Potty Training: Day 3

Day 3:

7:21 a.m.
Oh what a beautiful morning! After a very odd experience at 12:15 a.m., we have had perfect success today so far. Quinn woke up dry and called for me. I took her right upstairs, and she actually went pee (remember that that had not been working out last night.) She was happy to show her daddy, who is home with us today. I used the daddy card as often as possible, and she has told us about 5 times already this morning and then peed in the potty. No false alarms and no accidents. I think she is still holding in her poop because of "The big toot" from Friday, but we can work that out later. She is starting to sort of dance around or hold her bum a little when she has to go. Tim spent the early part of this way-too-early-morning reading the 3 day ebook, and he has caught on great. It makes me feel like I can breathe a little. And when I mentioned to him that "Figures it would be easy today when you are here" he perfectly noted that it was only easy today because I did all the hard work during the last two days. So, there is peace in the world ... at least for now.

As for 12:15 a.m., Quinn woke up screaming "ouchy, ouchy!!" I think it was the rash on her bum because she was really wet. Tim and I were not on the same page, which made the trauma more difficult. I was really worried when I put her back to bed that this bum thing was going to be an issue. I talked to Quinn about how it is going to hurt her bum more if she goes in her panties. That might have something to do with the big change today. Who knows? Not me.

2:26 p.m.
I'm not great at learning the first time. I put Quinn in the bath again. But I had a really good reason .... she stunk!! You can only wipe off so much pee residue, and today we have not been using wet wipes because of the screaming butt syndrome that Quinn has developed. So she was stinky, and I have been feeling like a big piece of pee the whole weekend. No matter how often I change my clothes ... I can smell pee. So we took a bath. And our routine shows that she digresses a little after a bath. I assumed she pees like a race horse in there, but today I think that she was actually holding it in bath. When we got out, we didn't make her go pee, and so next thing I knew, she was whispering, "Pee-pee, mommy." She was laying down with some blankets watching Elmo is a puddle the size of Lake Mead. Then after that she would not pee before naps. But she was so tired, that we had to put her down. I tried hard too. We were even tucked in one, and she said pee-pee, so I ran up the stairs holding her to give her one more chance. (Please remember my current state when you picture me sprinting up the stairs with 35 pounds in my loving arms. I about died to say the least.) She didn't go. So we woke up in Lake Mead again, and she didn't go when she woke up. But we've had some success and no accidents in the last hour, so again things look promising.

We are actually at the point of wondering what the next step is. When do we put her in pants or shoes? When do we take her out of the house? Tim trusts me to work it out with my magical powers, but I am scared. I think we will start with a quick trip to Lindsay's house because she is a dear friend who will let my daughter pee on her stuff if need be. Or maybe tomorrow morning we will go to the new Wal-mart, which is empty. We'll see.

I get a long break tonight to go to dinner at Aunt Sue's house and to talk to Rachel about her awesome dance recital from yesterday. Since Tim read the 3 day ebook this morning, I feel fine leaving Quinn. I can hear him right now saying all the right things while I am in the other room, "On break." "Keep your panties dry." "Quinn, don't forget to tell me if you need to go pee-pee."

8:06 p.m.
Well, the rest of the day went great. Tim and were both really tired, and I think Quinn was too because she had a lot of discipline problems. I couldn't really fix them because the 3 days are supposed to be all happy and smiles. It was hard. But even when fighting me, we could catch her pee after a dribble or two and get to the potty. I think that is huge. Again, we spent a lot of special time together. We made brownies and sandwiches and spent a long time talking to Aunt Avery on the phone. Quinn showed her how she pees in the potty, and Avery was delighted.

Tim said all went well while I was gone tonight. They laid on the floor together and watched two episodes of Little House on the Prairie, which is a family favorite. Quin LOVES it. It doesn't make sense, but it does make for a peaceful Sunday night each week. She told him a few times that she had to go, and she made it to the potty. This makes me happy because laying down has been a hard position for her in terms of accidents. AND she went in the potty several times before bed, and didn't have an accident even though we had to make her cry it out to fall asleep. I would say that things are looking good.

Debriefing:
So, I asked Tim tonight, "So, would you say Quinn is potty trained." The method claims it will happen in 3 days. I say "Yes" because I think she would be upset if I put a diaper on her tomorrow. I realize we still have some things to master including: using the big potty, going on the go, going while wearing pants and shoes, and walking into the potty and going on her own. But I think most of these things are just simple learning experiences that we can concur this week. Tim said, "Kind of" mostly because she does not go in there alone and do her business, but she did finish, pull up her panties, and come find us a few times today. She is on her way.

Again, my "final" thoughts about this method are that is it wonderful. It is not just wonderful because it basically worked, but it is wonderful because it is child centered and very loving. I have really cherished this time with Quinn to the point that I plain on sending Quinn away for a few days in two years so I can have a similar experience with McKenna. I have seen my mothering from a different perspective, and that is always helpful. I am more aware of who Quinn is and what she needs each day. I can see her happiness and sadness more easily. I am more eager to stop and really listen. I also think her language has exploded -- maybe because of the interaction or maybe because I am have been paying more attention to her words and sounds. She told me tonight during her night time protests as I sat on a chair in her room, "No Mommy, My turn sit chair." That is some serious communication. I love it ... even when it is loud as hell.

One more update to follow. I'll let you know on Friday how everything transitioned. Thanks for walking through the process with us. I feel happier and better for having stopped everything and been peed on for 3 days. :)

Get the ebook at http://www.3daypottytraining.com/