Look Who’s Potty Trained!!

Oh yes she is!  Hannah decided when it was time and it took her about 3 hours from start to finish!  I would never have believed it was possible but she proved it to me!  She still wears diapers at nap time and overnight but that will come with time and again, I’ll take her lead when she begins to wake up from one/both of these dry. 
The turning point for Hannah was when Santa brought her replacements foe siPWEA.  You may remember from this video that even with all the presents under the tree, the first one she was looking for was u-we@r!  She was a girl on a mission!

Once she opened her new clothes she asked daily to use the potty.  I wanted to ensure we had a full day at home with no interruptions to train so I was originally planning on this coming Saturday (a rare Saturday without gymnastics) but with her constant requests and displayed interest we moved it up 3 weeks and Monday, Jan 2nd became her big day!
Months ago I began doing some research about potty training and the book that came highly recommended by many was, ‘Toilet Training in Less Than a Day’ by Azrin and Foxx.  I borrowed it from our local library and decided that since it boasted such a successful track record and came so highly recommended by people online that I was going to follow their method to a T!  If you have a toddler to train in your future and you’d like a book to help you out, I cannot recommend this one enough!  I’m going to share a bit here but reading and following the steps in the book is the way to go.
Our morning began with breakfast and a large number of beverages for her to choose from.  Wanting to encourage her to drink as much as possible she even had ‘bubble pop’ (aka sparkling grape juice left over from New Year’s Eve) in one of her Sippy cups.  That was a huge hit for sure!  The thought behind this is that you want your child to learn what it feels like to need to ‘go’ so the variety and availability of beverages helps this.
After breakfast the training began in earnest.  I pumped up the heat as it was cool outside then dressed her in a t-shirt and large tr@ining pants.
I gave her a brand new doll and she was pretty excited about that!  
(A funny side story.  If you give your child a new doll the week after Christmas and ask her what she wants to name it, there is a chance she’ll say, ‘Baby Jesus!’  So yes, we have a cute little girl dolly who wets and is wearing a ruffled dress whose name is…‘Baby Jesus!’  To this day she still asks where her Baby Jesus dolly is!  LOL!!)
The fun part about this doll was that she wet so Hannah learned how to help her go potty first.   She walked the doll through all the steps that she would soon begin doing herself.
Soon it was time for Hannah to try herself and she did great!  I wanted her to think about what she was doing so I chose not to have any toys or books in the washroom.   The system of helping the doll, drinking lots and making frequent trips to the washroom worked like a charm and she was going frequently!  Oh the celebrations, clapping and cheering that went on!  Yay Hannah!!
Another important part of the program was treats – and there were plenty of them!  First the dolly would earn a treat each time she would go and since Hannah quickly realized that the doll wasn’t able to eat the treats, she got to eat them on her behalf.  Bonus!  Then, each time Hannah went she was able to choose a treat too!  In her potty treat jar I had a variety of things for her to choose from:  tiny squares of Rice Krispy treats, packages of 3 M&Ms, small chocolate bars, balloons, stickers, small bits of pop tarts, jelly beans, gummies and more.  Lots of treats that she doesn’t normally get so they were an incentive for her!  As soon as she finished washing her hands she’d make a bee line down the hallway and right to the treat basket!  (Side note: For about a month before she was trained if she happened to notice that mommy had used the washroom she’d cheer and then exclaim, ‘Mommy get a treat!’  Heh!  Nobody normally cheers for those things!    I’m just glad she was able to help me eat them as I’m not a huge fan of chocolate at 6am.  Oh who am I trying to kid?  Of course I like chocolate at any time…but it tasted much better when shared!!)
The day was full of much praise, cheering, encouraging and celebration!  (Thanks to all who allowed us to call with her big announcements and the congratulations and celebrations you shared via the phone with her!)  By the early afternoon Hannah was able to know that she needed to pee (or other ), go to the bathroom, do each step involved in the process on her own and then wash her hands.  If I realized it has been a while since she’d gone I’d ask her if she needed to go but basically she was going on her own and I was only going in for encouragement, wiping help when needed and assisting with hand washing.
All in all potty training was a huge success!  (Even more so when I mention that the day we trained was also the same day she started her eye infection so we took time out to visit urgent care.)  She’s had the odd accident but that’s never a problem and we just say, ‘accidents happen!’  If we’re travelling for a distance I’ll put a pull-up on her but basically she wears u-we@r whenever she’s awake.
I’m so proud of my big girl even though this is one more step of her babyhood that we have left behind us. 
She’s a big girl now!!  Yay Hannah!!!