Going Potty!

The infamous Graco Potty!  It really does exist.

Yeah, I'm going potty, while Squeaky is considering the concept of going ON the potty.  We've been making slow, but steady progress over the last couple of weeks, and to be fair to Squeaky, she's doing really well.  As long as you remind her to go, that is.  She still hasn't mastered the art of telling you that she wants to go, and isn't quite recognising the cues herself.  If you ask her if she wants to go, she says "No", but if you insist she sits down, she'll go straight away 99% of the time.  It's a whole new challenge to me, as I have a cast-iron bladder, so I can't even use my own needs to remind her.  Daddy seems to be doing better on that count, maybe because he has the smallest bladder in the world!  (Don't tell him I said that, please!)

But we're getting there.  As I mentioned previously, we were away for the weekend (more on that later, maybe?), out & about, and generally having lots of fun.  It was quite liberating not to have to carry nappies, though I did have to carry (many) changes of clothes instead.  We plumped for using pull-ups, or Adventure Pants as we've christened them, if we were going to be out & about for too long, or if there was likely to be too much excitement, but honestly, over the whole weekend, there was only one accident.  And Squeaky managed to produce both number 1s and number 2s on the actual toilet, as well as on the potty!  It's amazing how exciting pooh can be!

Bribery? Of course!

We'd had a few false starts with the potty training over the last, ahem, almost a year, but finally we seem to be making progress.  Patience, encouragement, and a little bit of bribery in the form of chocolate coins & playing Happy Mrs Chicken on my phone seem to be having the desired effect.  Happy Mrs Chicken looks to be the best £1.99 I've spent in a long time (check your compatibility before you download, some people seem to have had problems with it)  Stickers, on the other hand, seemed to be a great big failure, which was a surprise.

I have to stop myself sometimes though.  In my job, blogging, and generally as a result of having Squeaky, I encounter a lot of people with similar aged children.  Some of whom seem to have mastered potty training overnight, before 18 months, without a single mishap, and their children poop nothing but pure rainbows.  It's hard not to compare myself, and Squeaky, with others, and the reality is, she ISN'T lagging behind, somehow I just only appear to compare myself against the people who have found it easy, and not those who are struggling.  I'm not really being fair on myself, I should compare against everyone, not just those who have done "better" than me.  And who's to say what is better anyway?  Being ready, to me, is better than being forced into a timescale laid down to suit the adults.  I try very hard not to be a competitive parent, but it's so hard.

Where I spend too much time

Well, anyway.  That's where we are.  We're weeing & poohing on the potty, at least some of the time.  The accidents are getting less, the successes are getting more, and my washing machine is being tested to the limit.  I'm learning to relax, again, before the next big competitive milestone comes along.  Reading? Writing?  What is next, anyway?

What potty training techniques worked for your little ones?  And what didn't?

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