That was before E had three accidents today. It was the worst day we've had yet.
It's been two weeks since we started the process, and one week since she really grasped the concept and consistently used the potty.
Other than today, she's been doing really well. She still averages one accident per day, but considering she turned 18 months this week, I'm really pleased with her progress. I went into this with zero expectations, knowing that she's still really young and I'm really impatient but feeling she was ready if I was willing to teach. After way too much research, I was reassured that before the invention of disposable diapers many children were trained by E's age. Even now, many other countries potty train much younger than the US. Not saying this is good or bad, just that it's possible. One thing I knew for sure was that I was never changing a three year old's diaper if I didn't have to (barring physical/mental delays, of course). I was reassured by Bonni's video, that it's best to start before they "know too much" and then it can become a battle of wills. My little girl has a big personality and I didn't want to wait too long.
E's still mostly non-verbal but she has great communication skills. I credit our communication success with attachment parenting (*eye roll*) and being really in tune with her needs since birth, but I have zero proof for my theory and my parenting likely has nothing to do with it ;) I didn't talk until I was three, and was happy to let my older sister tell the world what I needed.
Today we were in a parking lot and E arched her back and protested when I tried to buckle her into her car seat. I asked her what was wrong and she pointed to the flower beds, rubbed her fingertips with her thumb as she sniffed them letting me know she wanted to smell the shrubbery in the berm next to my car. She got out, sniffed, and then happily climbed into her seat to go home. Sign language at its best! But I digress. E can absolutely tell me when she has to use the potty. However, we're still about 50/50 for her telling me on her own versus me asking and her replying with a yes. Maybe once a day I still have to force her to sit and try when she doesn't want to because I know she needs to go, and then she will. (Side note, singing and playing games really have helped when she doesn't want to sit.) I'd love to get her telling me 100% of the time, because I think it would lead to less accidents in the long run.
She still has free access to a mini potty while we're home and she'll go use it by herself. This makes me nervous when we're out and about and she needs to tell me in time to make it to a restroom. I'm going to work on keeping training pants on her at home so she can learn that they're not a diaper and not to be used as such, but to hopefully help catch any accidents while we're out and about. We'll see how that goes.
She's been out with us a lot recently, and has done amazing when we're on the go. She had her first real accident away from home tonight, but luckily we were at the home of our close friends, and they were very gracious! I'm still a little afraid to leave the house with her, but she's proven herself [mostly] capable.
She still hasn't used an actual toilet, just her potty chair. Yes, it comes with us and she sits on it in the parked car. No, she's never actually done anything in the car, but it makes me feel more secure heading into a store when she's at least tried. Today I bought her a seat that sits on the toilet so she can get used to the real thing. So far she really likes it (it's the first time she didn't freak out when I put her on the toilet) but hasn't actually used it. This is a little challenging because we're usually downstairs and our only bathroom is upstairs. I plan to work with her on this over the next few days, though, in hopes of making outings a little easier.
So overall we've been doing really well. We've had some tears and some chuckles along the way, and we've learned a lot.
This morning while I was upstairs, E peed in her potty downstairs and then tried to carry it up to me so I could flush it. She made it halfway up our stairs before spilling the contents all down the bottom half of the stairs. Thanks, sweetie :) She really is adorable, and is digging the whole process. We're having so much fun watching her grow up!
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