More potty learning

i figured i'd go ahead and warn you with the subject in case it's not something you care about. It certainly wasn't something i cared about a couple of years ago. Right now it's foremost on my mind, obviously.

So in the last 7 days we had 3 with zero accidents (including today, YAY!), 2 with 1 accident, 1 with 2 accidents, and 1 with 3 accidents. Ugh! But of those 2 i can hardly blame her for as there were extenuating circumstances.

And, yes, full-time potty learning is a major pain in the butt! People think EC'ing, even part-time, is really difficult, but it's not at all difficult. Anytime you don't feel like being diligent (lik when you want to go out), you just put a diaper on. Or use diapers full-time like we did most of the time, but offer the potty a few times a day until they "get it" and ask for it themselves. Super easy! Certainly easier than changing a messy diaper.

Full-time potty learning, though, oh man is it way harder. Diapers would be a vacation lol. As my husband put it, "it sucks being held hostage by a 1 year old's bladder." BUT she really is getting it, she really has been showing major signs of readiness. Not to mention we only own one diaper that she can't take off, which means another however many months without dresses, which would make me very sad! i've also heard/read that there are a few windows of opportunity, and if they miss a window, you have to wait for the next one or it will be very difficult. Maybe the next one would come in 6 months, but maybe it wouldn't come for another 18 months! So, as long as things continue to improve over the next week or two, we'll keep at it.

Why does PL'ing suck? Because you have to be prepared (physically and mentally) for accidents. Even fully PT'd kids have accidents up to once a week for a while after being "potty trained". You also have to time things right. We waited almost an hour yesterday to go out for lunch because we wanted to leave right after she peed, but she didn't for a long time. Which meant that we were also bumping up on naptime (and planning around naptime is already sort of sucky, as every mom knows). And then there's the fact that she's too small to balance on the big potty, so i have to carry a donut ring in the diaper bag. (Ironically i stopped using a big diaper bag about a month after she was born, favoring a cooler that looks like a purse for her bottles and a couple of spare dipes, and now i have to carry the big bag because of the potty ring!) i bought a portable potty ring at Babies R Us but it is way too flimsy and Char is actually afraid of it. So, yeah, i'm the dork with the potty ring but no actual diapers in her diaper bag.

The irony is that she is begging for potty now as a stalling tactic. If she doesn't want to sit in her high chair, "potty". If she doesn't want to take a nap or go to bed, "potty". It's like "potty" has totally replaced "no". It's pretty hilarious but a bit frustrating as well.