Potty Training

So I have decided that it is time to start potty training Sarah. She is old enough and it is very expensive having two kids in diapers. About a year ago she was really interested and excited about the potty and I tried to start training her and even got her to go on the potty a few times. But then I found out I was pregnant and I had horrible "morning sickness". Potty training went out the window at that point because I was so sick and it lasted the entire pregnancy.

Sarah will be 2 1/2 at the end of this month so it's time to get her trained. I know she can use the potty and occasionally will but it's not consistent and she loves her diapers. After reading a few books I decided the best way to do this for Sarah would be to buy a ton of underwear and just have her wear them all day long. Periodically I will take her to the potty and have her try to go. I expect many accidents but I think going cold turkey will be best for her. I will still use a pull-up at night for a while.

Today is our first day of potty training. So far it has been a long day. When we woke up this morning I explained to Sarah that we were done with diapers and she was going to wear big girl underwear and use the potty like mommy and daddy and all her friends who are potty trained. Of course the underwear I bought was Disney princess and Tinkerbell so she was excited to wear them. Not too long after I put her in them she had an accident. I did not lecture her and calmly took her to the bathroom cleaned her up and put dry underwear on her. Right after breakfast she sat on the potty for a while and went poop! I was so excited for her and made a big deal out of it. I gave her a sticker and then lit a candle, sang a potty song (something I just made up) and had her blow out the candle. She loves stickers and thought it was so fun to blow out the candle.

After that we went downstairs to watch a movie. I continued to take her to the potty every 30 minutes and she got tired of it very quickly. She didn't want to use the potty and started holding her pee. I tried to encourage her but didn't force her so I kept trying and after an hour was able to get her to at least sit on the potty. She had a few more accidents and finally after lunch she went pee on the potty. I made a huge deal out of it and got all excited and sang the potty song. Sarah got up and danced and tried to sing along with me. She was so proud of herself and so was I. I gave her another sticker and lit the candle for her to blow out again. Right now she is taking a nap and I put her in a pull-up for it. I explained what it was for and I also told her that as soon as she woke up from her nap we would sit on the potty again. After I shut her door she started singing the potty song to herself. It was so cute!

I got really discouraged this morning and started to wonder why I was doing this but we are starting to make some exciting progress so I feel much better about it. We'll see how the rest of this evening goes.