Potty Training Under 2- Ruthie Hart

Yep. I am that crazy mom who decided to potty train her 21 month old with a newborn at home but it is pretty much the best decision I've made (only 2nd to getting him an iPad, praise the Lord for technology!). When I posted a picture of my son Ford standing proud in his new undies on Instagram, a few people asked me to post our approach. Initially that made me nervous because we aren't following a book or anything, we are just going with the flow. Dare I say it has been easy? Ford was just 21 months old when we started and that is pretty young considering it is still normal for 3-4 year olds to be potty training but this is why we started. My niece is fully potty trained and spent a week with us after baby sister was born so Ford was with her everyday. He saw her cool undies, cheered for her when she went on the big potty, and understood that she got an M&M when she went. The day she left Ford told us he had to poop on the potty and he did so we decided to give it a shot. My #1 piece of potty training advice is to wait for your child to be ready. Ford wasn't just ready, he was psyched! He talked about potty, undies, treats for a while and he is really the one who decided to start training. I wanted to share some things that have worked for us and how we are going about training him. I read about 3 day potty training and a few other articles on Pinterest and I got ideas from them but just following my own instinct, isn't that what we all do to survive parenthood?

• Wait until your child shows interest. Potty training is BIG for kids. They are used to going to the bathroom while they play or eat and not even thinking about it. Now if your kid is 5 and not interested yet, there may be an issue. But just because a friend has a 2 year old potty trained doesn't mean your 2.5 year old is behind. Wait until they are ready or else it may take even longer (I've heard of regressions in other areas due to forced potty training).
• Contrary to the bullet point above, we got 2 little potties for Ford when he was 18 months old and had them set out in our bathroom and upstairs in his room. We started talking about potty and showing him how we went and even asking him if he wanted to try. If he would say no, we wouldn't push it. At the beginning he couldn't care less but then got more and more interested and we got to the point where he would want to sit on the potty to "try" to go almost everyday but never went.
• We cloth diapered prior to training so Ford knew that #2 was dumped and sprayed into the big toilets. I have heard that with disposable diapered babies you should take them in the bathroom and dump the #2 from their diaper into the toilet and flush it down so they see where it should go. 
• Once they start showing interest, buy undies. Ford is obsessed with Bubble Guppies and I ordered a 7 pack of Bubble Guppies undies for him online. Buy undies that they will think are super cool (Mickey Mouse, Dora, Frozen, etc). Like introducing the potty, we talked a lot about undies. We showed them to him and said these are special because we cannot go potty in them. We didn't let him put them on until we officially started training.
• Choose a treat. I tried to start with Juice Plus Gummy Vitamins for treats but Ford doesn't really like them so we chose M&Ms. I bought a bag and put them in a sealed Mason jar on the counter by the potty area. He gets 1 M&M per time he goes on the potty, no matter if it is #1 or #2. If it is right around mealtime we tell him he has to eat before he gets his treat. 
• Have a designated potty area. Right now Ford's little potty is in a nook between our kitchen and living room. I have a stool next to it with books because he is already a little old man and loves to read on the pot. He can also see the TV which was great during the first few days of training when all we did was stay home. We have his M&Ms, books, undies, pull ups, and wipes in our potty area. 
• Stay home. I was skeptical of the magical 3 day potty training approach working for us because Ford is so young but we did decide to stay home for 3 days at the beginning of training. Ford was basically naked during those days and we asked him if he had to go potty 2-4 times an hour. 
• The 3 day approach tells you not to use pull ups but like I said above, we aren't ready to toss out the pull up option right away and I like using them. Ford is in undies when we are at home but pull ups when we are out. Before we leave the house we make sure he pees and put on his pullup. When we get where we are going I usually take him straight to the bathroom not just to make him go but so he knows that we can go potty in public (I've heard of kids being scared of going in public). I am so proud of Ford for this. He is very vocal when we go out and tells me when he needs to go and isn't afraid of going #1 or #2 in a public toilet (lots of hand washing!). He comes home with a dry pull up and we go straight to undies at home. 
• We still use diapers at nap and nighttime because Ford is a heavy wetter during sleep. I am not exactly sure how to eliminate that because they don't know when they are going in the middle of the night but I am not worried about that right now. We are trying to monitor liquid intake right before bed (he used to drink a whole cup of milk while we read books and now he just gets it at dinner) but he still wakes up super wet. Funny thing though, he wants his diaper off right when he gets up because he's no longer used to sitting in potty. So that's a start!
• Accidents happen. We are making sure we encourage Ford even when he has accidents. He is such a sensitive little guy already that we love on him and tell him it is okay but next time we go potty in the potty, etc. His accidents in the past few weeks have been so random too. 
• Take a deep breathe. Potty training is hard. It is physically exhausting at first cleaning up accidents and doing laundry but remember it is worth it! Sure I could just throw a diaper on Ford when we are in public but then that would ruin all the progress we've made. Monday I took the babies to the grocery store all by myself for the first time and right when I got Ford in the cart and Lucy in the ergo, Ford announced he had to poop. It added about 5 extra minutes to our trip and I think I was sweating by the time he was done but that is part of it. Potty training isn't just for the child, it is for the parent too. I keep a tiny Tupperware of M&Ms in Ford's backpack so I can reward him when we are in public. 
• Teamwork. My husband has been so involved in potty training and I couldn't have done it without him. Stay on the same page as your spouse and have a game plan. Also, if anyone else cares for your child, make sure they know your game plan too. When Ford stays with my parents or goes to Mother's Day Out, I make sure they will offer him potty or listen for him to ask for it. 
• If it doesn't work, put the potty away for a while and try again later. I hear this is common. You think your child is ready so you try to potty train and it fails. Don't keep pushing it but stop and try again another time. Remember that as adults, we are all potty trained. All the blood, sweat, and tears that go into this will be forgotten. Your child WILL be potty trained!

