Charlotte is potty trained!

This post is soooooooooooooo long overdue wtf.

I've tried to potty-train Charlotte early last year when she first started attending kindergarten. I tried. Needless to say, it was pretty unsuccessful. It put on TREMENDOUS stress on myself cause I was constantly worried if she would wet the floor or sofa cause I'm OCD like that. It stressed me out even more when I have to bring both the kids out on my own. WHAT IF SHE PEES IN PUBLIC!?

So I decided to go easy on myself her and let time take its course. I mean, nobody goes to college still wearing diaper, right?

It all officially started in June 2018, after meeting the teachers on Parents-Teacher-Day. I was told that they've started to potty train some of the 3 year old kids prior to the meeting and Charlotte has been doing really well. Accidents getting lesser and she could hold it in while waiting for her turn to pee in the toilet.

I was surprised cause she had frequent accidents at home, but at the same time delighted to know that she's actually ready.

The following morning, I decided to go full force on potty training her.

The first thing after she woke up was to get her on the toilet bowl to pee. She did. You should see how I secretly hop in joy hahahaha. Then she was on her panties. It was very very nerve wrecking. I was gonna ask her every 15 to 20 minutes if she wants to pee but I found myself asking almost every 30 seconds lol.

The second pee didn't happen as soon as I was expecting cause erm I didn't get her to drink water hahahaha. I later purposely let her eat salty and spicy food just to get her to drink more water.

She successfully pee in the toilet the next time but had an accident after that. She was nervous but I ensured her that it's ok. She just have to let me know the next time she feels the urge to pee. She continued to wear diaper when she sleeps during nap time at night, though. In less than 2 weeks' time, she has successfully transit to wearing pantie during the day.

But it's not all sunshine yet because this girl just resist to poo in the toilet bowl. She would only do it with her diaper on, squatting down. I didn't fully understand what she was afraid of. Maybe it's big? Maybe it makes loud noise? Maybe things disappear into it and never to be seen again? She would just cry and cry and hold it in until I give in and put on the diaper for her.

The thing is, she could hold it in! That means she has absolute control over her bowel movement wtf. So I tried and tried, using every soft approach I could find online. She even loved the potty training song 👇 

And yet no matter how hard I try, SHE. JUST. WOULDN'T. POOP. IN. THE. TOILET!

One day, I got so fed up because she was asking to poo but refused to sit on the throne. She kept crying and crying because her little tummy was aching, asking me to put on a diaper for her. I told her sternly that she has to poop in the toilet or else she just has to stay outside.

I took Emmett with me and lock ourselves in the room, leaving Charlotte alone outside. She kept banging the door, crying hysterically.

A few minutes later, it was silent. I waited patiently yet anxiously. And then, the music came,

"Mummy! I'm done! I poo poo in the toilet, mummy!"

I went out of the room to find her sitting on the toilet bowl. And yes, she did it!

Since that faithful day, she has no more problem going to the toilet.

It took us about 2 months to be fully off diaper during day time (including her nap time). The final challenge was to wean off diaper at night. I took it easy again cause I know she's almost ready. Her diaper was usually dry after sleeping through the whole night. There're only a handful of accidents throughout the last few months.

One night in December last year, I told her that she's a big girl now and that she should wear her panties to sleep, just like mummy! She looked at me and agreed happily. And she did! Before the new year, Charlotte was considered fully potty trained! I can't say enough how proud I am of myself her. It made my 2018 ended on a very very sweet note.

This year so far, Charlotte had 2 accidents at night and both times happened last week. After the second accident, she has been waking up in the middle of the night asking to go to the toilet almost every day. Amazingly, she could go back to sleep immediately after her toilet break. It's didn't really bother me cause every time she's awake for her "toilet break" is usually when Emmett's up and done with (one of his) night feeding(s).

So if you ask me, what makes the potty training successful?

1. Timing is everything

It's so easy to get hung up and worried that your child is a certain age and not there yet. But to potty train a child successfully, she must be good and ready. And she will! Maybe not today. But definitely someday.

2. Heap on the praise

I didn't use rewards to bribe her. What I did was giving her lots of undivided attention, positive reinforcement, love, affection and pride when she's successful. Making a huge deal about small steps of progress is key. After lots of "Yeah! You did it! You shh shh/ poo poo in the toilet!" and "Well done, Charlotte!" and "Yay! Your diaper is dry! You didn't shh shh in the diaper!", she enjoys going to the toilet more and more.

3. Stick to a routine

The teachers in her school did the hard work by bringing the kids to the toilet on a regular basis helped to shape her routine. I think the fact that she saw her classmates going on the potty makes her want to do it, too. I just bring home whatever works for her in school.