Potty Training: “The Rant”, Volume 1 #TheStruggleIsReal

At this moment, while I sit at my lap top sipping a hot coffee and listening to the laughter of my toddler in the nearby playroom, I can confidentially say that I am one of the lucky ones. Potty Training was somewhat of a breeze for me.  She was trained quickly and seemed to catch on easily.

However, if you would have asked me about 5 months ago at 2am while I was ripping the sheets off of her bed and washing them for the 5^th time that week, I might have had a different opinion.

You know how they say you forget what childbirth feels like? The same might be said about potty training!  Sure I can recall the accidents, the sheet washing and the swear words I rhymed off daily, but the pain and suffering is gone.  Diapers are but a mere memory washed away with the tears and potty treats never to be seen or heard from again.

So why in the actual HELL did she all of a sudden decide that she was going to start peeing in her pull up at night??!!

Don’t get me wrong, she is a breeze during the day and doesn’t have an accident every single night but it’s like she wakes up and is too lazy to holler to me so she just pees knowing that it will stay in her pull up! There are so many questions I have around potty training and it’s so hard to figure it all out!  Am I to blame?

So now comes the question: should I start putting her real underwear on at night so that when she does pee herself she will feel wet and yucky and not want to do it again?

And then there is the other thing; how to “discipline” your child when they have an accident. I know they say to clean it up and deal with it in a calm manner.  Ummm when I am calm and tell her “it’s okay honey just try a little harder next time” she feels the need to pee in her pull up again and if she senses my frustration she whips her hand up at me and says “I peed mommy.. but it’s okay!!”  *big toothy grin*

As far as I am concerned you just can’t win. You gotta let this thing take its course and hope the potty gods are on your side with this one!  Sorry people, you can throw every opinion and strategy at me for this potty training thing and I will tell you this:

I’ve tried it all! Lots of water, no water, potty treats, positive reinforcement, pull ups, bare bum around the house, leaving her in wet pants for a couple minutes, staying calm during an accident, showing a bit of frustration during an accident.

Bottom line- every child is different. I don’t like giving advice in this category but if I had to, all I would say is don’t force them.  They will learn.  Don’t beat yourself up over an occasional accident.

We as parents seem to love giving advice on every milestone in our children’s lives. But being “a parent” does not make you “every parent”.

And trust me, I know it’s hard!  When we master something in this thing we call parenting, we want to shout it from the rooftops and offer every detail of why we are awesome and our kid is amazing!  And that’s great!  But we also have to understand that what works for us, doesn’t always work for someone else.

Potty training is a tough one because I really do enjoy hearing tricks and tips on getting it right but at the same time, it’s very personal.

OKAY.  I think I just really needed to get that out!  At the end of the day, my daughter is healthy, smart and has this potty training thing down to a science.  An accident every now and again will hardly make the sky fall, it’s ME that has to calm down!

There.  I just had my “ah ha” moment!  Hm.

How did potty training go for you?