I read an article about how you shouldn't try any big transitions with your older kids 90 days before or 90 days after a new baby is born. A few weeks ago I would have never thought we would have Ford potty trained before he turned 22 months but I am so glad we didn't ignore the signs. I know it will take time for things to flow a little better and for him to be potty trained at nap/night but I am so proud of my little guy. Like I said, I am no potty training expert but like anything in parenting, you do what works best for you and your family! And remember, one day everyone eventually potty trains!

The Last Leap -Amanda Hays

Today is a pretty momentous day in my journey of motherhood. My daughter, Mae, just finished her last Wonder Weeks leap. I'm both elated and terrified. The Wonder Weeks has been my road map for all my kid's craziness. Is she refusing to nap?- must be a leap. Is she throwing more tantrums than normal?- must be a leap. Is she screaming "no!" at strangers?- actually, that's just normal Mae. Seriously, this information was key to my survival during these first 18 months. But now I feel like I am starting the next part of my journey without a road map.

Does anyone else feel like raising a baby might as well be astrophysics? How did women survive before they could perform late-night googles? How else would I have solved the mysteries of overstimulation, swim diapers, teething cough, and neck roll hygiene? I know there are women who intuitively know how to care for their growing infant- I'm just not one of them. I needed resources to reassure me that I wasn't totally screwing up.

So in honor of my step into leapless territory, I am listing a few more of the resources that helped me survive so far. Disclaimer: This is what worked for me and my family; I know it won't be helpful for everyone and that is perfectly ok :)

The Baby Whisperer

How it helped me:

I've mentioned before that Mae was colicky. Getting Mae on a routine helped me decipher her colicky screams/cries and her needs cries. She still led the daily schedule but I knew what she needed and when to expect it. I also followed Tracy Hogg's sleep training method. Because we started a routine so early, we were basically able to sleep train without having to cry-it-out (monumental in the survival of this postpartum depression and frayed nerves mama).

The Happiest Baby on the Block Video

How it helped me:

It's one thing to read about the 5 S's and a whole other thing to see them in practice. These techniques really do help calm infants, even colicky ones!!

The Wholesome Baby Food Website

How it helped me:

I can’t say enough about how helpful this website was to me! There are tons of great recipes and trustworthy recommendations for introducing foods.

And of course Ladies with Babies!

How it helped me:

Do I even need to explain? Local community and an army of mamas to answer questions... I wouldn’t have survived without you!

I wish you the best of luck and blessing during your baby’s first 18 months. And I would appreciate your prayers for our continuing journey!  

Amanda Hays

The 5th of July

If your 5th of July wasn't quite as magical as your 4th of July you're not alone. We had a wonderful Independence Day. It wasn't without its share of moments but overall it was a very good day. Our neighborhood really knows how to have a big celebration and we were able to spend the morning and afternoon with friends at parties and the evening with friends and fireworks. Its amazing to me that individual neighborhoods do their own fireworks displays - Austin really is the best city!

But for us fireworks it probably where this all went wrong. Lets face it - this really could have gone either way. Some kids love them! I even saw several of your kid’s pictures with the sweetest looks of amazement. Its heartwarming. Thats not quite the experience we had.  Laina was terrified of the fireworks the neighbors were doing and we spent a lot of that time inside alone trying to calm down for the “big” fireworks. We were only 5 minutes from home at a friend’s house but she was terrified and nearly convulsing with every noise. So we left. In the middle of the fireworks.

She went to sleep pretty easily even with all the noise outside but starting at about 1 am she would cry out about every 30 minutes. She did that off an on all night. When she woke up in the morning she just starting calling “Mommy, mommy” which she never does. Once I got her out she was ok. We had a few tantrums in the morning- a little more than normal but over things that usually aren't an issue. We went to church where she seemingly did ok in the nursery (thanks Laura and Kathryn!). But after that is where it all went downhill. I cant even begin to explain how extreme she was acting and how quickly she bounced from happiness to utter chaos. This behavior is pretty typical for her personality but this level was different. Thank God for my husband coming outside and being the Laina whisperer- we actually had a few minutes of peace and it was amazing. 

We went home- she threw a few more fits about nothing and I rocked her while she cried until she fell asleep. I should add that I cant remember the last time either of these two things happened. I have tried to rock her to sleep the last few months (she is turning 2 soon and I'm losing my baby!) and she just wants to play with me. And it seems like years since she has cried herself to sleep. But there she was- asleep on my shoulder. I held her for a little awhile and watched her in the mirror trying to remember how her sweet face looked all squished on my dress. I could have held her forever (but I didn’t...mama needs a break and it’s time for lunch!) So I walked out of her room feeling victorious and defeated all at the same time. I know - like everything with kids - it won’t last forever and soon this day will just be a memory. 

But I just wanted to share this with the other mamas that had a rough 5th of July (or any other day!) The days at the Britnell house are constantly filled with high highs and low lows and not a lot of in-between but that makes life so much more interesting. Having a strong-willed child is great- maybe not today- but I wouldn't trade today for a boring day if it meant losing all our great super extreme happy days. So don't wish away today, or this week, or this stage- but know you're not alone. And know that we have a whole year before we have to do the 5th of July again. 

...jessica britnell