Potty Training Blues

With the impending arrival of Baby #2 we were adamant to get the toddler out of those stinky diapers and embarked on our potty training adventures. I mean two kids in diapers is trouble on the wallet and definitely not ideal, right? Potty training is something nearly every parent has a tale about and my mom was no different. She insisted that my cousins and I were potty trained by the time we were 4 months.. ahhaha.. yea okay.

I had friends who insisted that their 9 month old was now potty trained, he only pooped once in the morning and it was easy to train him, though he wore diapers when they were out. Not a bad deal I figured so we gave it a try, sitting the Little Monkey on the potty any chance we got (she was around 6 months at the time). Fast forward to 24 months and she still just sits there and does nothing. Loves sitting on it and letting her bunny go to the potty but that’s about it.

I had heard about the three day training method and figured we had nothing to lose. Baby Boy was arriving in two weeks and it really was our last ditch effort at giving this whole potty training thing a go. So off came those diapers, our carpet was rolled up in the living rooms, waterproof mats were placed on every bed and on our couch and I tried to clear our schedule (rather unsuccessfully) to stay indoors as much as possible for those three days. 

I had recently received samples of Super Undies training pants and I figured I’d use them instead of letting her run around buck naked. Super Undies was invented by a mom and is a line of potty training underwear that is supposed to improve the time it takes to train your kid to get her tush on the potty. Ironically their line fits kids up to 12 years of age. I really hope the Little Monkey is well trained by then! I liked that they came in pull-on (like regular under wear which the Little Monkey loves) and the Snap-on version which is a god send when they’ve pooped their pants (less messier when trying to get their legs out of). In addition you can add extra padding to ensure large accidents don’t leak. I didn’t have any extra padding and needless to say the nearly 2 year old soaked through even the thick overnight ones.

She knew she was wet and would tell me to change her, which is something she never did with regular diapers. In fact she hates us changing her when she’s wearing her Pampers! Unless it’s a messy poop, then she’s all about having a bath. She liked the fun colours (and was too young to appreciate the fun names that came along with the potential new superpower to be diaper free!) and I liked the fact that they were washable. I know irony, I wasn’t a fan of cloth diapers at birth but now for training, I definitely see the benefit.

Well we tried. To potty train. It was exhausting. With two weeks left in my pregnancy I wasn’t the most accommodating or lenient and would get just as frustrated as the Little Monkey. She kept insisting that she wouldn’t go in the potty and would pee all over the house, including the rolled up carpet! We lucked out with one tiny poop but that was it. She just wasn’t ready and the only thing that happened come day 3 was that I was at my wits end. I figured we’d stop for a while and try again. Is Super Undies or alternative washable diapers the route to go? I don’t know, would love to hear your stories on potty training – what worked? What didn’t ? HOW THE HELL DO YOU DO IT?