Potty Training 101: potty train in a day!

We have been putting the girls on the potty since they were 18 months.  They never peed or pooped on it, but they sat on it three times a day.  On their 2nd birthday, we got them potties.  With the relocation, living in temporary housing, moving into the new house, traveling, etc. we knew that we wouldn't start potty training til after summer was over.  This was the only thing out of parenting that I was dreading (and the teenage years!).  I had a lot of built up anxiety about potty training.  But it went better than I had expected.

The girls were ready, they would tell us when they were going potty in their diaper, and they would take their diapers off after they pooped.  I decided to start talking to them about the potty in September.  They would wear underwear some days, but pee in them.  My goal was just to get them used to underwear, the potty, and how it feels when you pee in your underwear.

We have a lot going on this month with every weekend booked, whether its parties or traveling, so I wasn't going to push potty training til at least November.  That all changed when Zoey asked me for underwear on Monday.  I was not about to say no and discourage it just because we were leaving Saturday.

I put them both in underwear.  Here is how it has been going:

Day 1: Monday
Harly: Every time she had to pee, she would pee in her underwear.  She would sit on the potty but never pee in it.
Zoey: No accidents!  Pee'd on the potty three times today! Sticker chart pulled out, and M&Ms to reward!

Day 2: Tuesday
Harly:  Accidents still, not peeing on the potty.  She is starting to become scared of the potty.
Zoey:  No pee accidents again!  Did have a poop accident in her underwear. Got M&Ms for going on the potty.

Day 3: Wednesday
Harly:  Crying every time she had to pee, begging for a diaper to be put on.  I have decided to not push her until she is more comfortable with the potty.  But so proud of her for trying!
Zoey:  No accidents!  Stickers, and M&Ms for reward

Day 4: Thursday
Zoey had three accidents today.  I knew we would end up regressing when she saw Harly in a diaper.  These accidents are partly my fault too.  Reason being- in the morning, Zoey was playing with her toys and she got up, ran, and stripped.  She sat on the potty and pee'd, never once telling me she had to pee.  So I got lenient and wasn't asking her throughout the day if she had to pee, which resulted in accidents.

Day 5: Friday
Zoey had no accidents.  She is starting to get sick of M&Ms as her reward, so we are going to go to the store and get new candy to keep her on a roll! Again she went on the potty without being told or asked too!  Daddy got to witness this too!  So proud of her!

I will start with Harly again, the issue is that these girls are outsmarting me with EVERYTHING (and I mean everything, they are way too smart)!  Harly knew that if she held her pee til naptime (which she did one day) that she would be getting a pull up on.  The minute I put it on her, she said, "I peeing."  With her it is going to come down to a power struggle.  Part of me feels guilty for not starting sooner, but there was just way to much chaos in our lives.  I also thought it would be the complete opposite because Zoey is very stubborn and strong willed.  We will get there though, and I am not worried.  I have all winter!

How I potty trained in one day:  I waited til they said they were ready.  We continued our normal routine.  They have been sitting on the potty for almost a year.  We have had a lot of talks about the potty too. I will let you know how potty training with Harly goes.  The hard part will be these next couple days with Zoey, due to I am sure the place we are going to won't have a potty 5 feet away from us.  I will be that annoying mom asking her child every 5 minutes if she has to go to the bathroom (sorry to everyone ahead of time!)  I know there will be a lot more accidents til she gets used to having to hold her pee til we find a potty, but I refuse to back down.  I don't want her to be discouraged and go back in diapers.  I will survive this, and I will have a ton of extra clothes on hand!  Plus daddy will be there to help, thank goodness!

Start of family nights: Family, Finding Nemo, snuggle time

I am so excited to do family nights!  The girls aren't old enough for board games yet, but I can't wait to have a family game night.  Two weekends ago, we decided to have a family movie night.  We don't let the girls watch a lot of T.V.  They watch about a 1/2 hour, but when they have bad days, we throw it on for a little longer just to get things done.

We didn't know if they would sit through a two hour movie.  The longest movie they watched was an hour movie on the car ride to vacation.  We wanted to give it a shot though and knew we could just turn it off and play.

I took the girls to the library and gave them some options.  In the end, they picked Finding Nemo.  There were a lot more scary parts than I realized and just had to reassure them that Nemo, Nemo: (aka Marlin), and Dory were OK.  They sat through the whole movie and loved it.  They continue to ask to watch it every day now.

They then found all the board games.  They were still wrapped and never opened.  We played candy land with the girls and they had fun picking out the cards for daddy and me!

It was a great family night, we all snuggled together and it was just perfect!  I look forward to many more family nights!

big girl beds: Naptime help

So the big girls beds have been a success at bedtime the past two weeks!  Zoey is sleeping through the night and only waking at 5am some nights!  Harly who was our great sleeper, is having some issues and waking up more.  But, she is starting to get used to it now and doing a little better!

