Potty Training (One Year Later)

We started on our potty training adventure just over a year ago. You may remember we went with the 3 day method to try and potty train the girls quickly since there was two of them. I shared our experience (here) at the end of the 3 days. Now that it has been a year I wanted to recap our experience and really how the rest of the  year went. After the initial 3 days I felt very confident that the girls were well on their way to being "fully" potty trained. Though I still kept them in diapers at nap and bed times. The "true" 3 day method basically says you should get rid of all diapers in the house so there is no chance to go back.. this would include nap and bed times. I really didn't think the girls were ready to go without diapers during those times. Looking back I think we made the right decision in this area. As the days continued they seemed to get better and better with going in on the potty on their own and having minimal accidents. Around the 3 month mark (also right about their 2nd birthday) I had some moments wondering if we made the right decision to start potty training them so early. And I definity said more than once "maybe we should just go back to diapers"; but then they would have great days and I could once again see the light. We tried going with out diapers at nap time on several different occasions and each time there was some success but not enough to think they were ready yet. And remember that time we moved in with family? Yea, I thought there might be a regression at that point and again when we moved into our house, but both times they girls did great.

Potty training twins is no joke and these girls certainly needed to be treated as individuals when it came to progress. I think Olivia was always a little ahead of the game as it related to "milestones" associated with potty training. She had less accidents and was the first to sleep during nap time without having an accident or wearing pull-ups. Like I said each of these girls are different so it was no big deal that Charlotte needed a little more time to figure it out. But one of the things I love about twins is that while they are different they also motivate each other. When Olivia started to nap without a pull-up Charlotte was right there wanting to do the same. Even though I did't think she was quite ready we let her go without. It took her some time to wake without an accident but now she does and the pride on her face each day is priceless. As I've mentioned before (Toddler Talk: Eight) we have been taking the girls to the bathroom in the middle of the night for about a month now and I've been really look forward to the time when they can get up on their own to use the potty. The other night Olivia was having a hard time going to sleep, while I was in the room checking on her I noticed Charlotte was awake. I went to her and laid her back down telling her to go to sleep, she was fighting me a little so I told her again to lay back down and that is when she said "mommy I have to go potty"! It was music to my ears and I was so proud of her, she did it a second time that night as well.

While I do feel like the girls were able to grasp the concept of using the potty saying they were "potty trained" In 3 days may not be 100% accurate. They for sure used the potty more than they had accidents after the 3 days; but I really believe potty training is a marathon not a sprint. While I have heard many moms say the 3 day method worked perfectly for them I know that that's not always the case for everyone. If I had a chance to do it over would I choose the 3-day method again? I think I would and lucky for me I do have the chance to do it all over again! Only this time I think we will wait until Parker is a bit older than the twins were. I'm so proud of these girls and all of their accompaniments and potty training is definitely a big one... onto the next.

one of THOSE days

So we all have them... we typically refer to them as "one of those days" well Wednesday was just that. Many of you know we "successfully" - kind of, completed the 3 day method for potty training about 4 weeks ago. We have had really great days (one maybe two accidents) and really uhhhh awful days (every other minute is an accident). But the past few days they have been doing great minimal accidents, telling us when they have to go, and even going on their own!!! Until yesterday... it was like they completely forgot they knew to use the potty. I don't think they went more than once in the potty before nap time and for the first time in weeks we ran out of undies!! Nap time was a short 45 minutes and more accidents to follow. It was frustrating for sure, and I was wondering once again if we made the right choice.
I began prepping dinner and heard the words "pee-pee" my cue to run to the potty with whoever had just uttered the words. And finally after all day I was able to celebrate with both girls they WENT on the POTTY!! Phew... ok maybe we made the right choice. A few minutes later while dinner prep continued Charlotte played with the plastic and wooden cutting boards in the cupboard like she has done a hundred times before. All of a sudden she is crying and not the usual sissy took my baby cry the cry every mom hates to hear ... she was in pain. Maddy quickly scooped her up and took her the couch. I came to see her and her toe was already bruised and swollen, she was just hysterical crying saying "shoe" (she calls her feet her shoes) over and over again. She would try to touch her toe and the cries were louder and more heart wrenching. I tried to put ice on it but she wasn't having it and she tried to walk on it but she immediately started crying and would sit down. I decided a call to our on call nurse was the best action... I know that with adults a broken toe or finger there isn't much to be done. But I just felt that with her being a toddler it wasn't like I was going to be able to keep her foot elevated or iced if her toe was broken. The nurse did recommend we take her to be seen because toddler bones are different and grow differently than adults - so just to be sure we took her to urgent care. After seeing the doctor and an X-Ray she was deemed "OK" no broken bones just badly bruised.... Phew....
After urgent care we thought a nice treat would be some frozen yogurt... Charlotte was excited.. maybe too excited. As soon as we sat down and I tried to offer her a bite she started screaming. My first thought was that I touched her toe or she bumped it... nope she was mad at me for something to do with her treat. She just continued to scream .... tantrum like. After a warning (really??? A warning to a 21 month old what was I thinking?) she calmed down and we tried again... again she threw a fit so out we went... in the pouring rain with our melting FroYo.
Needless to say she cried the entire drive home, crying "mine, mine" for her FroYo, why is it that we feel so bad about disciplining our children when we hear them so very upset? We made it home and she was able to eat.. this time without incident. After that it was off to bed and I just hoped she would stay there and sleep though the night without pain. Olivia decided after a 5 minute cat nap in the chair with daddy she needed to stay up about 3 hours past her bedtime! Once we were all in bed we stayed there for the night and this mama got some much needed rest!
Yesterday was better and we had less accidents. Charlie's toe is better and they napped for three hours! I'm thankful hard days don't last long and are usually followed by accomplishments and better days. It helps to remember this when we are in the thick of those hard days... better days are just around the corner.

