Sunday, August 23, 2009

Potty Party

We had a big ole potty party yesterday for sweet little Eissa who was so excited about wearing underwear and going potty. We do the "Toilet Training in Less Than a Day" thing and we LOVE it. (With a few modifications. For instance, we don't have a peeing doll, we didn't use a potty chair this time, and we don't give candy as rewards.) This method is not a gradual process that takes place over several months. It requires a solid block of time dedicated to "potty boot camp," where children undergo intensive training. We are not the type to wrestle with potty training and clean up accidents for months on end. We are totally fine with waiting until our child is a little older than the 'normal beginning age,' but then getting it done and over with quicker. We definitely prefer this way. And it's worked splendidly on now 3 of our children.

Eissa has done great and within a few hours, was what I consider potty trained.

The 2 times that she's pooped since we started, she's done so in her underwear. The first time it was actually our fault. Ha ha ha. For whatever reason, we omitted the very pertinent information that not only was she to pee in the potty now, but also poop. We were cracking up at ourselves. This morning when she pooped...I don't know...guess she just forgot. But, she's only had one pee accident...and that was after she had run in the house from helping to wash the car. I think she's doing just fine.

I didn't take pictures of this, but we woke up yesterday morning and had a huge special breakfast for Eissa's special potty party day...eggs, bacon, and pancakes. We sang lots of 'happy potty day to you' ('happy birthday to you' tune of course) and talked alot about how we were all so excited for her and her big day. Then, after we had our late breakfast, we got down to business (around 11am).

Basically, for 2-3 hours we talked about going potty, we read about going potty, we sang about it and drew pictures about it. And, we went potty...every 15 minutes. After the initial 2-3 hours, we slacked off a bit and she had it pretty down pat.

Now I'm just sure to stay on top of it. I ask her very often if she needs to go potty. Then, after a certain amount of time, I just take her without asking her. Most the time though, she will go without prompting if she needs to...I still remind her often though at this point. I mean, it has only been a little over 24 hours.

After the fun, party-like late breakfast, Eissa got all ready for her special day.
"This is Johnnie. What's he wearing? Yes, a diaper." We don't have a doll that pees like the book recommends, but with a little imagination, any ole regular doll works...even one that is at least 25 years old. This was my first 'Cabbage Patch' doll. I got it the Christmas that they were such a big hit. Therefore, it isn't really a Cabbage Patch. Mama found someone that made them and got one from her since they were all sold out at the stores. He's been well worth the money Mama paid. Not only did I play with him and my kids...but, he has now successfully helped to potty train 3 Ebersole children. ;) Thanks Johnnie!!
"Johnnie is a big boy now...he's not a baby anymore. He wants to wear big boy underwear and go pee pee in the potty. So, he takes off his diaper..."
"...and puts on big boy underwear."
"See Johnnie in his new underwear?"
"And when Johnnie needs to go potty, he pulls his underwear down and...
...Johnnie pee pees on his potty."
Choosing her very own underwear and putting them on.

Eissa's turn to try on her potty!!
With everyone cheering her on!
Then we read all about people (or animals...whatever) who had gone before her, blazing the trail in potty training.


And time for another potty break. "Yay!"
Always an audience. ;)
Then it was time to draw some potty pictures.

Everyone was involved. Here, Grady puts a check mark on Eissa's chart. He and Hadley took turns. After 5 potty breaks, she got a sticker. Cass was right in there too...giving lots of cheers and claps for Eissa. ;)



She is still using a diaper for naps and nighttime...pull-ups aren't readily available here, so diapers have to work...but, we just call them pull-ups after they are potty-trained. ;) In fact, my older 2 still use 'pull-ups.' Several in the family have had this 'issue.' The bright side: I'm very glad I have such great sleepers. ;)

They don't always wet their pull-ups, but they still require them. As long as we are on this subject, I'll share this product with you. I am about to get this product for my 'bedwetters.' You can obviously get the male or female version. I've heard great things about this product...actually, I've only heard success stories. So, hopefully soon, we will only have literally one child in diapers. I'll be sure to give you a product review after I try it.

