Potty Training - Day One

So I've gone a little bit against my own advice and decided to start potty training...BOTH of my toddlers at once. I may be on the verge of insanity...but I thought I'd give a specific method a whirl. It's the famous 3-day potty training method, by Lora Jensen. She guarantees that if you follow her method to a T, then it WILL work and you will have a fully potty-trained toddler in three days or less. Sounds good to me! :)

I guess I'm not like many other mommies I know, because I really don't care that my kids aren't potty-trained. Sure...diapers can get pricey...but use some coupons and make them stretch...or have some super giving grandparents who enjoy blessing you with diapers and pull-ups...and you won't care as much! :) If you think about it, life is actually MUCH easier with two in diapers (though my son has been poop-trained for almost a year now), than it is with two newly potty-trained toddlers.

As I am in the midst of this, I can't help but imagine what my outings are going to look like now that they are potty-trained. I'm going to have two toddlers who will probably both have to go at once...holding themselves, doing the potty dance...and then I'm going to have to rush them to a public toilet somewhere and decide who has to go worse. And if we don't get there in time, the dreadful accident occurs...with pee dripping down their little legs, forming a lovely puddle of urine on the floor. And I get to kneel down and wipe it all up...and get them all cleaned up...and have an entire extra set of clothes to change them in to...and a big bag to store the pee-soaked ones.

Call me crazy, but isn't that A LOT more work than what I'm doing now? I mean...when I go out, we worry about NOTHING. Sure...I'll take a couple of extra diapers in case she poops. But she usually doesn't. So we go out for a few hours, they go pee in their pull-ups/diapers, and I change them in the comfort of my home. Why would I want to end this easiness?

I have always maintained that I will wait until they are absolutely ready...as in...they are ASKING to wear underwear and to use the toilet. I just don't want to deal with a gazillion accidents or the stress of going out with newly potty-trained little ones. So why on earth am I doing this to myself? I DON'T KNOW!!

Maybe it's social pressure...Isaac is over 3-years-old now, and "should" be trained. He is totally trained on the poop side of things...just prefers to use his pull-up to pee. (And quite frankly, I kind of like that he does that too.) But I feel like I "should" be doing this because it's time. I heard of this 3-day method and it sounds pretty straight-forward. So I thought...WHY NOT?!?

But now, one day into it, I'm wondering...WHY? :) But I'm going to stick it out for the duration of the three days. If, by the end of the third day, they are still not "getting it" then I'm going to revisit the convenience of diapers/pull-ups again. I knew that she wrote that I'd be exhausted after the first day...and boy was she right! Whew! Here is our progress report for Day One:

I am COMPLETELY exhausted. I am wondering if it would have been better to do one child at a time! UGH. SO tempted to give up with Naomi, but going to suck it up and stick it out through the end of the three days. If she's not 100% potty trained by then, I'll have no problem waiting awhile longer for her. Naomi did make it on the potty 4 times today, but had 12 accidents, most of which were preceded by 3 or 4 "false alarms" in which she tried to go, but her body wouldn't release. Big E for effort, though. She did good. And Isaac had 3 accidents and went on the toilet more times that I can even count! He was HIGHLY motivated by all of the stickers/treats/rewards, and therefore likely peed more often than he actually needed to. Haha! He also woke up completely dry after a 3-hour nap which surprised us all. :) I'm guessing he'll be officially potty-trained by the end of tomorrow. Still a bit nervous about tonight, though. Naomi would NOT pee before bed and hadn't gone since having an accident an hour earlier. So we'll probably need to wake her up in an hour to have her go, but she can't make herself, so not quite sure how this is going to work. Really makes me wish we could just keep her in diapers at night. And if she doesn't get the hang of this in the next two nights, then diapers it is!! :) BOTH kids REALLY struggled with the cutting off liquids an hour or two before bedtime. Made me realize why they both always wake up crazy soaked in the morning. It's because they drink WAY too much right before bed!! They were crying and begging for water at bedtime. :( We let them have sips, but it didn't satisfy. ANYWAY...it's been a LONG day. Need to re-collect and prepare for another long day tomorrow. Here's to hoping for a good, dry night and a better day tomorrow...with less accidents and more successes! Any and all prayers are welcomed for our family!! :)