Potty Training for Dummies

When I say "Potty Training for Dummies", I am really speaking of myself as the dummy.

As a mother of 1, I can't help but see friends that have started potty training at 18 months and earlier and think, HOW DID YOU DO THAT??

It doesn't seem possible, especially with Aubree's temperament, but here we are, starting to potty train.

Aubree flushing her potty

I want to do things the right way, and when I have looked online for answers, it typically says to devote something like a few days of no diaper around the house and offer big praise with rewards (such as M&M's or stickers) every time she uses the potty. However, because of my work schedule, it is impossible for me to devote any more than a couple days, and I'm afraid it may take longer.

So, here am I throwing everything I read online out the window and doing it my own way, by listening to Aubree.

Aubree has never been one to let me know when she has a soiled diaper. Most of my friends say that their child hates having a wet diaper and has always let them know, so this was definitely hard to face. One day last week, she ran up to me in the kitchen and said, "Mommy, I have a poop!" This was the first time she has ever acknowledged that to me, so of course, I made a HUGE deal about it with praising and hugs, to which she got so excited with herself that she bit my arm. Ouch. Then she said sorry and was hugging my arm, so it's hard to even think about pain when she's being so sweet. :)

That's pretty much when I figured, you know, she may be ready to start potty training. That night, we asked Aubree, "Do you want to go to the potty before we go to bed?" and she said, "Yes!" with absolute excitement. 

The potty we went with, you can find it at this link at Target. We ended up getting two, one for upstairs and one for downstairs, and when it was on sale, but honestly sale or not, this is a great potty. 

So that night, she went in, closed the door herself and peeped in the potty. We praised her BIG and she was so proud, but the next day, I had to work early in the morning, so I knew this couldn't continue through the day. So we are going to do our own thing. We have started every night taking off the diaper and asking her at night. Some nights we have had successes and some-I wouldn't call failures-, but we are trying and that's all that matters. We are going to continue through this week asking at bedtime and in the morning (started today-didn't work), because of working evening shifts. On Friday, I'll be off through Sunday, so that is when we are going diaper-less. 

All we can do is try. That's what parenting is all about. Just putting the effort forward. 

It's gonna be interesting. It's gonna be messy. It's gonna be exciting. 

I'll let you know how it goes! Any tips for potty training? Let me know in the comments!