Potty Training

5 Ways to Make Potty Training Fun + Sweet Incentives

November 30, 2017 by Danielle

We’re celebrating potty success with help from our sponsor, Pull-Ups Training Pants! Check out these 5 ways to make potty training fun plus a recipe for crazy cake below.

We’ve been on our potty training journey for a few months now and I’m happy to tell you that our youngest is now 100% potty trained. And we couldn’t have done it without the help of Pull-Ups Training Pants. Pull-Ups products are all about providing parents and kids with tips and advice to help make potty training easy and fun, plus they provide plenty of tools specifically designed to keep children engaged throughout the potty training journey. Pull-Ups has potty trained 50 million Big Kids and counting – so I’ll take this one from the experts.

Potty training success starts with attitude. And if you don’t have the right attitude, neither will your kid. This is such an important milestone for toddlers and it’s also an opportunity for parents to work together with their children to reach the end goal: potty training success! It sounds daunting to so many parents, but why not make it fun?

5 Ways to Make Potty Training Fun

1. Purchase your first pack of Pull-Ups –

Pull-Ups Training Pants help your child recognize potty training as a significant milestone in their development by providing independence, teaching physical and cognitive skills, and offers a consistent representation to your child of their potty training journey.

With different design options, let your child choose a package that they identify with to make the process fun!

2. Singing the “Time 2 Potty” song –

Following the fun path, sing the Time 2 Potty song with your kid to get them used to the idea of being a big kid and all that being a big kid entails.

Time2Potty Song:

We’re gonna do this together,

we’re gonna stick to the plan.

Do everything we can to make it easy and fun,

It’s time to potty everyone!

They’re designed like underwear,

special friends make ’em fun to wear.

So boys and girls sing out loud:

I’m a Big Kid now!

3. Donate unused/leftover diapers –

Find a local diaper bank that needs diapers or donate your unused diapers to a friend or family member with a baby to help your child get used to the idea of transitioning out of diapers and into Pull-Ups. By removing the diapers from your home, you’re preparing for the potty training journey and removing any crutches.

Once your child has transitioned from Pull-Ups to underwear, you can do the same thing with your unused Pull-Ups. My daughter decided to gift our Pull-Ups to her 1 year old cousin (hence the bow on the package in the photos). She may be too young just yet but my daughter knows that all the Pull-Ups were given to her cousin and we don’t have any more in the house to use.

4. Print, color, pose and post with a Potty Training Certificate –

Grab a Potty Training Certificate and print it out for your child. Let them color and personalize it, then snap a photo of them with it to commemorate the moment. You can do the same thing when they’ve successfully potty trained to commemorate their progress and their “graduation” into big kid underwear.

5. Celebrate potty training success with sweet incentives –

When your child has transitioned into Pull-Ups and starts to have accident free weeks, consider a sweet incentive to encourage them even more. We would use lollipops and other small prize rewards to give to our kids when they successfully went on the potty, when they had an accident free week, and finally, when they transitioned from Pull-Ups to big kid underwear, we celebrated with a Crazy Cake!

Cakes mean celebrations for us and this Crazy Cake recipe is one that my husband’s family has been making for years. It’s a super easy recipe that the kids can help with AND it’s egg and dairy free. Most of the ingredients are staple pantry items.

Chocolate Crazy Cake Recipe

Chocolate Crazy Cake

3 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups white sugar
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
3/4 cup vegetable oil
2 tablespoons distilled white vinegar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups cold water

Sift dry ingredients together directly into a 9 x 13-inch ungreased baking pan.
Let your child make three wells in the dry ingredients. Pour the oil into one well, vinegar into the second well, and vanilla into the third well. Pour cold water over everything and stir well with a fork.
Bake at 350 degrees for 30 to 40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.
Frost with your favorite icing.

What sweet incentives would your child love to celebrate with?

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Filed Under: Baking, In the Kitchen, Parenting, Recipes Tagged With: Cake, dessert recipes, kid-friendly recipes, parenting, Potty Training

The Ultimate Potty Training Kit: Potty Training Must Haves

September 13, 2017 by Danielle

We’re celebrating potty success with help from our sponsor, Pull-Ups Training Pants! Find our potty training must-haves to help you succeed with potty training below.

Three weeks ago, my daughter was getting ready for the day and decided to take her Pull-Ups off. Instead of reaching for new Pull-Ups to put on for the day, she wanted to hang out without anything on. What can I tell you? My kids like her freedom.

All of the sudden, 5 minutes later she comes running to me telling me she has to go potty. So we go to the bathroom and she pees on the potty. Woot! Success!

