Proud To Be Potty Trained

With such pride, I am happy to report that Serena Lynn Robb is now potty trained!

[THIS POST CONTAINS LANGUAGE PERTAINING TO POTTY TRAINING]

At Serena's 3 Year Wellness Visit, I'd expressed my concern to our pediatrician about the fact that Serena still wore diapers and refused to give them up. Our doctor said that right now was quite possibly the worst time for us to try potty training, given the new addition in our household. We were told to take a break for a few months and try again in the Fall. A few weeks later, a friend of mine had posted similar concerns on Facebook and asked her Mom Friends for advice. After socially sharing my own woes, I noticed the following note from another mom:

"We did a basket of poopy/potty prizes. Just tons of 

stuff from the dollar section at Target. Every time she went potty in 

the toilet she got a prize and poop was 2 things. Worked really 

well...although Emma was 3 and totally ready. Best of luck!"

This strategy intrigued me. Serena loves Target. Better yet, Serena loves the dollar section at Target. This mom might be on to something, I decided, and tucked the idea away for the Fall. The next day, I picked up Serena from school and her teacher asked to share a concern with me.  "This week," she said, "Serena has been saying that the Potty scares her. I don't want to force her to sit on the potty and make it a traumatic experience, but we still encourage her to try at least once everyday. After all, she is the only one in her class who is not potty trained." THE ONLY ONE rang through my ears with a loud echo. That is it! I thought. We're going to Target!

The next day began a four day stretch at home for Serena. After raiding every bin in the dollar section, we filled a basket full of "Potty Prizes" and made a giant sticker chart. Our modified strategy was this:

1. For every potty in the toilet, she received one (1) prize
2. For every poop in the toilet, she received two (2) prizes
3. For each visit to the bathroom with a positive outcome, she earned one (1) sticker for her chart.
4. After earning five (5) stickers, she would also receive a "Major Prize" which included various Disney Princess Little Kingdom dolls and ultimately, her greatest reward, her very own fish!

Serena was excited to start Potty Prizes Weekend and Day 1 was quite a success with only two accidents all day (both while quickly trying to make it to the bathroom in time). By Day 2, Serena was clapping and cheering along with us each time she went potty on her Cheer For Me Potty. By Day 3, she refused to wear diapers or pull-ups at night and would only wear underwear to bed. On Day 4, not only had Serena been accident free for two days, but was also staying dry at night. The next day, we sent her to school with a bag filled with extra clothes, underwear, pull-ups (just in case!) and a fresh sheet of stickers so that her teacher could reward her each time she went on the Potty.
 

It has been over two weeks of successful training. Although there are times that #2 escapes without warning (i.e. Serena would rather watch T.V. than poo on the toilet), we no longer fear leaving the house to run errands with the threat of an accident while on-the-go.  Serena stays completely dry overnight and wakes us up in the morning only after she has successfully made her first visit to the bathroom. She has also conquered her fear of public bathrooms with the help of The Cushie Traveler which is a folding toilet seat that helps little people fit on a big person's toilet. [Thanks, Cousin Kendall, for your support and applause when Serena got a little bit of stage fright at the State Fair!]. And finally, she is no longer the only kid in her class who is not potty trained!

~ Good work, Serena Lynn. We are so  proud of you! ~

"Aurora" the male Beta fish