Potty Queen

I think it is safe to say that Jaycelyn has now progressed from a potty princess to a potty queen. She has done really well and I am so proud of her! When I started to potty train her this time I wanted to do a little more research about it but couldn't really find the kind of information I was looking for, so here is what I did....

• I bought an elmo potty time coloring book that came with a potty chart and stickers. She really got excited with this because she loves stickers. Which, most kids her age also do. She got to put one sticker for #1 and two stickers for #2. Later in the week, it still kept her attention, but I threw in two mini m&m's a few times also.
• My Memaw bought her a new pack of panties a couple of weeks ago that has some of her favorite characters on them. She also has some with frogs, kittens, puppy paws, and other things she loves. I let her become involved and pick out her own panties.
• I set a timer for every 45 minutes just to get her used to the idea of going to the potty. She's a little older than some kids that potty train earlier so she can probably hold it for longer than a younger child. Even though she didn't go every time she would still try. If she didn't go after 45 minutes, I would reset the timer for 15-20 more minutes and we would try again. I keep a few books beside her potty so she can look at them while trying to go.
• We did not use pull-ups. (after a couple of times) Jaycelyn is old enough and smart enough to know the difference. She would go in a pull up every time. It confuses them and when they wear a pull up they think they can use the bathroom in their pants sometimes but not others. I would put a pull up on Jaycelyn at night and she woke up wet every morning. It's probably best that you limit their intake of liquids close to bed. Jaycelyn usually always has 1/2 cup of milk before bed so I limited her to only 1/4 cup. She is a very hard headed child and I knew that if I completely took away her milk, she would really resent having to use the potty. I put panties on Jaycelyn before she went to bed at 8:30 pm and she slept until 7:30am without any accidents. She has been doing the same since then.
• Last, but one of the most important is Praise, Praise, Praise! It is sometimes really hard to get her away from something she's really into or playing outside, but she has to be talked to in a calm voice and always positive. She loves the idea of being a big girl like mommy and not having to wear diapers anymore. Sometimes, I can say, "Mommy needs to go the potty, can you please come with me?" and of course I constantly tell her how proud I am of her and she's such a big girl now!

This is what worked best for my little angel! We're still in progress but having accident free days and nights. We haven't been out in big girl panties yet, but if she can sleep all night and stay dry, then I have faith that she will do just fine! She's just growing up way too fast!