FirstAccording to my mom, potty training us back home in Jamaica wasn’t a big deal. She swears most kids were fully trained by two. She loves reminding me of the time I flat-out refused to sit on the chimmy (as we call it). In her thick Jamaican accent she’ll say, “Yuh used to sit pon di chair and rock till yuh wet up yuhself.” Apparently, I was stubborn even as a toddler—and I’ve passed that little trait right along to my daughter.
Princess definitely understands the whole potty thing. But here’s the catch: if she’s not in the mood, it’s a wrap. Since her first intro to the throne at 18 months, she’s gotten into the habit of sitting at certain times—morning, after school, after dinner, and before bed. On weekends, we swap pull-ups for “big girl panties” (unless we’re running errands).
At daycare, it’s hit or miss. Some days she’ll go, and other days she’ll stage a full-on potty strike. People always tell me, “She’ll go when she’s ready.” But honestly? I don’t buy that. To me, that just sounds like an excuse. Potty training is part of this motherhood package deal, and it takes effort. So, I decided it was time to kick things up a notch—welcome to Potty Bootcamp.
Welcome to Potty Bootcamp
With a little encouragement from my friend Jen, who lets her toddler go commando for easier access, I gave it a try. Before you start calling me a “mean mommy,” hear me out—sometimes new techniques can make a big difference!
Since both Princess and I were home nursing colds, I figured this was the perfect chance to test it out. First thing in the morning: goodbye training pants. Of course, I couldn’t let her run around completely bare, so I slipped her into one of Daddy’s tank tops, and that was her “uniform” for the day. The key? Shadowing her like a hawk.
I had her sit on the potty every 30–60 minutes, sometimes more since she drinks water like a champ. Things were going smoothly… until I made the mistake of answering a phone call. The chatterbox that I am, I stayed on too long. Next thing I knew—pee. All. Over. The. Chair.
“Why didn’t you tell me you had to potty?” I asked.
With the straightest little face, she replied, “I have to potty.”
I had to bite my lip not to laugh. Thankfully, cleanup was quick.
Not long after, Princess came running out yelling, “I potty, Mommy!” I rushed over—only to find pee mixed with water everywhere. First, the table. Then the chair, and the floor. Even in her hair. Let’s just say, that one required more than a few paper towels.
We had a couple more small accidents (including one on the carpet), but overall, she did pretty well for day one. My goal? To get this potty training thing down in five days. After all, I was trained at two years old—so I know she can do it too.
Stay tuned, because I’m curious (and a little nervous) to see how this goes once she’s back at daycare. Wish us luck!
👉 Moms, what was your potty training experience like? Did you try “potty bootcamp” or something else? I’d love to hear your stories!
She really looks cute and she is starting to school, I am wondering maybe would you please take a look at my colorful story book for little children who just start to school? Here is my page link 🙂
http://tuts.3d2dizayn.com/index.php/2012/08/some-story-books-illustrated-by-me/
I really like your potty logo! We did the bottomless thing too over a weekend and it worked great (I seriously need to get on the ball writing a post about the details of that). It all started when we couldn’t keep a diaper on Nia around 21/22 months so we “went with the flow.” We used disposable diapers at night and naps but noticed they were staying dry so didn’t buy more when they ran out. Now she just wears plastic training pants over her regular ones at night which help with accidents which she rarely has. She’s such a skinny mini that that the conventional underwear (and branded with too much pink/characters IMO) didn’t fit so we got old school white training pants online which I’ll hold onto for #2. Looking forward to hearing how the rest of potty boot camp goes!
I keep missing your posts! Hmph…
I’ve always said that I let the kids”potty train” themselves. When they were ready, they would take off their diapers and hop on the toilet. I quit buying tons of diapers because they wasted them so it was commando during the day. No pull up or potty chairs involved. We didn’t have many accidents because I made it a game of who could get to the bathroom the quickest when the pee was coming. Both kids were potty trained by 20 months.
Cool! I just checked out your page with all the cool illustrations. Great stuff!
I remember you were telling me about those plastic training pants at Blogher! I’m so happy to hear that Nia is doing well with potty training. Thanks for the compliment on the logo. I just came up with it-spur of the moment. I did it in photoshop with some help from my buddy Chade. Potty boot camp is going pretty ok so far. It is a lot of work, but seeing Princess have fun makes me enjoy it. I’m watching her grow up. It’s so rewarding.
Really? That’s a great method. 20 months? Amazing. The most important thing is that they had fun. We reward Princess with lots of hugs and kisses. Today she’s getting Pizza for a job well done.
That is so funny, lol! The things we go through lol! What actually encouraged and finally trained my little one was getting her one of those cute, little seats that go on top of the toilet seat. Once she realized that she was going the same way eveybody else did, it made her really feel like a big kid. She wanted nothing to do wit the little potty anymore, and loved hopping up on the big girl seat.
I may not make it through the boot camp…I laughed so hard I nearly wet my self. This is an AWESOME post and I thank you for the laugh. Hang in there…just takes time.
Hey thanks a lot 🙂
I just want to say I’m newbie to weblog and certainly enjoyed your blog. More than likely I’m want to bookmark your blog post . You amazingly have impressive well written articles. Thanks a lot for revealing your web site.