We quit cold turkey...

wearing diapers that is.

Last Tuesday (a week from tomorrow) we put away the diapers and broke open the packages of underwear.

That's right. One week before my due date, I decided to dive head first into potty training. I have been wanting to do it for awhile, but there have been so many changes going on that I just was a little overwhelmed with adding another one to the list.

I decided to go with the "3 day method" that my friend told me about. Pretty much, you lock yourself in your house with your child for 3 days. Give them lots of fluids, so they have lots of accidents. You ask them every 5 minutes or so if they have to go potty. You make a record of all the times they "go" whether on the potty or on the floor, so that you can have an idea of when to expect to take them to the potty. You need lots of undies, some good carpet cleaner and lots of patience. Having a washer and dryer in your home helps too.

Here's Madi's potty journey.

We have had her little potty for awhile, but the week before we started potty training I took her to the store and let her pick out some underwear. She picked princess ones of course and she was so excited! I also got a few things from the dollar section to use as prizes. I put them in an ice cream bucket. I was all set to go, but I was really dreading it!

We woke up and I told her that today there are no more diapers and she's going to wear big girl underwear and go potty on her big girl potty. We took off her diaper, and got her dressed. Which consisted of a shirt and undies. Yeah she ran around the house in just her little undies while we potty trained. It sure saved me from having to wash a bunch of pants!

So, we went about with our normal routine of breakfast, playtime, naptime and so forth. Lets just say, it was a looong day and I was ready for a break when daddy got home.

Here's Madi on day 1. (Caution this video contains a bare bum)


Tuesday: Day 1
I made a potty chart as a little extra incentive to actually tell mommy when she had to go potty. On Tuesday, the stickers represent every time she told me she had to potty. It didn't matter whether it was on the floor or not. As long as she told me, she got a sticker. We went through 9 pairs of undies that day. At 7:30 that night, I asked her if she had to potty and she said yes. We ran to the bathroom and she sat on that potty and peed in it!! David was home and we all celebrated by putting a sticker on her chart and she got to pick a prize from that prize bucket I mentioned earlier! It finally felt like my day of cleaning up pee and watching her like a hawk was a success.

Wednesday: Day 2

That night, she came in our room at 1:30am because she had wet the bed (which was expected). I got her all cleaned up and back in bed. That morning she woke up dry. The rest of the day was so rewarding! She only had 2 accidents and they were both in the bathroom. I couldn't believe how fast she had caught on. She got so many prizes and lots of praise. We called daddy every time to tell him and he couldn't wait to get home to see her in action. I thought I was pretty much home free at that point.

Thursday: Day 3

Well, little did I know what was waiting for me on Thursday. She did wake up dry, which was wonderful. The rest of the day was a different story. She only made it to the potty 6 times that day. The rest of the time there was either no effort made to get to the toilet, or she just plain peed everywhere. I was SO frustrated. I started to second guess myself. I was so close to busting out those diapers again. Seriously. I stayed strong and hoped for a better Friday.

Friday: Day 4

She woke up wet Friday morning and I knew it wasn't going to be a great day. It was better than Thursday, but it was still rough. Keep in mind that I have been stuck inside for 4 days straight. I couldn't stand the smell of pee anymore and I was just really not handling it very well.

She put herself in this bucket and I was tempted to keep her in it so I wouldn't have to clean up messes off the carpet!

Saturday: Day 5

It was David's day off and he wanted to go out, but I was totally dreading it. Instead we decided to stay home and get some things done around the house. Madi woke up wet, and had one accident that morning, but the entire rest of the day she went potty on the toilet! I didn't want to get my hopes up, but I thought that maybe the end of accidents was in sight.

Sunday: Day 6

Sunday she woke up dry and the rest of the day was a success!! We even went to grandma and papa's for dinner and she still had no accidents.

Monday: Day 7

She spent the night at grandma's last night (mommy was having contractions) and still no accidents! It is now 3:30pm and she has had dry undies for the past 3 days!!

I am so glad I decided to be crazy and try to potty train her before her baby sister gets here. She is so cute and all of a sudden she looks so grown up to me. Her pants fit her little bum so differently. She has this routine when she has to go potty now. It's hilarious.

- she tells me "go potty"

- she goes in the bathroom and I turn on the light for her and make sure she gets her pants off ok.

- she then says "out please"

- she grabs her book and sits on the potty.

- a few seconds later she says "went potty" or "went pee pee" or "went poo poo" or "DONE!"

- i come in and get her all wiped and hands washed and tell her how proud I am of her.

She is doing so great! Those few days when I thought it wasn't all going to turn out so well were more than worth it. I love that she is a big girl and that I will only have one princesses' diaper to change and not 2.

She's so proud of herself and I couldn't be more happy to say my little Madisyn is potty trained!