It’s official, Raine is POTTY TRAINED!!!

Honestly, I had put off potty training because we are constantly on the go and I didn’t think I could fully commit to it. I was afraid that if I didn’t give it 100% then she would be turned-off to going on the potty and stay in diapers until she started kindergarten — rational, irrational, I don’t know, but moms sure have all sorts of dramatic concerns when it comes to stuff like this.

In the past, I had talked about potty training over spring break so I could let Raine run around outside naked and not have to worry about accidents on the floor or furniture, but I hadn’t fully committed to it so it wasn’t going to happen. Then, the first Sunday of spring break, Rashae asked me when I was going to potty train. Rashae’s daughter Elyse is Raine’s best friend and just turned three last Sunday. Rashae tried potty training in the past but Elyse is very strong-willed (to say the least) and refuses to go on the potty. With baby #3 on the way, and Elyse being the oldest, Rashae REALLY needs to get her out of diapers. She thought that maybe if Elyse saw Raine doing it, then she would want to do it too. So I decided to give it a try.

Monday morning I took Raine to Target to pick out a little potty, underpants, stickers, and treats. I also picked up Elmo’s Potty Time DVD because I had heard it is a must-have and some training pants because I wanted something a little more absorbent than the Hello Kitty panties that Raine picked. Grand total: $60! Who knew you could spend two months worth of diapers just to get your kid out of diapers? I guess I should have looked at the price tags before giving Raine free-reign of the underwear aisle. I’ll tell you what though, spending that much certainly made me a lot more determined to make this work the first time. I had no excuses for failure — “oh, well if only I would have gotten the Elmo movie like everyone told me, THEN she would have been successful.” Nope, if I failed I couldn’t blame it on a lack of supplies.

When we got home, Raine was soooo excited! She wanted me to open the potty as soon as we got it unloaded so she could sit on it. I pulled it out, set it on the kitchen floor and she sat down and peed. The potty played a little tune, she received a treat, I hurried to make a potty chart so she could stick a sticker on it, and Raine put on a pair of pull-ups.

It went a lot faster and a lot easier than I thought it would. I talked to people who said stuff like, “my four-year-old still only goes at home and only when I ask him” or “my kid was in pull-ups for about a year” or “my daughter is still scared of toilets with water in them” or “my son still won’t poop in the potty.” So I expected that even once we got Raine using her little potty regularly, it would be at least a couple months before she was doing everything. Well, imagine my surprise when after a week-and-a-half she had mastered all of the following:
* Peeing in the big potty
* Pooping in the big potty
* Telling me when she has to go so I don’t even ask any more
* Keeping her underpants dry all the time, even overnight
* Going potty at school when I’m not around.

The only thing we haven’t worked on yet is going in a public restroom. Last Friday we were at a restaurant and Raine said she needed to go potty. I took her to the ladies room and she looked at that great big potty with this look that said, “what the h%*# is that.” I told her that I would hold her and she could just sit on the edge, but there was no way she was getting anywhere near that thing. Then, right on cue, the toilet in the stall behind her flushed as loud and scary as any toilet has ever flushed before. Raine couldn’t get out of that bathroom fast enough! And since I didn’t want to traumatize her — resulting in diapers until kindergarten — I got her out of there as fast as I could. But that was our only attempt and she wasn’t even using the big potty at home at that point. So we’ll see how she does.

UPDATE: When we went out tonight, Raine needed to go potty so I took her to the restroom. Luckily, it was just a one-holer (no stalls) and since we were at a Mexican restaurant, it was very brightly painted and fun looking. Raine didn’t hesitate at all. She sat up there and did her business. When we got back to the table she announced in her proudest, loudest voice to DJ and all the other diners around us, “I went pee-pee on the potty!” The ladies at the table behind us started laughing and told Raine good job. And so, that completes the final step of our potty training.

P.S. I regret to inform you that Elyse still refuses to use the potty. She came over that first Wednesday with her potty in tow. They watched Elmo together while sitting on their potties, the whole nine-yards, Raine even went twice while Elyse was here and received treats and stickers, but it didn’t help . . . sorry Rashae.

P.P.S. Here is a little bit of advice for any other first-time potty trainers. When you buy treats to reward your little one for using the potty, think small. Why? Because they pee A LOT! I didn’t realize that Raine would be “earning” as many as 12 treats a day. We quickly downgraded from Reese’s miniatures to Reese’s pieces once I realized the error that I had made. I think it is going to take another two weeks to get her off this sugar high.