3 Day Potty Training: Days 4 and on…

Click here to read the first half of this post: 3 Day Potty Training by Lora Jenson: Our Hellish Experience, and if you want, you can also read my first half-hazard attempt at potty training: Potty Training Failure: A Mom’s Disgusting Attempt and some Toilet Training Aid: Kids’ Potty Songs

So, I bet you’re wondering… 1) What took me so long to write this post, as we started potty training several weeks ago, and 2) “The title says ‘3 Day Potty Training’, what is so very wrong with you that you are on day 4 and beyond?!” Well, just hunker down and read, there, Judger of All Ye Judgers! (I really don’t have an excuse for how long it took me to post this. Judge away on that!)

Cora sure didn’t take to the method in 3 days. I was so frustrated and exhausted that I even contacted the author, Lora. Here is my letter:

“UGH! My husband and I have been tag-teaming. We both read the ebook, and he even re-read it to make sure we did everything right after Day 1. We just completed Day 3 (it’s bedtime), and although she has peed and gone poop on the toilet a few times over the past three days (4x pee, 2x poop), she is very inconsistent (meaning, she’s gone ON the toilet probably 5-10% of the time). She doesn’t show fear of the toilet, she just doesn’t seem to care to go on there. I have her marking “Xs” on a board after she goes in the toilet and I also offer her a sticker.

I don’t want to quit, because these 3 days were horrific, and I never want to experience them again. However, I don’t know if we can keep her at home for much longer, because there will be times when we both need to be out of the house!

Any advice?”

Here was her reply: 

“Hello Darcy,

When she has an accident when does she tell you? Before, during or after an accident? Or not at all? If not at all, how do you notice? Body signs before she starts?

How are poops? How are nights? Are you doing nights right now or waiting?

Lora Jensen”

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To tell you the truth, I JUST checked her reply. Unfortunately, you have to log back into the site to check it. It doesn’t email you when she replies.

However, between the time that I wrote the emotional letter and checked her reply, we really got potty training under control.

Although there have been accidents since, we felt pretty good about her potty training at about 8 days in. It was at that time that she was much more consistent. YAY! We stuck to the plan, and although it took us longer than prescribed, we are happy with the results!

Remember that this method includes night potty training — there are no diapers/pull-ups/etc. allowed during the day, at night, or at nap time. Once we stuck to the rule of no fluids 2 hours before bed/nap time AND realized that Cora waking up in the middle of the night was her body telling her she had to go to the bathroom, the night wetting ceased. A success story regarding this was during one particular nap time. I heard her door open, and I expected to see her standing at her threshold staring out, wide-eyed and groggy as she usually does when she doesn’t want to take a nap. When I got upstairs, I instead saw her ON the potty. She said, “I go poo-poo!” Sure enough, when I looked, a little bundle of feces stared me back in the face. This best stare-off I’d had in a while. I gave her a big hug and nearly teared up.

Just for fun, let me tell you some accident stories:

Day 7 — My husband took her to the church day care for just a half hour. Unfortunately, he forgot to tell them that this little girl that they knew to always have a diaper on now was diaper FREE. To their dismay, she began peeing all over the floor about 5 minutes after being dropped off. They told me that, “It was a lot of pee – like, a lot. It was everywhere.” I felt so bad!

Day 11 — Cora has been waking up anytime between midnight and 4:30am and wanting to come into our bed with us, which is very odd, since she has never done this before. This particular morning, she came in at 4:30am. I told her to tell me if she had to go potty. She said she didn’t, and I took her at her word, because she hadn’t steered me wrong the last few days (sucker!). Not 15 minutes later, she awoke from her slumber to tell me she had gone potty. UGH! NOT IN MY BED, YOU LITTLE PISSER!

Day 13 — I took Cora and Benson to a restaurant called Garbanzo to grab some lunch to go. I decided to sit there for about 5 minutes with them before heading back to the car. After we got our food, I reminded Cora to tell me when she had to go potty. She said she didn’t. Not one minute later, she said, “I go potty!” I said, “Ah! Thanks for letting Mommy know!” She then looked down, which broke my heart. Is she watching her own urine fill her boots and puddle on the public bench? Yes, yes she was.

So, all is well. We stuck to it and we found success. I know she won’t be accident-free, but the fact that we only have one child to diaper is a relief! So, to those of you who are frustrated, keep at it! You’re stubborn or confused child will get it just as mine did!

Resources:

• 3 Day Potty Training

Related articles

• Website Launches New Tips on 3 Day Potty Training (sbwire.com)
• 3 Weird Tricks That Makes Potty Training Easy… (dregan06.wordpress.com)
• Poop, pee, rinse, repeat (fifteenwaitfifteen.com)
• Whose poop is that? (dontlickthedinosaurs.wordpress.com)
• 3 Day Potty Training by Lora Jenson: Our Hellish Experience (fitfoodiemom.com)
• Potty Training Failure: A Mom’s Disgusting Attempt (fitfoodiemom.com)
• Toilet Training Aid: Kids’ Potty Songs (fitfoodiemom.com)