Kids Activity - Potty Training 101

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I've been prolonging potty training for a long time because DearDaughter1 just didn't seem interested in going on the potty at all. Then, out of the blue, on April 22nd, DearDaughter1 took off her diaper and said "No more diaper Mommy!". Actually, it was more like "No mo dayapeh mommy!" So I asked her if she wanted to go pee pee in the potty and she nodded her head up and down.

I had looked through different resources about potty training and when the day finally arrived, I combined all the knowledge I had about potty training and jumped into it.

My sister told me about how she potty trained her first daughter in just a day and it was Dr. Phil's method that I mainly implemented. Following is an outline of that method.

What You Need
A doll that wets
A potty chair
Big boy/girl underwear (instead of diapers)
Lots of liquids for your child and the doll to drink

Step 1: Teach a Doll That Wets
I used the Mommy and Me potty system. We gave this to DearDaughter1 for Christmas. The doll doesn't wet itself, but the system comes with a little doll with underwear than can be pulled down and up. It also comes with a little potty with sound effects for the doll and a sink with sound effects. When the doll sits on the potty it makes a peeing noise. Then on top of the toilet tank is a button that makes a flushing noise when pushed. The sink then makes running water noise. When the whole process is complete, the system congratulates the child. The system also comes with a DVD that goes through the ABCs of potty training, a sticker board reward chart w/ stickers, and a button for your baby's potty that makes a flushing noise.
Step 2: Throw the Doll a Potty Party!
The first thing we did was demonstrate to the doll how to go potty. When the doll finished the whole process we gave it lots of praise and told the doll that it would get stickers and gummy bears (DearDaughter1's favorite treat) after 4 successful trips to the potty. Then, we told DearDaughter1 that at the end of the day she'd get ice cream and a surprise toy. We didn't even need to give DearDaughter1 the ice cream or the toy because she was just so thrilled with receiving the gummy bears.
Step 3: Get Rid of the Diapers
A few weeks before the actual potty training day DearDaughter1 and I made a trip to the store to specifically buy her underwear. I showed her the DVD from the Mommy and Me training system and at the end of the show the characters are chanting "No more diapers." I took that momentum from the DVD to keep DearDaughter1 excited about buying underwear. She got to pick out her own underwear, which made her feel like such a big girl. I also bought a 10 pack set and a set of vinyl covers because I knew there would be accidents!
Step 4: Drink Lots of Fluids
I gave DearDaughter1 apple juice and the river started flowing within 10-15 minutes. It was rapid fire pee pee after that.
Step 5: Ten Trips to Potty When Accident
DearDaughter1's attention span only lasted 6 trips to the potty. It was a grueling process, but after the 6th accident, 36 trips to the potty, and 2 hours later, DearDaughter1 knew what being wet felt like and what going pee pee felt like. I was only able to work with DearDaughter1 for 2 hours on that first day and wasn't able to work with her again until 1 1/2 weeks later. Those trips to the potty stuck in her head and when we resumed potty training she immediately knew what to do. For the first official day of potty training, she went to the potty 14 times and only had 1 pee pee accident and 1 poo poo accident. DearDaughter1 has been in undies all day today. She's only had 1 accident and that was a poo poo accident. I forgot to do the 10 (6) trips when she did that accident and so the next time that happens, I will go through that process again.
Step 6: Let the Celebration Begin!
Although DearDaughter1 has had a few accidents, I can say that she is officially day potty trained. She's still in pull-ups for the evenings and I'll just wait until she shows signs of readiness to remove the pull-ups. For me, being day potty trained is satisfactory enough!!!

"NO MORE DIAPERS!!!"