Trained

We have been potty training this cute little bunny:




Potty training big sister was torturous for me. It took about a week for her to learn #1, and 2 years to learn #2. I was really not looking forward to training little sister. I tried a method recommended by a friend called the 3 day method. Basically, for 3 days, I did nothing but sit with little sister asking her if she needed to go potty. Is she trained, you ask? Mostly. Honestly, I think it trained me to ask her if she needs to go as much as it trained her to actually go. We haven't had any #1 accidents this week, and she goes every time I sit her on the toilet, even if it's just a little. I have not bothered training her at night. Both my girls wake up with a full diaper/pull up. Big sister doesn't even wake up if she wets the bed when she forgets her pull up, and by morning it's dry and she thinks she made it through the night. So they have tiny bladders combined with being deep sleepers. The person who created the 3 day method does state at the end of the book that she is not a doctor, just a mom who successfully trains her kids. My pediatrician told me that it's not a good idea to rush a kid into being trained at night if they're not ready for it, and I wholeheartedly agree with the doctor. I remember that I was about 8 or 9 before I really had the ability to wake up before an accident and not after. I also remember being bewildered if I had an accident before that age. So I emphasized to little sister that diapers are for bedtime only, just like big sister's pull ups are for bedtime only. She understood that, because we did the same thing with her binky for the last year she had it. It was only for bedtime. The book suggested just not giving them much to drink for 2 or 3 hours before they go to sleep, but I can't go without water for that long before I go to bed. I think that just dehydrates them, it doesn't train them. My own personal opinion. The whole #2 thing has evaded her as much as it evaded big sister. For some reason that one is so difficult for them. With big sister, the doctor said it would be safe to use children's suppositories for a few days just so she would realize that it was ok to go in the potty. That worked with big sister, so we're trying it with little sister. We'll see how that goes. Honestly, the things parents go through so they don't have to buy diapers anymore! So is she trained or not is the question. I think she's mostly there. She doesn't use diapers all day, so that's progress to me. The method I used really helped, I think. I made a few of my own modifications to fit the needs of my own child, but I did appreciate the ideas and suggestions because I used most of them. Ultimately, I was glad for something to guide me because I would have given up on the first day if I hadn't been following the book's plan!

P.S. Little sister is not being a bunny for Halloween, she was just playing with some of the costumes in the basement. She is an awfully cute bunny!