After this potty success, she put her Pull-Ups back on and went on her way. We had a few more successes followed by a few minor accidents but for the most part she would stay completely dry during the day.

This continued throughout the day and into the next three days. There was an accident here or there but nothing major. The next week she woke up, asked for underwear, and told us when she had to go just like when she wore her Pull-Ups except for this time she didn’t have any accidents and stayed completely dry in her underwear.

In no time, she was running to the potty alone, pulling down her pants, and going. So now she goes like a big girl on her own, with only a little help from mom or dad when she can’t get her pants all of the way up.

You guys… when they’re ready, they really are READY. So make sure you have the tools you need to succeed on this potty training journey with your toddler!

Here are our potty training must-haves for success:

Potty Training Must Haves

Small Portable Potty

A small potty seat is a must for any potty training household. Not only is it convenient to move throughout the house as needed, you can even throw it in the back of your car for much-needed potty breaks on the go. Going camping? Or taking a road trip? Avoid icky public restrooms by bringing along your small potty!

We keep ours in the bathroom and take it with us when we’re going places we know won’t have restrooms (or if the restrooms are dirty or hard to find) like the beach and park. I’ve found that my daughter is now starting to show an interest in using the potty so we’ll be keeping this around for a while until she feels comfortable on the big potty.

My daughter also loves her potty seat that goes on the potty that we purchased online. What I love about it is that it includes a small step up so we don’t have to have a stool and a potty seat. It stays on the side of our toilet and she pulls it out whenever she’s going to the restroom.

Potty Cover

For those times when you’re forced to use public restrooms, make sure you have a few disposable potty covers with you! They’re individually packaged for on-the-go ease and fit nicely in a diaper bag or purse. Plus, with children who like to touch EVERYTHING, these will keep your kids clean and sanitary.

Pro Tip: Find the type that covers the whole potty, not just the top of the seat.

I’ve found these to be helpful when we’re at a park or another location where seat covers aren’t easily accessible. And they’re great for wet bottoms because they won’t fall apart or rip on you (ever get out of the pool or ocean and try to use the restroom? Not fun!).

Disinfectant Wipes

My little one still sometimes rushes to the potty a little late. With that, there are a few potty clean ups at home and on the go. We had quite a fun time on our recent road trip in the back of the car… We needed these in to-go wipes too!

Since disinfectant wipes can be easily stored in the bathroom cabinet or close to the toilet, we can just grab one, wipe up, and throw out. I even threw a pack in the car for on the go needs.

Potty Training Kit, Potty Training Must Haves

Pull-Ups

This is a given. Whether it’s for night-time or daytime use, when our daughter started showing signs of readiness to potty train, we ditched the diapers for good and introduced Pull-Ups and she caught on quickly! Once she got the hang of sliding up her own pants, she was ready to use these on her own too and loved the independence she felt when using them.

Pull-Ups really are more than just a training pant – Pull-Ups.com has tons of simple ways to make potty training easy and fun for parents and children to start together, with tons of guidance on how to tailor the journey based on your child’s unique personality. In fact, 3 of 4 moms prefer Pull-Ups^©!*

Pull-Ups provide award-winning design specifically to help teach potty training skills like they did for my daughter. They also provide consistency for any learning style throughout their potty training journey. What does this mean for you as a parent? Less frustration and definitely more fun together!

And last but not least…

Rewards!

We are currently using stickers, lollipops or small chocolate candies as a potty reward. And you know what? This kid love rewards. She is constantly telling friends and family that she goes pee-pee on the potty so she can get her treat.

After a full week of no accidents and filling her potty rewards chart, she was able to pick out two packs of her favorite character underwear as a Big Kid reward. A lot less expensive than the $50 toy my son picked out when he went a week without accidents! But that’s what she chose. And let me tell you, they will not let you forget their reward!

Tools to Keep Them Engaged

We also recently discovered that you can give your favorite characters a call on Pull-Ups.com, which my little girl LOVES! It’s so cool, you can get your child excited about potty training and keep them engaged by receiving a call from one of their favorite characters. This is a great way to keep potty training fun and exciting for your toddler.

Has your child begun potty training/learning? What’s in your Potty Training Kit?

*Pull-Ups offering includes product, packaging and in-pack prizes and activities vs. Pampers^© Easy Ups^©.

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Filed Under: Parenting Tagged With: Potty Training, Toddler Potty Training, Toddler Tales, Toddler Tips

Top 5 Tips for Surviving a Long Road Trip with Kids

August 23, 2017 by Danielle

These top 5 tips for surviving a long road trip with kids will help keep you and your family sane on your next fun road trip!

