Potty Time

About a year ago I bought Ella the Elmo Potty video. My thought was that I'd get the idea of going to the potty put in her mind before we started any actual potty training.

In April I went to Target and bought all of this.

Obviously the Elmo coloring book is to help reinforce what she sees in the Elmo Potty Time video. It also came with a chart and stickers. Later I bought Sponge Bob soap as another incentive. The timer is because I had this great idea that we'd set the timer for every 30 minutes and when it went off Ella would sit on the potty. Great idea, but it didn't really work. She'd sit on the potty, then as soon as she got up she'd walk behind the couch and "wee wee."


Things went great for about 2 weeks. She wouldn't use the potty every time, but she would use it at least 2 times a day (sometimes more) and she'd even go #2, which from what I hear is a VERY big deal.

Suddenly, Ella decided that she didn't want to use the big girl potty. She was done. If we even mentioned the potty she would scream. So, we decided to take a break. We put the potty away and forgot about it altogether.

So now it has been a month and I've decided that it's time to tackle the potty once again. So far it's going over like a lead balloon. The big girl panties just aren't exciting enough, and the Elmo stickers aren't worth it. So tonight I went back to Target and purchased even more incentives. First, some very special Fancy Nancy big girl panties. Second, some even MORE special Sponge Bob Krabby Patty candies (basically it looks like a gummy hamburger) and third, Sponge Bob stickers (Elmo is SOOOO last year). When I got home I told Ella that I had a very special present for her (she loves getting presents). She was excited about the Fancy Nancy big girl panties and Sponge Bob stickers, but she was beside herself about the Krabby Patty candy. We had a long conversation about how it's not good to go wee wee in her Fancy Nancy big girl panties, and how the only way to get a sticker and candy is to go wee wee or poopie in the big girl potty. She looked at me with her big blue eyes and listened very closely to what I was saying.

Shortly after our conversation she said "Mommy, I need to go wee wee in the big girl potty." She sat on that potty for probably 20 minutes, and when she stood up there was a teeny tiny itsy bitsy little poopie. Ella was VERY excited to get her Sponge Bob sticker and Krabby Patty! Hopefully those will be enough incentive to keep the process moving.

Tomorrow she gets to test out her new Fancy Nancy big girl panties. We'll see how it goes.

And for the record (because I know someone will say it), I'm not worried about Ella getting potty trained. Whenever I talk about it I guess I sound stressed out or something, because people always tell me that she'll go when she's ready and I can't rush it and to not worry about it. I know all that. I'm not worried. If we have the same issues that we had last time, then we'll take another break, no big deal. But the reality is that Ella's 3...we have to start the potty training process sometime, so now is the time.