Caroline is Potty Trained!!

Caroline is potty trained and we are a diaper-free household! First time in 4.5 years!  It took some serious work (by both Caroline and Mommy!) but she did it and once again we have the 3 day potty training boot camp to thank! Woohoo!

To prep, I pulled out the potty training bootcamp manual we used with Tyler and re-read it. I also stocked up on M&Ms as rewards, made her a sticker chart, pulled out the pack of Barbie Disney princesses I was saving for potty training and got (4) packs of panties with all the Disney princesses plus My Little Pony. I made sure we also had lots of juice boxes, apple juice and popsicles too. I had Russ take up all the rugs we could and cover our huge rug in the den with plastic because I like my nice things and I had no idea how this would go down. (Not to spoil things, but I'm SO glad I did!)

To say I was nervous about potty training Caroline is a massive understatement! They have been working on potty training all year at school, going to the potty like 7 times a day! Caroline is one of only 3-4 others that is not potty trained and she is THE ONLY ONE that her lead teacher has never once gotten to go potty at school. A couple of the after-school teachers have had success with her a handful of times, but not her lead teacher, Mrs. Madden. I told her that we were doing the bootcamp and the week before she started making her sit on the potty at school a little longer but still no luck. I think sweet Mrs. Madden was secretly thinking "good luck"! But I knew that Caroline was capable and that this would be my last opportunity for awhile to devote the time before Super Bowl and my foot surgery until April or May.

I took Friday off from work so that Caroline and I could have a day just us to lay the foundation. (The bootcamp training recommends not going anywhere or doing anything but potty training for 3 days. We actually had 4 days since the kids were both off school on Monday, too.) We had been talking all week about wearing panties on Friday, so she knew what was coming. Tyler got up first as always and was so excited to see all the rewards and treats for Caroline. I told him that if he was an encouragement to her and was well-behaved during this weekend while we worked to potty train her, that he could have an M&M every time Caroline got one. That really got him excited! Ha! We both went in to wake her up. I showed her all the panties she was going to get to wear today and then we gathered all the diapers in the house, bagged them up and told her that she was a big girl and that these diapers were going to the baby class at school. We immediately put on her big girl panties (she chose Elsa/Anna) and Tyler and Russ headed off to school and took the diapers with them! No turning back now!

Holding the bag for Mommy to put in the diapers.

Dragging all the diapers to the door.
(The pink boxes are pull-ups...they stayed.)

Excited about all her big girl panties!

First try on the potty!

Checking out all the prizes!

That first morning was an absolute blur! I pumped Caroline full of juice (which we don't really do unless it is summer and we are outside, so she was lapping it up as a real treat) and popsicles. She had so many accidents those first 3 hours, I lost count. She would start peeing and then be paralyzed to move. She would stand there, let the pee run down her leg and burst into tears because she was so upset. It was both heartbreaking and funny (in the beginning) to watch. I would tell her to "run, run, run to the potty" and scoop her up to sit her there every time. We were both covered in pee and had several outfit changes.

Showing me her big girl panties!
(And check out the plastic covering out rug...I was SO glad we did this!)

This girl loved some popsicles!

I was really discouraged at this point and was texting with a work friend who told me to let her go commando and see if that helped. And it did!! When she would start to pee, I think she could feel it start to go down her leg and then she would run to the bathroom! Hooray! After a few times, she learned to HOLD IT until she made it all the way to the potty! It was a breakthrough!!! I even put her down for a nap with no panties (but made sure she was on a pad) and she slept the whole time with no accident! By the time Russ and Tyler came home at the end of day 1, she was doing so great!

An Ariel doll and book...2 of the prizes she got for potty success!

I love this little tush!! 

She is sitting on a bed pad here...I made sure the couch was protected. 

Days 2 and 3 were Saturday and Sunday. Caroline and I stayed home to continue to work on potty training. She did awesome and had no accidents! It was amazing! I kept her commando all day Saturday and after her nap on Sunday, she went back into panties. She was ready this time and continued to have no accidents. The boys hung out at home too, but they did sneak out on Saturday to watch the Tigers basketball game.

 

We made cookies while the boys were gone to the game.

Monday was Day 4 and Martin Luther King day so I was home with both kids since were out of school. We put pants on Caroline for the first time and ventured out to Party City to buy some supplies for Caroline's upcoming birthday party. She did awesome in the car and in the store (we did have to visit the potty there) and I promised both kids that we would go to Chick-fil-a for lunch to reward their great behavior. I should have made her go to the potty after eating before she played in the indoor playground because she had an accident at Chick-fil-a.  I scooped her up and we all headed home...I totally felt like that Mom! Oooops! But, I know she just didn't want to stop having fun to take a potty break.

The kids napped and Caroline was accident-free the rest of the day. For now, she is wearing pull-ups at night and calling for us if she needs to go potty. I don't want her to think she can get out of her bed and room too much yet on her own because she will surely be the child that gets into trouble at all hours of the night! Ha! We may drop the pull-ups in a few months if she is staying dry at night.

It was a reeeeally tough first day, but I am so proud of how well Caroline did potty training over all. She is so excited to be a big girl like Tyler and was pumped to go to school on Tuesday in her big girl panties! It was also surprising to see that stickers were the biggest motivator for Caroline and not prizes like they were for Tyler. It proves again that every kid really is different.

It feels good to have this checked off the list and to be diaper free!