Nap time is a whole other issue and advice from other mommies is more than welcome.

The girls have to have a nap.  If you know my kids, you know they can't function without a nap.  They have always slept 2 1/2- 3 hours.  The big girl beds are ruining this.  They share a room and now roam around it.

I put them up at 12:30 and they play with each other.  By 1:15 I go back up and tell them they have to stay in their beds.  Some days they don't fall asleep and some days they fall asleep around 2-2:30, but then I have to wake them at 3 so they go to bed by 8:30.

Last week they did pretty well after I gave them a firm warning.  This week, not so much.  All week they have not taken a nap.  I have done everything, putting them in at 12:30.  Not working.  Putting them in at 1.  Not working.  I have gone up there and and told them it is time to stay in their beds.  One will sneak out and I have to go up again.  After going up there multiple times, it is time for them to wake up.  

My children are miserable when they don't have a nap!  I also feel really bad leaving them up there for that long!

I am going to try and just give them a firm warning to stay in their beds.  Then every time they get out of their beds, just put them back in and leave the room.  Kind of like the ferber method but instead of timing it, going in every time they get out of their beds.  It is only one and they switch every day.

Time outs work when they don't have their listening ears on, so do I put them in time-out?  When we do have to give them a firm talking to, they get embarrassed and cry.  That is not something I want to do.  I don't want them to be afraid of their room or upset with their big girl beds.

Any advice from moms who have gone through this would be appreciated.  I can't separate them because if one wakes up before the other, we pull her out.  When the second one wakes up they panic and scream looking for their sister; plus we don't want to separate them until the day they tell us they are ready for their own rooms.  

Big girl beds: My love, hate relationship

Ian and I had talked and said we would wait til the girls were 3 to change them into big girl beds.  They have only tried to climb out of their cribs once and we put an end to that real fast.  Zoey has always been a horrible sleeper.  Up until we changed her to a big girl bed, she hadn't slept through the night.  We tried everything from the ferber method, to sitting in their room and moving away every night til we were out the door.  She either was sick, teething, having night terrors, losing her duck (aka: pacifer), or separation anxiety.  Harly on the other hand is a great sleeper, we have never had an issue with her and she usually sleeps through Zoey's crying screaming.  It has come down to me just sleeping on the floor in their room almost every night, which usually ends in me falling asleep in there because I am so exhausted, or forcing myself to stay awake to sneak out when she falls asleep.  If you read this post, then you would understand why I am so exhausted...I don't know how to turn my mind off, plus add in chasing two toddlers all day.

When the girls turned 2, they wanted to wear underwear and sit on the potty more.  I am not pushing the potty, but I am also not discouraging it.  I would rather potty train the winter than summer and fall.  We decided because of the potty and because Zoey still wasn't sleeping through the night that maybe we should put them in big girl beds.

So that is what we did on Monday of Labor Day weekend!

We put a gate up at their door, removed any dangerous things, and pulled their dresser out until we get the straps to attach it to the wall.

Night one= unsuccessful.  We had talked all day about being big girls, they watched me break down their cribs and change them to toddler beds.  They played in it all day.  Then night time came and they screamed.  They were asking for their cribs back.  The only way they would sleep is if I layed in their room all night.  Zoey slept in her bed and Harly slept on the floor.

Day 2, Nap time=  partial success.  We put them up at 12:45. At 1:30, they were still awake and playing.  We went up there and said it was time to stay in their beds, no more getting out.  By 2, they finally fell asleep.  We let them sleep til 4, but their naps are usually 1-3:30.

Day 2, Bedtime= Successful.  Because their nap was late they didn't go to bed til 8:30.  We continued to do our same routine that we have done since they were born.  They went in the beds, and played til I went up there at 9:15.  I told them just like naptime that they had to stay in their beds now.  They finally fell asleep at 10.  AND...They slept all night long!  Yes, all night!!

Bedtimes have been awesome, finally!!!  But, naptimes not so much!  Thus my love, hate relationship with big girl beds!

this is what happens now that they can get out of their beds!

have to have a shoe!

and so does this one!

**Next post coming up is asking for help regarding naps in big girl beds....stay tuned!

It's an Elmo birthday!

Better late than never right?!?  We celebrated the girls 2nd birthday at the end of June.  It was during our crazy transition from new area, temporary housing, no car (not a good two months!).  We wanted some familiarity back in the girls lives, what better way than an Elmo party, family, and friends!  Here are some pictures from that day!



pool party, this was their true bday week



Their sign for the party that the girls helped me make!

decorations

more decorations

desert table!

The birthday girls!

friends!

More friends

ready for their elmo cupcake

Loving it!



Their invitation!