POTTY TRAINING (21 MONTHS, 1 WK)

After 2 months of potty training, S has started using the potty regularly, with very few accidents (probably 2) each day. YIPPEE!! Somewhere around 6 weeks, S turned a corner. She's also getting better at communicating before the fact when she needs to pee-pee or poo-poo.

What helped S was two things: (1) momma and S using the potty together and momma making a game of it and (2) momma and S taking the pressure off of accidents. It helped that mom sings the song "Accidents are OK" from Elmo's Potty Time whenever S had an accident.

What helped momma was she lowered her expectations. Most books say it takes up to 6 weeks for toddlers to learn to control their bodies, and 6 months to a year (years really) to get to what adults view as potty-trained. What momma learned most from this experience is the wonderful power of praise.

Momma still cheers and claps for S and S still gets stickers and belly stamps, less so since momma forgets and S doesn't ask for them as much.

YEAH! S is on the road to being a potty trained little girl!