Thanks to my mom for most of the early efforts of working with Megan on using the potty. I hadn't really put her on the potty to go much but since my mom had been helping out with Megan more after I had Owen she would put her on the big toilet seat to see if she would go. Every time I put Megan on the little potty seat she would just get up and walk around, not wanting to sit still at all so it's clear she favors the real toilet over the little ones.
It was the week of June 10th that my mom said she thought Megan was ready and the following week we started working with her a little more regularly. Some days are easier than others just depending what our schedule is like and a lot is also training ourselves to remember to bring her to the potty about every hour. We tried using cloth training pants with the plastic pants over but after ending up with poop in them several times we are just resorting to Pull-Ups. Only downside is she still can't tell when their wet like regular diapers but they are a whole lot easier to take on and off! We'll probably use up the rest of our regular diapers and then use Pull-Ups exclusively.
At first Megan was really excited to sit on the potty. She has an Elmo's potty book (thanks Kristin!) which keeps her entertained while she sits there waiting for the pee to come. John installed a new toilet seat with an insert specially designed for little bottoms and Megan loves it! We're not using the little seat at all which is ok with me. She also thought it was fun to see the pee go into the potty and then flush saying, "bye, pee!". Wiping and flushing the toilet are also big hits.
It only took about a week, however, for the novelty of going potty to wear off. Although she will pee almost every time we sit her on the potty seat, it's getting her to the bathroom and pants off that is the struggle. She would much rather be watching Mickey or playing than sit on the toilet. What she doesn't realize is that if she would just go and cooperate it would take very little time at all and we could get back to what we were doing! Even telling her she will get a "potty M" (M&M) doesn't always do the trick because if you give her one she just wants more and more. Either way, I think she is doing a great job. A lot of times she will stay dry from the time we put her first diaper of the day on until she goes down for her nap.
I love her expressions while going potty. At the beginning of the training we would have her sit on the potty looking through the Elmo book and she would say, "It's coming" when she was about to pee. And sure enough, it came. Recently, we figured out that Megan hadn't been emptying her bladder each time she was going. She would give us a trickle but not everything at once so we have to encourage her to "pee more". You could see her pushing real hard to work more pee out as she would say, "I'm trying!".
So, I'm sure it will take some time yet before she (and us) is fully trained but I think we're off to a good start. It definitely helps that we have family willing to help us in the process and that I have some time while home on maternity leave to work with her as well.
Definitely hard to train yourself! Sometimes a kitchen timer helps - set it for 45 minutes or whatever and when it goes off, take her and let her try. This way you remember and she knows that it's potty time. Also, pull-ups are spendy and in my opinion, don't really actually teach a child how to go potty or even tell them when they are wet. (I just don't get how the whole design fading thing is going to actually teach a kid to go). Anyways, if you are using a pull-up strickly for convienance, try the Huggies Little Movers Slip On Diapers. They are basically the exact same thing as a Pull-up except without the fading design. Plus, it's easier to get these on sale or with coupons. Anyways, good luck Megan and good luck John & Karen! You'll be amazed how easy it will be once she gets it.
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