This summer has been full of fun memories for our family. From days at the beach, to drives up to Disneyland and Great Wolf Lodge, to a road trip to Washington State, we’ve seen quite a bit of excitement. But being prepared for traveling with kids in the car has been something we’ve worked on. And surviving a long road trip with kids takes a bit of planning.

Since my daughter is newly potty trained the one thing we worried about when on the road with her is that she’d have to go #2 and not be able to tell us until we were too late and she got out of the car. Also, with the long 2 day ride to Washington State, we worried about how many stops we really needed to make and how many stops were just “fun” stops.

In preparation of our trip we decided to bit of research to make sure that we had a successful journey with three kids in the back seats. Since we’ve made this trek once before with our two older kid,s we kind of had an idea about what to expect. In an effort to make our next trip successful we wrote down a few things that helped us along the way.

Top 5 Tips for Surviving a Long Road Trip with Kids

Here are a few ways to keep your road trip fun and successful with young children:

1. Make sure to pack a potty –

We simply placed our Joovy Loo in the back of the car. That way if we needed to stop and there wasn’t a place to do so, we could just use the back of the van. This helped us a lot when my son was working on things and just needed to sit on something other than his car seat to help him along when he was little and it worked perfectly for our daughter as well.

It also gave us peace of mind when on long stretches of road. We didn’t have to worry about not being able to find a sanitary place to stop (my husband isn’t as adventurous as I am and doesn’t approve of a 2 year old relieving themselves on the side of the road unless it’s an absolute emergency… just wait till we go camping!).

Potty Kit Necessities to Bring:

small portable potty
potty covers
disinfectant spray or wipes
baby wipes
accessible change of clothes/undies

2. Plan out frequent stops –

This won’t just give your child a chance to “try” to go potty but it will also give them a chance to stretch their legs and get a little energy out. By planning out where your next stop will be you might be able to quickly answer your children when they ask how long it will be until you arrive at your next stop. That’s much easier for them to handle then to say, “Oh, about 12 hours!”

You can also use pre-planned stops as points for conversation. By letting your children know what the next stop is, or giving hints to where your heading, you might be able to create a sense of excitement and adventure as you make your way through the trip.

We had fun picking out where we stopped and made sure to mix restaurants in with quick pit stops at gas stations. I also allowed the kids to pick out one “surprise” at each stop to make it more interesting to them as well. They sure did love the huge gas stations we found along the way filled with everything from fidget spinners to snacks to souvenir t-shirts.

Pit Stop Checklist:

Did everyone try to go potty?
Do we need to re-load on snacks or water?
Did we take all of our trash out?
Do we need to change clothes?

3. Create a fun pack filled with games and activities –

By creating a fun pack filled with new-to-you toys, activities focused on the age level of your child, and games the children can play in the car you can create distractions and, hopefully, reduce the amount of, “Are we there yet?” questions from the back seat. Surviving a long car trip with kids is no fun when they don’t have anything to do IN the car.

Figure out some fun games you want to play with your child on the road. Consider simple ideas like finding an object of a certain color, finding a certain letter of the alphabet, or, depending on where your driving, looking out for different animals! By making the ride fun and entertaining itself, your child will be less likely to complain about being in the car and more excited.

We brought our fun activity backpack and filled it with the following:

Crayola Color Wonder note pads with marker
mini magna doodle
magnifying glass
cars, dinosaurs, and planes
a stuffed animal for each child
books about where we were traveling to

Another great distraction for the older kids is a portable DVD player or tablet that already has their favorite games and movies downloaded. We grabbed a copy of The Lion King and Disney’s Star Wars Rebels: Season 3 (both out on Blu-ray August 29th) to keep our kids entertained on the trip. it helped to have both a movie and a tv series because we could switch from the longer movie for longer stretches of travel and the shorter episodes of Disney’s Star Wars Rebels while we went through smaller stretches or in between playing other games in the car.

Pro Tip: Finding fun crafts to go along with the movies you select are also fun! Check out these awesome Lion King crafts by clicking the button below:

4. Find a great local attraction to visit –

Take a look at a map and find a great middle point between your home and your destination. Are there any fun, quirky activities you can stop and do in between? Maybe a museum or a historical monument. By maping out a spot or two on the way to your destination you can talk with your children about what you might see, what they would like to do, and how you will spend your time at the next spot.

You can also use these stops as teaching opportunities. By learning a bit about the spot beforehand you can tell your child about the history behind the attraction as well as why it’s such an interesting stop on your journey. Surviving a long road trip with kids takes a bit of planning when it comes to local attractions but there are sure to be some gems along your route!

