Potty Training - day 3

I've always known that all kids are different. But the longer I have two kids, the more I just keep realizing what that actually looks like!

When I potty trained Levi, he was basically done with accidents by after his afternoon nap on day one. Day two was just spent practicing the new skill and by day 3 he was more-or-less accident free!

Here we are on day 3 with Kayden. She is a few weeks younger than Levi was when I trained him, but it is a completely different experience with her...and I'm sure it would have been even if I'd waited a couple weeks until they were exactly the same age!

Day 1 with Kayden saw the progress of not even noticing that something was happening when she had an accident at the beginning of the day to walking to the bathroom after the accident. She also learned the word "potty." Cute.

Day 2 started out rough because I was SO tired and Levi was tired of so much attention going to Kayden and not to him.  The day evened out behaviour-wise - yay! But as far as potty training went, we were in exactly the same place at the end of the day as at the beginning. There were some successes on the potty but they were no more intentional than the accidents on the floor. She just happened to be in the right place at the right time and distracted enough to just "let it happen." Of course we cheered and danced when she peed on the potty, but more often than not it was dribble on floor-->go to potty-->nothing-->dribble on floor-->go to potty-->nothing. (Continue trend until bladder is empty...)

Day 3 has been more of the same. There is just no bladder control. It's like she doesn't understand which muscle controls that action. Except that she has become quite good at stopping herself and going to the bathroom after an accident. But she can't make herself finish on the potty. The only time she pees on the potty is when she gets distracted and it just happens. So after a few accidents this morning and the realization that it wasn't going anywhere, I got out the diapers. I am confident that she won't refuse potty training next time because we got the diapers out this time - that's just not her personality. If we had gotten out the diapers again after packing them away with Levi (if he hadn't caught on so quickly), he would have been more likely to want to get the diapers out every time he got tired of peeing on the potty. But I think Kayden, in about 6-8 weeks, will be much more physically ready to be trained.

In the meanwhile, I am treating her diapers like panties, pulling them up and down instead of laying her down to change her (unless there's a big mess, of course!). I'm taking her pee before nap and bed...and throughout the day. I'll be doing my best to keep her in a dry diaper so she realizes how uncomfortable a wet diaper is. And I'll keep asking her to tell me when she needs to pee. I just couldn't handle any more messes on the floor with no progress to be seen! It truly is all about knowing your kid and following their cues. And if you're not sure, there's no harm in giving something a try and then backing off and giving it more time once you see the results. I'm glad I tried it. I'm excited to try again!