I participated in a campaign on behalf of Mom Central Consulting (#MC) for Pull-Ups. I received product samples to facilitate my review and a promotional item as a thank you for participating
A couple of weeks ago, I wrote about how Mimi completely surprised us with her sudden desire to “be a big girl” and use the potty on her own … all day, every day.
So many friends told me to knock on wood and not say it out loud because I might jink myself.
Well, maybe I’m tempting fate here, because it’s been a few weeks, and with the exception of a couple of accidents, I’d say Mimi is 99% potty-trained.
It’s crazy.
She’s super independent about it, too. She’ll announce she has to use the potty and run to the bathroom and close the door because she needs “privacy.” However, we learned the hard way that you have to catch her BEFORE she attempts to grab toilet paper; otherwise, she’ll use half the roll and suddenly you have an overflowing toilet.
Good times.
Can I also just say the best part about potty training a girl? Minimal clean-up. Good lord, Buddy would use the bathroom and hit every mark except the toilet (who am I kidding, that STILL sometimes happens. Gotta love boys.)
We’ve been keeping Mimi in her Huggies® Pull-Ups at nighttime (which she loves … particularly since they have Minnie Mouse on them) and (again, tempting fate here) she wakes up dry five out of seven nights of the week.
But I know firsthand from Buddy that this experience is pretty unusual (or maybe it’s more typical of a girl?). For many parents, potty training can be a long, arduous and sometimes stressful experience. I wish I’d had the support of the Huggies Big Kid Academy back then, because as a first-time mom, I had so many questions and concerns and frustrations when it came to potty training.
However, one thing that has been a huge potty training blessing for both kids was daycare. I think it was so helpful for them to see their peers using the potty and wearing “big kid underpants”; talk about motivation! Plus their teachers were so patient and (if we’re being honest) were sooo much better than we were about having them make regular bathroom visits throughout the day. And they were much more relaxed and laid-back about it.
Although in both cases, I learned the most important thing is to maintain consistency. So if you do stamps or stickers at home as a reward for using the potty, see if the daycare provider can do the same … or vice versa. And be sure to communicate! Maybe your daycare provider is noticing your child tends to have accidents around a certain time of day (like before nap), or it seems your child need to be prompted every hour to go … you know, that sort of thing. There’s actually a great article about this topic on the Big Kid Academy website.
In addition to all the resources on the Bid Kid Academy on the Pull-Ups website (along with Facebook and Twitter), they also have a really fun (and free!) app that provides more ways to not only celebrate your child’s potty train success, but also encourage it.
For example, you can also set up a special “potty encouragement call” for your little one. Mimi was so excited to get a phone call last night from Minnie! There’s also a timer, so you can get an alert every so often to remind your child to use the potty, and a “Night Time” checklist.
You can download the app here to try it for yourself!
Chelley @ A is For Adelaide says
I’ve heard girls are easier… but sharing this will make it easier for us (girl!) for sure. Thanks for this post!
Jessica says
Girls are also MUCH cleaner and less messier, too, when it comes to potty training 🙂
Jackie says
Go Mimi! YEAHHHH!!!! What a great accomplishment for EVERYONE. Especially mommy. 😉 In my experience, oh good Lord, girls are SO much easier than boys. 😉 At age two, my son would sit on the potty for 45 minutes, and nothing would happen if you know what I mean. Then he’d get in my car (without anything) and go …if you know what I mean. It never failed. I thought he would end up wearing diapers to kindergarten, but you know what? One day, boys decide they are big boys. And then that’s it. A couple days after he turned three he was completely trained with no accidents!
Jessica says
LOL – I thought the same thing about my son and kindergarten 🙂 Fingers crossed that she keeps this up!!!! I’ll be so mad if I jinxed myself 😉
Joanna says
Congrats! We haven’t really started yet with my daughter but I remember consistency being key with my son. I’m kind of dreading it but am always thankful for Pull ups!
Jessica says
Pull-Ups have been a godsend, especially at nighttime!
Heather @ Kraus House Mom says
My son decided on his own. He just said one day that he was “done with diapers” and never used one again and hardly used Pull ups either. My daughters were pure torture, especially my oldest, she was just too lazy to get up in the morning. I hope she keeps it up!
Jessica says
Thanks! These kiddos like to keep us on our toes, don’t they??
joy says
Landon was a pain. I am jealous of anyone who has a smoother run at potty training than i do!
Jessica says
My older son was not an easy child to potty train either, so I feel your pain 🙂
Courtney Buteau says
It was a slow process for my daughter as she was turning 3 because I just kept asking her when I went or shortly after she ate or drank. Sometimes she was interested, sometimes not. Then one day she asked to wear underwear instead and I was like “OK, this should be interesting.” We had a few accidents that day because she forgot she was wearing them, but a few days later she was literally completely potty trained. I was amazed. She wore overnights for a few months, but now at 3 1/2 she doesn’t need them. My son is going to be the complete opposite, I can feel it. Because he already does everything she didn’t! Congrats to your little girl!!
Jessica says
Isn’t it crazy how different each kid is when it comes to potty training?? My daughter actually got up last night to use the potty, then went back to sleep. My son was probably close to 5 before we did that!