When Willa was 18 months old, she successfully used the potty for the first time. Thrilled, I thought she was one of those potty-precocious children who would be wearing dry underpants before two. I was wrong.
After occasionally using the potty for the next week after that first triumph, she just stopped. As if she thought, "Ok, I tried this potty thing and ...eh." Unless I physically held her down on the potty, no amount of persuasion would get her to sit. But she was 18 months and I thought there was no need to force it.
Well, she's now almost three and will be entering a preschool in September that requires her to be potty trained. We have made some progress. For the past few months, she's been sitting regularly on the potty when she wakes up, after lunch, and before bed. And these attempts are occasionally successful. But, although I ask her throughout the day, it is a challenge to get her to actually sit at any other time. One of the traits she shares with her brother, in addition to my dark eyes and an inability to sleep through the night until very recently, is an iron will. Thankfully, I am not easily swayed by tears or tantrums.
Nate's potty progress was very gradual. We introduced a potty at around two years and he sat on it occasionally, sometimes while wearing a diaper. Eventually, we made him take off the diaper to sit and created a sticker charter. He would get some kind of special treat every time he successfully used the potty five times. Going to the museum, going to Bounce n' Play, or watching a movie. In the summer, we adopted a pants-optional indoor dress code and brought the potty into whatever room we were in. It was down to the wire, but about a week before preschool started, he was consistently using the potty without being prompted.
Now despite Willa's early start, she is behind where he was at this age. I know it's largely my fault. I've been lazy. It's easier to just put her in a pull-up than underwear knowing an accident will occur with the latter. But just as I eventually decided she wasn't going to wean herself and it was time to stop nursing, I've decided now that she's not going to just "start using the potty when she's ready" and I am done with changing diapers. I've never fully supported the total emersion method of potty-training, especially given my success at easing into it with Nate, but I think it's the route for Willa.
So this week, I put her in underwear. We've had some accidents and some arguments with limited success. But I have hope that this girl will be potty-trained before summer is over. And then the beautiful day will arrive where I will not have to change one diaper for the first time in almost 5 years.
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