Potty Training - Days 4, 5, and The Flu

DAY 4

Same routine this morning: woke up mostly dry, peed on the potty.  My parents came over for breakfast this morning.  We made eggs, and yummy farm fresh bacon from our favorite farmers at the market, Bar 5.  It was a good morning.  My dad left and my mom decided to stay and hang out with me and Eliza for the day since she didn't have to work.  Soon after breakfast, I realized Eliza hadn't gone since the morning.  I was on watch, though not bugging her about it.  All of a sudden she started squatting.  My mom saw her first and quickly ushered her to the potty where she happily sat down and peed.  Again, we talked about that feeling she was feeling and how that meant it was time to run run run to the potty OR tell mama or dada.

Later, we decided to make an outing to buy Eliza some big girl sheets for her big girl bed (that was to arrive Sunday!).  We did the routine potty before we left, and then when we got to the store, I suggested we "check out the potty" there, and she went there as well.  So there I was, totally suggesting potty breaks - but yeah, I think I will continue doing this for a while when we're out and about.

So, again, it was just that she had to start feeling and recognizing the urge, and then acting on it.  She had tried to do this a few times so far, but it was not yet reliable (though I knew it was totally normal at this point.  Realistically, it could take months before she did this reliably).  We got home, peed again upon arrival, and then *tried* to nap.

Then, we did not nap.

My mom offered to take her swimming at a local community center while I worked in the lobby, so off we went.  We ate lunch, though Eliza barely ate anything... and then all of a sudden she said "I want to go pee" (!!!!YAY!!!!).  She and my mom raced off to the family bathroom (I didn't pay for a wristband to get into the facility so I could only go as far as the lobby) where she peed!  A great sign!  My mom said she peed after they got out of the pool, too.

They were in the pool for about an hour and then we left for home.  Right before we left, however, Eliza said "My tummy hurts.  Too many noodles in my tummy."  Hmmm... we had not eaten noodles...!  She has said this before and has been fine, so I didn't know what to think.  On the short drive home, Eliza became increasingly upset and irritable, but I thought she was just tired from not napping and that all the activity from swimming had just worn her out.  She kept saying "I'm tired mama", and was asking for milk, so when we got home we sat on the couch together and she nursed for like 30 seconds before drifting off to sleep.  I was sort of thinking I should keep her awake so we wouldn't have a bedtime battle, but the poor thing just looked so tired that I let her sleep.  About 30 minutes later, she stirred.  I moved her a bit so that she was kind of over my shoulder...........and then proceeded to throw up all over my back and the couch.  EEEEEEEWWWWWW!!!  This was my first experience with kid vomiting.  I realize that it's been over 2 years and that I'm extremely lucky to have gone this long... but wow.  It was disgusting.

Anyway, I won't give you all the vomit-y details, but this went on for the next 12 hours (from about 4:30pm to 4:30am), with some pretty crappy sleep in between "sessions", and then continued into the next two days (though with less frequency).

The good news is that she didn't  have an accident this whole time, and she even woke up dry the next morning, and then peed when she woke up.

DAY 5

After one more...session...which fortunately my husband dealt with and cleaned up, Eliza wanted to go back to bed.  She wasn't going to hear any complaints from me!  So we crawled back into bed and she laid next to me.  All of a sudden she said something like "I toot and have to pee".  Honestly, I was so groggy that I don't really remember what she said (SO NOT A MORNING PERSON, PEOPLE).  I wish I could remember.  I do remember realizing that she was indicating that she might need to poop (we were, after all, beginning day 4 of what hubby and I lovingly started to refer to as "Poop Watch 2012".  Hey, we have to get our kicks somewhere).  So off we went to the bathroom.  She sat on her potty and nothing really happened, but she didn't get up.  So we started talking a bit about how she was feeling, she told me that "I vomit.  I vomit like Belle!" (yes, she is unfortunately already very familiar with vomiting thanks to our kitty...).  So we're sitting there chatting and finally - FINALLY - after about a minute or so (well, no, actually after 4 days), she pooped on the potty.  And we cheered and high-fived and I told her how proud I was of her.  She was SO excited.  She kept saying "I poop on the potty by myself!".  And of course she wanted to look at it... and she wanted to show it to all her friends ("I show Maya?" No, sweetie...just, no.), and then she waved bye-bye as we flushed it down the toilet.

Oh my, it was an event.

After that, she really started to perk up.  I could tell we were through the worst of it, and in fact she seemed to get better as the day went on (and then worse again a little later).  As far as potty training went the rest of the day, it was another uneventful day.  She wouldn't really eat or drink much this day, I think her tummy still couldn't handle much, so she didn't have many opportunities, but she did go at those periodic "routine" times and avoided an accident.

And this brings us up to the present.  Well, sort of.  It bring us up to the present day that I'm writing this, but not to the present day in which it will be published... oh never mind, it doesn't matter.

Final Thoughts

It is very clear that she was ready for this.  There has been no pushing on my part, and no push-back from her.  If there had been any sign that she was not ready at any step of this process, I would have stopped and waited a few more months.  If she had become frustrated or too upset or it became a power struggle, I would have stopped.  But it turns out that she was ready.  And even though she's not "100% potty trained" yet, she is on her way and I am SO proud of her!  She has made a lot of progress since we started on Sunday (it is now Thursday, btw), I can't even believe the difference.  I know we might have a few more accidents over the next couple of months than if we had waited until she was older to PT - maybe closer to age 3?  I've heard that if kids potty train closer to 3, there are fewer accidents and the whole process doesn't take as long.  So, I guess it's a trade off.  I honestly didn't care WHEN, I just wanted her to do this WITH me, and not have it be something I was doing TO her.  And it worked!  Or, I guess I should say... it is working (now, excuse me while I go knock on some wood).


I'll keep you posted, but for now I think we've all heard enough about Eliza's bodily functions.  I know I've certainly had enough of writing about them for now!