Local Attractions Do’s and Dont’s:

Do – take the time to explore and learn about where you’re stopping
Don’t – spend all day unless already scheduled
Do – consider free or in-expensive pit stops that take an hour tops
Don’t – forget that delicious bakeries and restaurants can be considered local attractions too!

5. Make Sure The Kids Are Safe And Comfortable

When traveling with young kids, it’s important to remember that while we want our kids to be comfortable, we also need them to be safe too. I have 3 kids in 3 different types of car seats right now. My 2 year old is in a 5 point harness, my 6 year old just transitioned out of her 5 point harness into a high back booster, and our 8 year old has now transitioned into a regular booster seat.

To make things easier on us and allow all of these car seats to fit, we brought along the new mifold we received so that our son could easily transition from our van to my family’s car up in Washington State when we arrived. mifold is more than 10 times smaller than a regular booster seat and is just as safe. The foam padding technology provides extra comfort and stays cool, even on hot days. And since it was averaging about 80-90 degrees our whole trip, this was a huge relief for my son.

The mifold is convenient for parents for travel and road trips but it’s also great for carpooling, taxis/ubers, etc because it can literally fit in my son’s back pack. how awesome is that?

In addition to car seats, check out our Road Trip Safety Kit:

first aid – includes bandages, first aid ointment, tweezers, scissors, and an ice pack
every day medication – includes indigestion medicine, acetaminophen, ibuprofen, and allergy medicine
flash light
jumper cables
roadside assistance kit
1 gallon water

What are your best travel tips for surviving a long road trip with kids?

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Filed Under: Parenting Tagged With: Culturelle, Culturelle Kids, digestive health, Potty Training, Road Trips, Toddler Potty Training, Travel, traveling with a toddler

Tips to Make Potty Training Fun for Kids + A Free Potty Reward Chart Printable

August 1, 2017 by Danielle

Check out this FREE printable to help make potty training fun for you AND your child. No more tears, stress, or frustration when you follow these tips and use this potty reward chart printable.

This post is sponsored by Pull-Ups.

When your child has finally shown all of the signs of readiness and is eager to potty train, you may think the journey will be an easy one. But sometimes their interest loses steam. By making potty training fun for kids, you can bypass that disinterest and keep your child engaged! We’re sharing a few ways we’ve had success at making potty training fun for our kids, including a free potty reward chart printable, with the help of our sponsor, Pull-Ups Training Pants.

Tips to Make Potty Training Fun for Kids

Make the Potty Accessible and FUN!

When a child is learning how to potty train, access is key. And when a child doesn’t know the path to the potty, you may be providing a block in the road without even realizing it. Make sure that your child’s potty is accessible and you’re sure to make potty training fun. Whether this is a small, portable potty seat, or a toilet cover and stool that is near or on the regular toilet that allows them easy access without having them fall in. Yes… my child has fallen in the toilet before…

Now, access to the potty isn’t just for when you are at home. When you go somewhere new, make sure to talk to your little one and point out to your child where the nearest restrooms are in the area you’re in and assure them that as soon as they feel the urge to go, they can let you know and you will help get them to the potty. Sometimes kids get nervous that they’ll miss something when you’re out and about or if they’re playing. By reassuring them that their toys will be there when they are done or that they’ll return to the same spot they left, they’ll feel better about stopping to go.

Keep Your Child Involved

When your child is first starting to show signs of readiness, get them involved. Allow them to pick out their own pack of Pull-Ups in the theme or style they like, take them to pick out their potty or potty cover, and get them involved when you’re heading out of the house by making sure their potty pack is ready to go when you’re on the go. What I’ve learned through trying to keep my kiddos involved is that Pull-Ups is more than just a training pant – Pull-Ups.com has tons of simple ways to make potty training easy and fun for parents and children to start together, with guidance on how to tailor the journey based on your child’s unique personality. In fact, 3 of 4 moms prefer Pull-Ups^©!*

Pull-Ups provide an award-winning design specifically to help teach potty training skills. They look and fit more like underwear, which means they’ll give your child the independence to slide their pants on and off. They also provide consistency for any learning style throughout their potty training journey. What does this mean for you as a parent? Less frustration!

Pro tip: Bring a travel potty pack with you when you’re traveling around with your toddler. Your potty pack should include a few pairs of Pull-Ups, a travel potty seat, some potty seat covers (in case you need to use the big potty), and wipes.

