Adventures in Potty Training

Today we began our potty training in earnest. Why today? Well, I really want / need to get Bella potty trained before Baby Abby arrives. I don't relish the idea of buying and changing two sets of diapers. Also, my pediatrician Dr. Kitchens recommended getting it done a few months before the new sibling arrives to help prevent 'relapse'.

Most importantly, we began potty training this particular day because yesterday Nana (my mom), said, "The signs are right, we're potty training tomorrow!" Okay, I can hear your eyes rolling. But my dad always planted his garden by the signs, and I took Bella's pacifier and bottle by the signs and it was a breeze. I figure, it can't hurt, right? And when a woman who provides as much free child care as Nana does says its time to potty train, well then it's time to potty train!

So we got out the pull-ups and there's no turning back. My mom found a cute little gumball machine at Wal-mart for $4 and we both got one, dumped out the gum, and filled them with M&Ms. Here's our strategy:

Bella isn't to the point where she'll tell you she needs to go potty. So we periodically take her and let her sit on the potty. I'm using a little potty seat that sits on the big toilet, instead of a baby-size potty chair. I figure that will be less confusing for her when we're away from home. Sometimes she is successful, and sometimes we just sit there for a few minutes...

Overall, she's been very cooperative about sitting on the potty several times! When she does pee-pee in the potty, we clap and praise her, and then she gets a penny for her gumball machine. She puts the penny in and gets her "special treat"...

...which is two or three M&Ms!

Our first day went pretty well! She used the potty several times, and even though she did wet her pull up some too, I think for a first try we did good! The hard part is going to be being consistent and keeping up the enthusiasm as this may take several days!