After despairing that my daughter wouldn’t learn to use the potty until she was at least 4, I calmed down and have been excited to see how a more relaxed attitude, clear communication and lots of opportunities are getting her onto the potty much more than before.
I’ve taken a more directive approach to her first morning pee, turning it into something fun that we do together, and teasing her into a good mood so I can carry her to the potty first thing. The result has been a pleasant new ritual as we joke back and forth and then read stories, and frequent big pees on the potty first thing in the morning.
After that, we’ve been going diaper free for a little or a long while. I have been cueing her and working with her to get on the potty when I suspect or know she has to go. I’ve been leaning on my mom’s intuition, which is almost always right, and also checking timing around when she drinks what. The result has been generally accident-free mornings and 2 – 6 pees on the potty in a row.
After morning success, I don’t worry about it as much and pop a diaper on when we’re heading out of the house or on errands. In the evening we’ll often go diaper-free as well.
I’ve also been asking her to pee right before bath, putting on a diaper or leaving the house. Generally, she’ll go at these times.
She’s also been letting us know a lot more when she has to go. Sometimes she’ll just head over to the potty on her own, which is always delightful.
Tonight in bed, she didn’t go to sleep right away so I got her on the potty to pee. A while later, she was trying to crawl off the bed and would not stop. By that point I was feeling done for the night. I asked her why she had to get off the bed. “Pee!!!” Oh, okay! So we went to the potty, sat down and she peed. Awesome! Out in the park today, too, she was diaper free and nursing when she told me she had to pee. I bundled up the stroller and our things, rolled her to the bathroom, and held her over the potty. Pee!
At some point, I’m going to want to start trying outings without diapers. If we get her onto the potty frequently and don’t have long stretches in the car, it should be possible. It’s a leap of faith we’ll have to take at some point, and it’s exciting to think about.