Create a Potty Reward Chart

Who doesn’t love receiving a sticker when they do something they’re supposed to? I know I love them. Your child doesn’t necessarily need a physical reward at first. When your child has success on the potty (because we don’t focus on the failures) let them mark off their successes each day on their own Potty Reward Chart Printable. This allows them to take control and see the marks when they succeed on the potty – how fun!

If your child needs a bit more encouragement, you can use incentives after lots of success too. We’ve had great luck with chocolate candy and lollipops. Not only are they easy to store away, they’re also travel-friendly and are small. Once they’ve had success for a full week, you can start letting them pick out an item from the dollar store or dollar section of your favorite store.

Click to Print Potty Reward Chart Printable

Share your Big Kid’s Big Moments

Think you might be ready to start potty training? Share your Big Kid’s Big Moments on Instagram or Twitter using #DisneyAndPullUpsSweepstakes for a chance to win a vacation to Walt Disney World with your family! Hurry though – the sweeps ends on August 4 and you don’t want to miss a chance for a FREE trip to Disney!

What do you do to make potty training fun? Do you use a potty reward chart?

*Pull-Ups offering includes product, packaging and in-pack prizes and activities vs. Pampers^© Easy Ups^©.

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Filed Under: Parenting Tagged With: Potty Training, printables

Potty Training Tips for Parents

June 27, 2017 by Danielle

So the time has come. Your child is showing potty training readiness signs, so you think you and your child are ready to start. But where do you start? What do you need? And just how difficult is this going to be? These potty training tips below, sponsored by Pull-Ups, will help outline a few things I’ve come to pick up after seeing my two kids learn to use the potty.

They might work for you, they might not! But I can tell you one thing. Potty training varies from child to child and can be a drastically different experience from one to the next.

Potty Training Tips for Parents

1. Wait until your child is ready

There is no magic number for the perfect time to start potty training. Some kids are ready as early as 18 months and others will be closer to 4 years old. Don’t try and force your child to potty train too early or else it can become more difficult than it needs to be.
My son started showing all of the signs of being ready to potty train at around 18-20 months. He told us when he went pee and poo, loved to sit and play on the potty, and had a great attitude about the potty. Since I was pregnant with my daughter I decided to wait until after she was born to start the potty training process with him.

At age 2 we decided to try potty training but quickly realized after my son regressed that this would only be accomplished if we followed his terms. We tried again to re-attempt potty training with him, but it wasn’t until he was ready at 3 1/2 that we actually had success.
We do still have times where he has accidents on occasion while my second daughter has none. But guess what? It’s all normal. We just deal with it in a calm and caring way and move on.

Want to check and see if your child is ready for this potty training journey (because it’s not a race)? Visit Pull-Ups.com to check out the Readiness Check List and see if your little one might be ready.

And that brings me to my next tip…

2. Don’t get frustrated

I know, easier said than done right? But it’s true. Your child will feed off of your energy throughout the journey and they’ll take your frustration as a leveraging tool against you. They know they have control over you when you react negatively.
I let my emotions get the best of me with my son and sometimes I was not happy with the way I reacted to accidents. I just wanted him to go on the potty and be over it, but it’s not that easy.

Potty training is an incredibly important milestone for toddlers, and it’s also an opportunity for parents to work together with their children. It sounds daunting to so many parents, but why not make it fun?

It’s important to partner with your child every step of the way instead of trying to run the show. But it’s also important to listen and watch for their cues. My first daughter surprised us all when she decided she was ready for the potty at 25 months. She simply asked for big girl underwear and in a few short days was having no accidents at all.

I didn’t get upset or frustrated when she would only go on the little potties, refused to potty in public, and held herself until she got home, or made me run from one side of the zoo to the other to use the small potties in the Children’s Zoo. We went along with it and learned not to question her if she said she didn’t have to go.

Now that my second daughter is starting to show signs of readiness (dry when she wakes up, verbally lets us know when she’s gone potty, shows signs of interest in sitting on the potty), we’ve started slowly introducing the potty to her.

And she is OBSESSED with her Pull-Ups. Motivation is key here. Pull-Ups Learning Designs Training Pants have an underwear-like design and all-around day and night protection. And she is motivated to get to wear her Pull-Ups when we go out of the house. By letting us know when she needs to go, or trying to go before we leave the house she’s on her way to potty training success.

3. Be Prepared

Because my first daughter didn’t give us much time to prepare and react to the fact that she was ready to go and wasn’t looking back, I’m happy that we had a few key things on hand to make the transition easy.

