ourselves...after laughing so hard at what we used to look like...or crying for that matter! No mommy advice from me...obviously, But I did see a Dr. Phil on the one day technique...maybe more info. on their website. Good Luck!