Potty Training

I was reluctant to begin potty training, really reluctant.  I knew it was time to start but I was afraid of how hard it would be.  Despite my fears we began potty training on Oct 6th.  I knew we had a few quiet weeks where we could just hang out at home so we went for it.  

The week before I really tried to talk up potty training and getting rid of the diapers.  Ally started asking when I was going to do potty training (I think she asked my mom too), when I told her I already was potty trained she was so impressed.

Day 1 wasn't too bad.  Ally was very hesitant to wear her panties (this girl doesn't like change) but she soon got over that and loved her new panties.  I didn't get as much out of the first session of conference as I would have liked.  I spent most of the time running back and forth to the bathroom. Ally went through 12+ pairs of underwear (I lost count) but did really well all things considered.

Driving home from my parents house on Day 2, "Mom, I don't like potty training, but it is still fun.  Mom, it is still fun".

I kept it simple with a sticker chart and some jelly beans.  We phased out the jelly beans after the first day (all that sugar was adding to the craziness) and she loved getting her stickers (Dora and Princess stickers) .  Here she is with her first page filled up, we have almost filled the second page (and I am phasing out the stickers now).

In addition to the stickers as an incentive Ally loved making phone calls and skyping to share her success.  The grandparents and Uncle James were her big cheerleaders, they helped make it fun for her.

And for the sake of record keeping:

Day 5 Pooped in potty 1st time.

Day 7 Pooped in potty for 2nd time!  Wore same pair of panties ALL day!

Day 8 first "outing" to the library, post office and store, it was a success without any accidents!

While the first few days of potty training were exhausting it wasn't as bad as I had anticipated.  Ally was ready and caught on really quickly, as easy as diapers were it is worth it to have her potty trained.  I am sure we will still have accidents in our future but I think the hard part is over.