On the afternoon of March 9, I decided it was time to get this potty training thing over and done with. I was almost dreading this more than the taking away the pacifier. Actually, they’re about equal. But I wanted so badly to just give up on this and just stick with diapers cause they’re so much easier. But I knew Madeline was definitely ready to be going in the potty and I really wanted to take care of it before baby sister came. So I decided to just DO IT. I was pretty depressed and miserable during this time because A) we had to stay home all day for multiple days in a row, B) I had a cold AND pregnant, C) Nathan was out of town the entire week, which meant no relief for me when he got home, and D) it was raining and miserable looking outside, which helped me feel more miserable. It’s hard to stay home ALL day. Especially multiple days in a row. It’s nice to have at least one outing a day. But I couldn’t do that yet.
We bought some juice boxes and set up camp in the bathroom on the first day. We started on a Wednesday because I work M/T, and in the afternoon because I had a prenatal appointment that morning. She woke up from her nap and we got to it. I had read the book “Oh Crap! Potty Training: Everything Modern Parents Need To Know To Do It Once and Do It Right”. I definitely recommend it. The first and second days, we were pantsless and hung out in the bathroom with a towel, until she got the idea. 
We tried to be creative and use the whole house instead of just sticking to the bathroom. Eventually we didn’t need to have towels down all over the house. She caught on pretty quickly.
On the third day, I had her in pants, but no underwear. She had a couple mishaps this day, but she made quick progress! I was completely against buying pullups, but then I gave in and it’s brought me so much peace, especially during naps and outings. She normally stays in one pullup (aka “special underwear”) throughout the day. But a couple times in the last month that she has been potty trained, it has saved us from having a big pee accident while we were out. I’ll eventually switch her out of pullups, but right now, I just don’t want to deal with the accident stress.
Then I read this: (pictured below) and it made so much stress vanish. I’ll worry about nap and night time potty training later! Whew. Madeline is still in a crib, so once we move her into a big girl bed and once I want to get up all night to help train her, THEN I’ll worry about it. But for now, I like diapers at night!
Now she’s a pro and I don’t ever have to bug her about going to the bathroom. Sometimes I’ll as her if she needs to go and she’ll say no, then like 2 minutes later she’s running to the bathroom saying, I need to go potty! I really dislike having to use public bathrooms with her. If it’s extra gross, I’ll hold her over the toilet and get a little work out in. Otherwise, I put down a toilet seat cover and 2 layers of toilet paper. I’m just crazy like that.
Going to Costco in the rain on a Saturday was the highlight of our week. Thats’ how you know it’s been a rough week!