The key items I always keep with us are:

Little potty – We have a little potty in the kids’ bathroom as well as in the back of the car just in case
Extra Pull-Ups – Once your child shows an interest in the potty, grab a few packs of Pull-Ups to keep in the house. Stash some in the car and in your purse just in case. Pull-Ups Training Pants help your child recognize potty training as a significant milestone in their development by providing independence, teaching physical and cognitive skills, and offering a consistent representation to your child of their potty training journey. So, once you buy those first pack of Pull-Ups, never go back to diapers!
Sanitizer – your child will miss the potty sometimes (or all the time) and you’ll need to clean it up
Extra clothes – just like when they were babies and had a blow out or two, an extra set of clothes is a must in the diaper bag. With Pull-Ups you won’t have many true accidents but it is still helpful to have on hand.

4. If they regress, don’t stress

As I said before, my son regressed after being potty trained for 6 months. He did eventually hop back on the potty training wagon and was successful the second time around. Sometimes our kids might seem ready but they have other plans.

Pull-Ups has simple ways to make potty training easy and fun for parents and children to start together, with guidance on how to tailor the journey based on your little one’s unique personality. In fact, 3 out of 4 moms prefer the Pull-Ups offering* including packaging, in-pack prizes (like stickers) and activities on Pull-Ups.com.

*vs Pampers Easy Ups

Follow your child’s cues and just go with what they’re telling you. If not, you might make it worse for the second (or third) time around.
Good Luck!

Let’s Get Ready to Potty Contest

You could win $1,000 and be featured in an upcoming issue of Parents Magazine by telling Pull-Ups how you got your kids (and yourself!) excited to start potty training and made the journey fun.

Three runners-up will win a 1-month supply of Pull-Ups Training Pants. The contest will run through June 30 so enter now at parents.com/itstimetopotty!

Have any great potty training tips for parents? I’d love to hear them!

Filed Under: Parenting Tagged With: Potty Training

Preschool and Potty Training

April 14, 2012 by Danielle

Ever since my son turned 3 I’ve had a hard time figuring out what to label him as. He’s not quite a toddler but isn’t in preschool. Yet. He starts in the fall but is more than ready right now. He’s social, loves to read and learn, and is obsessed with the idea of going to school “like a big boy.”

But since he has to be potty trained before he can go, we’re doing what we can at home to pique his interest. Since we’ve gone over this hump before I’m dreading starting again even more. But I know that if I just jump in as soon as he starts showing more interest then he’ll pick it up right away. He understands the concepts; he just doesn’t want to lose the control.

But once he’s potty trained what’s next? Preschool, growing up, lots of change.

This past weekend we went to an inflatable slide/jumpy place called Inflatable World. My son had been begging us to take him and invite his cousin to join us for weeks and finally I gave in. Most of the slides seemed a bit too big for him so he stuck with smaller jumpy areas that he seemed more comfortable with. But then he decided he wanted to go branch out and try a slide out.

With a little help from his aunt he got up the wall and after a bit more encouragement and maybe a little shove he went down the slide. Once he was down he was all smiles. But he did make it clear that he did NOT want to go on the slide again. He tried. That’s all that mattered.

I don’t see myself as the bawling mother waving good bye to her baby on the first day of preschool. But maybe I will surprise myself and be overcome with emotions. I mean this happy, energetic, amazing boy was once a teeny newborn in my arms not able to do anything for himself.

Now I have to put my faith in complete strangers to help raise him and teach him. Its like I’m the one with the control issues now.

Its not that I’m afraid or apprehensive about leaving him at preschool either. I am looking forward to a few days a week with only one child. For some reason I have fantasies of days filled with cleaning and working without constantly being interrupted. And naptimes. Naptimes that don’t abruptly stop when one or the other child wakes up or has to be put down.

I know, I know… total fantasies.

Preschool is right around the corner. Potty training is inevitable. And eventually both of my children will be taught by people other than myself and my family. It’ll be hard to get used to but it’s something that’s coming up quite soon.

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: Life, Potty Training, Preschool

Body Parts: Call It Like It Is

August 30, 2011 by Danielle

Along with parenting comes a lot of choices. Choices on whether to cloth diaper or use disposables, to buy an organic crib mattress or a regular one, whether to try out breastfeeding or go with formula, whether to go for a pack-n-play or a bassinet (or both!). There are MANY choices a new parent has to make. Sometimes these choices are made for us, but others are all our own.

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When it comes to body parts, it is the parent’s choice on what to call them. Because the parent (or caretaker) is the most involved in diaper changing and potty training, whatever the parent starts to call a baby or toddler’s body parts is most likely what the baby or toddler will start using themselves. So when I started thinking about what I wanted to call my son’s (and in turn my daughter’s) private parts I wanted to make sure I made the right decision. I don’t mind if they start to call their body parts by other names later on down the road as long as they know what they’re really called that’s all that matters.

