A Word on Potty Training (Because 'Potty' is the Theme of the Week)

So. Last night.

Lots of getting up repeatedly, trips to the bathroom, plus an accident that put the plastic sheet Zoey's mattress is zipped inside of to good use.

(Side note: When I went to Target to pick out a plastic sheet for her big-girl bed, I found these awesome sheets that are essentially plastic pillow cases for the mattress--the whole thing zips inside the contraption. And for a twin-size, it cost $7.99. Perfect. But as I was perusing the aisle a little more, I found a range of sizes, from twin on up to California King. How necessary is it to have a California King mattress zipped securely inside a plastic sheet? Do people seriously do that? Is bed-wetting more rampant that I am aware of, people never grew out of it and now have their grown-up mattresses covered in plastic? I got a good snicker out of the whole thing until Zoey started crawling in to bed with us every night and occasionally peed in our bed, making that Queen size zippered plastic sheet sound not so silly.)

I suppose I would consider Zoey to be potty-trained. For the most part. And for a not-even-three-year-old, I think she's doing quite well, although nights like last night leave me feeling exhausted. I know that most kids don't even get the message from their wee brains to get up and GO potty in the middle of the night until after they turn three, so we're doing well. Plus, with the early onset of cold and flu season at our house, the first set of sniffles have arrived (thank you, daycare!) leaving both Zoey and I feeling scratchy-throated and icky-nosed. So between the "I need a tissue!" and "I'm wet and no no no, I need my MOMMY to change me, not you Daddy!" we were up and down I think four times last night.

Can you see why bringing a newborn in to this equation might leave me feeling as if I'll never sleep again, not ever?

But anyway, potty training. Erin asked me to comment on this topic, and I'm happy to recap. Here are the highlights:

Best Advice: From my mom--resolve yourself to staying at home for a good week. Seriously. Don't go anywhere, and if you do, don't make it very far. Stay home, hit the potty hard, and they will get it. Venture out slowly, stay close to home, and carry many changes of underwear.

Length of time it took: I'd say a good two weeks before she had the whole potty-during-the-day routine down pat. We kept her in diapers at nap time and bedtime for at least two months after we started the process. At first, the prospect of wearing big-girl panties to bed at night seemed to terrify her, so we didn't push it. Eventually, we just kind of forgot to put her in a diaper at night, and found that she was staying dry most nights of the week. Once it seemed like the thought of wearing big girl panties to bed wasn't going to put her in to therapy, we sent all extra diapers in the house to my sister and to daycare. Did it pain me to give up a nearly-full extra-large box of expensive diapers? Hell yeah. But it's a good feeling to live in a house with no more diapers, I have to say.

Best investments: Several packages of Hanes Her Way big-girl panties (because only one pack will mean you are essentially chained to your washer and dryer 24/7), Costco-sized containers of laundry soap and fabric softener, many, many packages of stickers.

Because a sticker chart in the bathroom, right next to the potty? Best reward system. Ever. She was so proud of herself every time she got to put a new sticker up on that chart.

Biggest surprise: Urine before poop. Doesn't that sound strange? You'd think it would be easier to recognize when your body needs to poop, as opposed to when you need to pee. Not so. We got plenty of experience shaking our poop from the panties in to the potty. Remember that?

A plug for daycare: Say what you want about putting your child in daycare, but I never would have realized just how ready Zoey was for the whole potty training routine if her teachers had not pointed it out to me. Kudos to Ms. Berna and Ms. Mybol.

And now, if you'll excuse me, the washing machine has just beeped and that means all our wet sheets are ready to be transferred to the dryer. And I need that second cup of coffee. And possibly a nap.