Potty Training Update

We are just over two weeks into our potty training adventure and the girls are doing fantastic! Since my last post (here) we have had some bad days, some accidents, plenty of good days, some great successes, and many breakthroughs. I won't lie there had been moments when I was ready to just give up... even after the initial three days. Thankfully my husband kept reminding me that they are only 21 months so there is going to be ups and downs. Since Sunday they have really turned the corner and we are pretty much down to one or no accidents a day!!! The accidents that do occur are generally when we don't hear them say "pee-pee" or they are playing intently and they simply forget.

They are afraid to use any public restroom...so whenever we head out we bring along one of the potty seats. This seems to be working ok for now, but we definitely need to work on them using public restrooms. We will be doing a lot of traveling in July and I certainly cannot lug the potty seat around everywhere we go. If anyone has any tips on making this work any easier for them please leave me a comment! We have a little backpack with special stickers and treats for going potty outside of the house but so far they still won't go anywhere but the potty in the back of our van!

They are still in diapers at nap time and at bed time.. they generally wake from nap dry but most times they are wet in the morning. We will try to transition them out of diapers for nap some time in the next few weeks, probably before July.

I am very proud of these two girls and how far they have come.. I am glad we chose to potty train them when we did and that we went for the 3 day method. I know there will still be accidents but I am glad we are down to just one or two a day...

Potty Training ~ The 3 day method

It seems impossible to say but I think we did it - the girls are officially potty trained! Potty training them has been on my mind for the last month in a half to say the least. It was clear they were no longer interested in wearing their diapers and we were trying everything possible to get them to keep those diapers on! Prior to them not wanting to wear their diapers they had each used the potty several times but nothing too consistent so we decided they weren't quiet ready yet. Eventually they started showing more signs of readiness. Telling us when they had to pee pee or taking off their diaper just after it was wet or right before.

So the decision was made - it was time. I did some of my own research, asked other twin moms, read some blogs, and tried to remember how I went about it with Kendal and Madison. Mostly I remembered how easy it was with Kendal and Madison, both right around 20 months they pretty much trained themselves. But for a list of reasons I was pretty nervous about tackling potty training two at once. I mostly followed the 3-day method as laid out by Amber Massey {Here}. She is one of my most favorite twin mamas and her success had me feeling pretty confident that we could do it too!

Day One ~ We didn't get started until the afternoon as we had to go and buy a second potty.. we decided on two potty's instead of one- we had just been using one while the girls were "practicing" and it often resulted in fights over who got to sit first. We had several pairs of undies and treats for rewards along with special books to keep them entertained while on the potty. We had our undies on and we talked about the potty and how we were to peepee in the potty not on the floor.  We set the timer for every 15 minutes and the girls had plenty of fluids to keep them needing to go potty. After the first timer went off we took them right in and Charlotte was the first to go... a lot of dancing and celebrating took place. Livy didn't go so we went back to playing. They did great with the undies although they were a little confused at first but they quickly forgot about them. We had a few accidents before nap time but for the most part there was little confusion as to what it meant to sit on the potty. Charlie did very well with only one accident; Livy was about the same. After nap we immediately went back into our undies and I had to get ready to leave for a meeting so the older girls and daddy were on potty detail. I received several texts and photos about how well the girls were doing. A few accidents here and there but for the most part they both did great for day one.

First moments in our undies!