And while this may seem like no big deal to most, I’ve watched a lot of Oprah and I know that if a child is having issues “down there” then the correct terminology will make it much easier to figure out what your child is talking about. I recently read that while 95 percent of three year old boys know the word penis, only 52% of girls the same age have been given a specific name for their own genitals. And now that I have one of each I am so happy that I decided early on to call my children’s body parts by their real name. I might not be saying the same thing when my 2.5 year old asks again (in a very loud voice while we’re in a public restroom) if I have a penis or vagina (because he forgets) but that’s a whole other post.

Here are 3 great reasons why a child should know the correct terminology for their body parts:

1. Reduces Cases of Molestation
Teaching children the proper names to body parts can greatly reduce cases of molestation. Often times predators use cutesy names to gain access to personal and private space, however children who have been taught to name their private parts are less likely to be led astray.

2. Helps Locate a Problem /Hurt Body Part
It also allows children to own their bodies because they can name when and where something hurts or has been hurt. This helps parents and doctors to locate exactly where their child might be hurting in order to come up with a treatment/solution. My son recently came to me complaining that his penis was hurting. Turns out he had a UTI. I’m so glad he came to me right away so we could get it treated ASAP.

3. Teaches Confidence and Respect
Teaching them the proper name also teaches them to not be ashamed so that they can be open with their parents about uncomfortable issues. Hopefully by starting young we can build up that comfort with our kids so that when they have questions later on they come to us first instead of their peers.

Do you have more reasons to share? Or do you disagree with this post? I’d love to hear your feedback!

Filed Under: Parenting, Uncategorized Tagged With: body parts, Potty Training, toddlers

An Update to Our Potty Training Breakdown

July 25, 2011 by Danielle

So it’s been a little over a week since I went off about our potty training journey. And I really think that we’ve hit the worst of the worst. Since then E has only had 2 accidents with me. And one of them was totally my fault. We were at the zoo, I saw him dancing around and didn’t take him to the potty right away since he said he didn’t have to go. Well… he didn’t WANT to go because he was with his friends looking at cool reptiles. Lesson learned. Again.

He’s filled up his sticker chart and was able to pick out his prize from Comic Con (he got a plush Woody and Buzz)! Way better than choosing a prize from Target although Daddy gave in and bought him two dinosaurs tonight while we were at Target. And while I thought we were a ways off from him completely turning around and getting back on track he’s even started TELLING me when he needs to go! Seriously. I will ask him if he needs to go and sometimes a few seconds or minutes later he will tell me he needs to go potty. This makes outings amazingly easy.

And the biggest thing I’m proud of is that he’s been working on trying to go poop on the potty more than once. He is starting to realize that sometimes things take time. And he’s starting to realize that his body will help him and let him know when he needs to go. He still isn’t back to his “regular” self but he’s starting to go poop on the potty every other or every third day. I hope we get him back to his every day routine since that seems to be best for all of us (he gets grumpy when he doesn’t go!).

All in all I am so proud of my boy. This potty training drives me crazy but I know that he was ready. I didn’t push him into this. Sure, he’s not yet 2 1/2 and he’s a boy but that doesn’t automatically mean he’s not ready to potty train. And now I know he’s one smart cookie who likes to push boundaries and see what I’ll put up with.

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: Life, Potty Training

It Aint Always Rosy {Potty Training}

July 15, 2011 by Danielle

So I had the perfect plan. I was going to do the 3 Day Potty Training e-book method and E was going to be potty trained. Easy as that. We read the e-book. I stocked up on underwear, treats and prizes. And I talked to E the whole time about how he was such a big boy now that he was 2 and big boys pee pee and poo poo in the potty. He showed signs of readiness as early as 18 months old and fit the list of “readiness” checks that almost every potty training book/article highlighted. So it would have to be easy, right? I mean, yeah, he also had a new baby sister but that wasn’t anything big.

The weekend of training seemed to be a success. By the third day he was saying “pee pee” before he had to go and was going on the toilet. And even when we started going out and running errands he stayed dry and successful. He really seemed to pick up on it and get it fast. I was definitely proud of my boy.

Then somewhere between 2-3 months into being potty trained he seemed to regress. Not every day. Maybe an accident every 2-3 days. Usually it was just when he was busy playing or outside running around. Then about a month or two ago it started getting worse. And by worse I mean 4-5 accidents in a row after sitting and going a little on the potty. I got so worried I had the doctor check him out because he said that his penis hurt. I was worried that he may have a UTI or something.

