That's My Girl!

When it comes to potty training, I have taken a very laid back approach.  I would definitely appreciate buying as few diapers/Pull-Ups as we can, but I also believe there is a time that is right for each child when they are ready to potty train and that no amount of forcing the issue is worth the stress and hassle that would eventually lead to them not becoming fully potty trained until they were ready anyway.  Don't get me wrong, I know there are plenty of babies who are potty-trained easily, early on in their lives, and to those mommy's I say - woohoo! 

As for me and my kids I let them give me their cues that they are getting ready.  Once they've started showing an interest in the potty I bring out our little Bjorn potty (that I love, so easy to clean without any nooks and crannies for hidden...stuff) and put it on the bathroom floor across from the BIG potty.  This gives them the opportunity to model what they see and get plenty of practice just sitting there even fully clothed. 

I know some mom's who skip the whole "little potty" thing and go straight to using the BIG potty, that extra step of clean-up would be great, but my kids are pretty petite and I'm afraid of them falling in if they were to try to go on their own when I wasn't around (which is the goal right?).  Of course McGee has gone on the BIG potty for a long time now, but when they're first starting out, our little potty is perfect!

Today Miss Em told me "I need go potty".  She says this often and I'll admit I didn't really believe her (we've spent plenty of time with her sitting going "potty" without anything to clean-up).  McGee and Em were in the bathroom and he said, "Mom!  Can you pleeeeaassee help Em to go potty?"  I decided we'd give it a go so I took her pants and diaper off and went back to the kitchen to finish putting lunch together so I could get them down for their naps (yep - I left her there with only McGee for help).  Next thing I know she's running in saying, "I went potty!"  I went back down the hall to find one little nugget in the hallway (yuck) and the little potty had some nuggets as well as pee.  Woohoo Miss Em - today you went on the potty all by yourself!  She was so proud of herself and kept saying she had to go again, but she was done.  Way to go my girl!