Also, a follow-up product review regarding the diaper liners since I'm talking about product reviews...
The Bummis Bio-Soft Liners are definitely the winners in our book. They are, as they say, super soft. That is the downfall to some...the others that we tried can be washed a few times if only peed on and not soiled and then re-used. But, Bummis are so soft that they cannot be washed. We personally prefer the softness though. They still guard the diaper and hold the poo spectacularly...and are soft on baby's bum. So, yes...Bummis Bio-Soft...clear winner for the Ebersoles.

Alright, I think that's all the potty talk I have for today. ;)

Yay, Eissa...you are such a big girl now!! We are so proud of you!!!!

10 comments:

Alice said...

Yay Eissa!!!! What a big girl! This is about the cutest way to potty train that I have ever seen! :) I loved seeing all the photos and the (very sweet!) video clip.

I am like you with the late potty training - I do it because I dread drawn-out potty training and cleaning up messes forever! We wait till age 3 and a quarter unless BEGGED before then, haha! ;) Waiting till Arthur was 3 and a quarter worked great - he required no intervention from us at all after 5 days, even to remind him to go, and he chose to night-train a couple of weeks later (which I was dubious about!) and did fine. Matthew will be 3 and a quarter next month, so I'm hoping it works as well for him!

Also, I LOVE your new blog layout! :)

Unknown said...

AWESOME idea!! I have to say, potty training has been my biggest challenge to date with both of my kiddos. It was easier with kid #2, but still.....I was pulling my hair out. Wish I had known about your technique then. ;) For any possible future babies though....I'm bookmarking this page!

Anonymous said...

Way to go Eissa and family!
Love y'all!
Aunt Marilyn

Anonymous said...

You are so big in your big girl underwear, Eissa!!!! You are a smart girl! Your family really helped you learn to wear the new underwear. I love you.
Love,
Granny

Unknown said...

How old is Eissa? When do you suggest starting? Aidan is two and a half and has peed in the potty twice now...but its not a constant thing. What do you suggest?

Steph said...

hooray for eissa! sadly it took me till i read most of the post to realize you were NOT talking about cass. i was thinking, "wow meeechawn, yall are doing awesome she's still sooo young" then i realized it was eissa NOT cass.

crazy:)

js said...

What a big girl! Go mom! I know that's not easy.

Kari said...

Hey Michawn, my sister Dana Ryan sent me your link because we've been frustrated with potty training. My son is almost 3. How old are your kids when you do this?

Kari Mellon

Michawn said...

Hi Kari!! Great to hear from you.

O.K....my first, a boy, was 3 years and 2 months old. For us, with him, that's really just when it worked out. They say not to potty train during big life events, so we had to squeeze him in between our 3rd child being born and an international move. We had tried to do it a few months before the 3rd child's birth (when he was 2 years 4 months), but he just wasn't getting it.

Really, with *all* of them we had to squeeze the potty training in between big life events, whether it was babies being born, a move, or traveling internationally. ;) Although that was the case and the timing was really all about circumstances for us, we wouldn't have (and probably won't in the future) gone any earlier than the 2 years 9 months mark or so. And they say that usually with a boy, it's best to wait 'til later anyway (some say across the board that after 3 is best for boys).

My 2nd, a girl, was 2 years 9 months. My 3rd, another girl (the one this blog post is about), was 2 years 10 months.

It's worked really, really well for us. After I posted this, I don't think she ever had more accidents...except for the ones that have happened because she just waits and waits too long when she is outside playing with friends or something...and all kids do that (not a question of being potty-trained or not). Hope you have success. Let me know if you have any other questions. Good luck!

Kari said...

Michawn, thanks for your reply. It was helpful. I think we're going to try to have a potty party this Saturday. Brayden seems to be more interested and wants to wear underwear. I'll let you know how it goes. :) Oh, one more question. Once you did this was that it, you didn't put a diaper on them at all except for sleeping? I just don't want to confuse him by putting one one when we go out, but what do you do about accidents?