All tests came back clear and nothing was wrong with him. And I just realized he just didn’t care. Seriously. He lost interest in going potty on the toilet. So I tried something new. I downloaded a potty chart and got some stickers. I told him if he told mommy he had to go potty then he got a sticker. When he filled up a row he got a prize and when he filled up the whole chart we would go to the store and he could pick out anything he wanted (within reason of course).

And he lost interest after a day. He just didn’t care. I would ask him to tell me when he had to go pee pee every 1/2 an hour. And literally 1-2 minutes after I asked and he said no he’d turn around, look at me and pee his pants. He’d also start to run away from me when I told him to tell me he had to go and would pee in a corner. I was losing patience and losing it fast.

About two weeks ago Joseph came home to me in tears. I had had enough. I broke down and put a diaper on E. Told him that if he wanted to pee in his underwear like a baby then he’d have to wear a diaper like a baby. He cried and said no when I put it on. I told him that if he kept the diaper dry and told me when he had to go potty then I’d put his underwear back on him.

I came and asked again in 1/2 an hour if he wanted to try and go potty and he said, “No, I go in diaper.” I about blew a fuse. I was so upset. But I had Molly in my arms and didn’t want to get upset with him so I said, “Ok, then we’ll have to change you into another diaper.” He replied with a simple OK and didn’t resist me putting a diaper on him. After this horrible day I regained focus and decided to move forward with underwear.

The next day Ethan had no accidents. We started putting stickers for when he went potty AND giving him a choice of a marshmallow or gummy penguin (Trader Joe’s) treat every time he went on the potty. I started to realize that even though he long ago learned how to hold his pee for a few hours that he was releasing only a little bit at a time when I sat him down and than peeing a little in his underwear and pants a little later on. So I started to ask him to try and get all the pee pee out when he sat down on the potty.

It was working. No accidents for two more days. But he still won’t tell me when he has to go. He’ll just go try whenever I ask him if he will tell me he has to go. I pray for the day that he starts telling me again. It will be much easier than me remembering every 1/2-1 hour. I’ve also started driving around with a potty in the trunk. Just in case.

I pray that it gets easier from here but highly doubt it. I never realized how strong willed he was until we began this journey. I know we’ll have regressions again. And I will need to work on controlling myself instead of giving in to his rebellion. Because really it’s just that. He’s trying to figure out how much he can push. What I’ll give into and what he can get away with. I’m definitely not giving in. I have 25 years on him, right?

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: Being a Mom, Potty Training

Adventures in Potty Training {Day 3}

March 1, 2011 by Danielle

2 accidents in the morning, 2 poops 1/2 way in the potty (started off the potty but ended on the potty) and 4 successes in the afternoon!! Now I’m off to wake him up to try and go in an attempt to wake up completely dry tomorrow 🙂 He only went once before bed and the method we’re trying says to have them void twice before bed for better chances of staying dry all night… I’ll have a nice overview of the whole process this weekend! Plus we have E’s 2 year appointment tomorrow morning so we’ll see how that goes as well.

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: Potty Training

5 Ways to Make Potty Training Fun

1. Purchase your first pack of Pull-Ups –

2. Singing the “Time 2 Potty” song –

3. Donate unused/leftover diapers –

4. Print, color, pose and post with a Potty Training Certificate –

5. Celebrate potty training success with sweet incentives –

Chocolate Crazy Cake Recipe

Chocolate Crazy Cake

What sweet incentives would your child love to celebrate with?

Potty Training Must Haves

Small Portable Potty

Potty Cover

Disinfectant Wipes

Pull-Ups

Rewards!

Tools to Keep Them Engaged

Has your child begun potty training/learning? What’s in your Potty Training Kit?

Top 5 Tips for Surviving a Long Road Trip with Kids

1. Make sure to pack a potty –

2. Plan out frequent stops –

3. Create a fun pack filled with games and activities –

4. Find a great local attraction to visit –

5. Make Sure The Kids Are Safe And Comfortable

What are your best travel tips for surviving a long road trip with kids?

Tips to Make Potty Training Fun for Kids

Make the Potty Accessible and FUN!

Keep Your Child Involved

Create a Potty Reward Chart

Share your Big Kid’s Big Moments

What do you do to make potty training fun? Do you use a potty reward chart?

Potty Training Tips for Parents

1. Wait until your child is ready

2. Don’t get frustrated

3. Be Prepared

4. If they regress, don’t stress

Let’s Get Ready to Potty Contest

Have any great potty training tips for parents? I’d love to hear them!

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