Lots of play time 

Taking the dogs out

Some light reading

Checking on the bunny

Day Two ~ I pretty much expected for there to be some back stepping to start the day. I think wearing diapers for bed and nap time can be a bit confusing. Even though that is the direction we decided to go for now I knew it would present some challenges. We kept with the timer to start the day out but we changed it to every 20 minutes- both girls started off pretty good with a few accidents here and there but they seemed to remember what we were doing. About half way through the day Charlotte started to get really uncomfortable every time the timer went off and I would take her to the potty. She clearly was not enjoying going to the bathroom. I decided that after nap we would stop with the timer.  Olivia kept using the potty pretty well but Charlotte was having accidents pretty much every time. One of the 3 - day method posts I had read said that on day 2 you should take them out of the house for an hour... I thought there was no way I could do that!! On Tuesdays we head to my sister in-laws for dinner - she lives about 30 minutes away so I figured the car ride could count. I was so nervous taking them out of the house given the struggles we had that day, but hubby convinced me we needed to give it a try. I couldn't bring my self to put them in the car in just undies so I put them in diapers... We packed up both pottys, undies, and extra clothes. We made it to my sister in-laws and they were dry - I couldn't believe it! We put them on the potty right away and Livy went!! Charlotte continued to have accidents but then something must have clicked and she went on the potty the rest of the night! We decided we would try and leave them in their undies for the ride home and I was a nervous wreck! I kept telling them to tell mommy of they had to go potty... they didn't say a word! We got home and they were dry! To the potty we went and they both went!! A great end to day two!

Outside fun waiting for our next potty break

Day Three ~ The supposed "Magic Day" I was happy with the way we ended day 2 and I was hopeful we could continue the success into day three; the day it is supposed to "click". Livy again started out great she was even telling us when she had to go potty and was going pretty regularly with little accidents. Charlotte too was doing well, she wasn't telling us when she had to go so I decided I would still take her in every 20-30 minutes. Except when I would take her in she was still getting upset and saying "no" every time. I took to social media and some of my fellow twin moms to seek advice on how to handle what was going on with Charlotte. I was directed to another 3 - day method document/blog and upon reading some different ways to encourage using the potty I decided to just leave Charlotte alone and to watch her like a hawk. If she pee'd on the floor I would just take her into the bathroom and remind her that it is not ok to pee pee on the floor  / in our undies. I basically let her lead me and I followed her cues, this worked pretty well for her! We left the house to head to the store and I was again a nervous wreck.. neither one of the girls would go on the potty before we left so I thought there was no way we weren't going to have an accident. I took them to the bathroom as soon as we got to the store but they were both so afraid to sit on the potty there was no chance of going.  We did our shopping at lightening speed and headed home- both girls went in the potty as soon as we got home... phew. The rest of the day went pretty well, we had minimal accidents and I just kept reminding them over and over and over again- "tell mommy when you have to go potty". I would still take them into the potty if they hadn't gone in a while and most of the time they would go with no problems. Even though we had a good day three I can't really say that was the magic day or the day that it all came together. They were better and I could see progress so I was happy.

Just waiting and waiting and waiting 

Gotta stay hydrated.... and full of fluids to encourage using the potty

We are now just about a week in (today is Sunday .. day seven) and I have to say I feel confident that we are moving in the right direction. The subsequent days we had our ups and downs some days better than others. Saturday (day six) was the best by far the girls went to the potty on their own or told us each time they had to go. I think we had a total of 4 accidents that day - I was feeling like it had officially "clicked". Today.. Sunday has been rough ... Livy has been telling me pee pee after she went in her undies and Charlie would do the same.... but once again we ended the day well.

I am learning that the most important thing with potty training and especially potty training twins is to be consistent ... hands down. I noticed that if I would take my eyes off them for a few minutes or if I hadn't reminded them in a while to tell me if they had to go that is when the accidents would happen. I also learned that it worked best for us to just let them guide the way by watching their cues or telling us they have to go potty. Even if we hear the word potty or pee pee we have to take them in no exceptions. We made the mistake several times upon hearing them say these magical words of asking them "do you have to go potty" the answer is always no... ALWAYS. The would pretty much wet their undies minutes after we asked them. I can pretty much guarantee the frustration will set in and you will feel like its not going to work or maybe its too soon - but its so important to not let them see you frustrated (trust me I know) because they will not want to even try to use the potty.

We still have a bit to go - but I am confident they understand to use the potty and they are beginning to understand how to listen to their body when they have to go. I do recommend the 3 - day method no matter which version you chose just remember to be flexible and patient with your little ones, and don't be afraid to do what works best for you!!

How we make our trips to the store :) 

Selfies with the girls after a successful potty break