Since the end of last year, at 18-20 months old, our daughter has been telling us when she had to go to the bathroom but she had plateau-ed in her progress towards diaper independence. During the 4th of July holiday, coincidently enough, facing a stretch of 5 consecutive days home with our daughter, we decided to take the training wheels off in the whole potty training process - we ditched the diapers and let her run around bottom-less. We knew there would be some wet cushions and carpets in our immediate future but felt that she was ready to take this next step and that the potential accidents are a small price to pay for jump-starting her bathroom habits. This push was enough to complete the training. At the end of that long weekend we purchased two 10-packs of Fruit of the Loom Undies in various pastel colors and patterns and excitedly began to put all 20 pairs on at once - one on top of the next. A Kodak moment, for sure.Our daughter has been in underwear ever since - at home, at school, in the car, etc. Only at bedtime does she put on a "big girl pull-up", although she will often wake herself up around midnight, call out to Mommy that she has to make a tinkle, and rise in the A.M. completely dry.
Needless to say, we are incredibly proud of her (and happy to finished buying diapers!)
We did not go directly from diapers to underwear. We believed that the mere presence of something on her (diaper or underwear) would make the transition more challenging. We let her get the hang of going every single time, with the knowledge that there is nothing at all down there to hold or absorb it, before we introduced the underwear. That decision also allowed us to make the underwear its own reward and a special shopping trip, just for her.
If your child is close to becoming fully potty trained, give this 'going nude' strategy a whirl (at home...not sure your daycare provider would appreciate that!)
During that initial 5 day stretch we employed, in addition to the underwear itself, a pot of gold at the end of the potty rainbow - a trip to Sesame Place (The Sesame Street themed Amusement Park in Bucks County, PA). Up to this point, we had used stickers, applause, crazy dances, even jelly beans as "rewards" for each occurrence and they varied in their longevity and, thus, their success.
With the Sesame Place prize dangling in front of her and the fun of wearing "big girl" underwear, she mastered the potty process.
Upon a successful trip to the bathroom she will shout "Getting closer and closer to...SESAME STREET!!
And indeed she is...
Her big day is this Saturday. She has invited her cousins and is now equally excited about the park and the fact that she will be there with her family.
OWTK will post about the park experience next week. We will review the rides, the crowd, parking, best time of day to go on a Summer weekend, etc.
Jeff
Out With The Kids
http://www.outwiththekids.com
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