The scoop on the poop (and pee)

After our 1st full day of potty training towards the end of June, the girls started to show some resistance in participating in my potty training bootcamp. They started to refuse to get on the potty and asked to have diapers on with no interest in wearing big girl undies. So we took a 2 week break going back to our old routine of wearing diapers and going on the potty a couple times a day. The M&M treats were still given for successful toilet trips.

Once we got back from Lake Tahoe last week, the girls and I were pretty much housebound because of the horrible air quality due to the California fires that have been burning across the state. I had no excuse to not give potty training bootcamp another try. Since last Tuesday, the girls have been in underwear all day except for naps and bedtime. This week, Alyssa had a physical therapy appointment on Monday and Riley had a dentist appointment on Tuesday and they went out in big girl undies! It is such a learning experience to figure out what each girl’s potty habits are.

Riley went pee every time I put her on the potty on our outing Tuesday (4 times I think). I was SO proud of her! Her potty pattern is hard to figure out. Sometimes she holds it for quite awhile and other times it seems like she has accidents if she doesn’t go every 30 minutes. Most of the time, she is not telling me when she needs to go so I just try to put her on the potty regularly.

Alyssa tends to tell me she has to go more often and then she’ll sit on the potty and nothing comes out. She almost made it through a 4-5 hour outing on Monday totally dry. She went once while we were out and tried a couple more times, but ended up peeing her pants on the way home. She seems to be the most vocal about when she needs to go.

Makena takes after me and has a bladder of steel. Girlfriend can hold it for a long time. She has been wearing undies for the last week during naptime because I noticed that her diaper would be dry when she woke up. With her, it is all about control. If she doesn't feel like going, she'll put up a major fight about it. I have various tricks to get her to go. The best motivator is watching her sisters and seeing them with a reward. I have also noticed a few times that her diaper is dry in the morning, so I am planning on putting her in underwear at night soon to see how she does.

Tonight was the first time we have gone out somewhere with all 3 girls in undies. The girls had a water class through early intervention tonight so I threw all caution to the wind and headed out with extra undies and shorts and a potty chair in the back of the car just in case. With traffic, it takes 45 minutes to an hour to get to the class. The girls stayed dry on the way there and we even ventured out for dinner afterwards. They were totally dry for the car ride home and I even had two successful poopers before bed.

So for the moment, I feel like we are making progress. I have chosen not to use pull-ups at all, but just invested in lots of Elmo and Princess undies from Target....and the jumbo bag of M&M's from Costco and a freezer stocked with ice cream! We've also learned that Riley seems to be the most willing to share her ice cream treat with her sisters.