Thoughts On: {Three Day Potty Training}

It's been about a month since we began potty training, and I can finally say that life has almost returned to normal. Don't get me wrong...the 3-Day method worked very well for us, but having a potty-trained toddler was a lot more work than I ever thought!

{Disclaimer: This is a post about potty training....so you might see words like pee and poop}

Overview: This method is a program designed to potty train your child in 3 days or less. There are a lot of 'spin-off' methods where people have tweaked the rules, but I say stick to the original plan! Basically, on day one, you put your child in regular underwear and let the accidents commence! Yes, they pee in their pants a lot on day one...but the idea is that by the end of Day 3, the child makes the connection between the sensation to pee and actually making it to the potty!
The E-book is available online, or you can contact me and I will be happy to send you the PDF!

I strongly recommend that you read the program plan because there are quite a few variations out there that might actually make things more difficult!

 Author: Lora Jensen

www.3Daypottytraining.com

What this program is not: 
-It is not keeping your child naked from the waist down for 3 days. Having underwear on is important for them to realize the sensation to pee, as well as a acting as a 'reward' system for keeping pants dry!
-It does not involve frequent trips to the potty just to try, or constantly asking your child if they need to go potty.
-There are NO diapers or pullups involved here...including sleep times!


To Prepare: It is important to block off at least 3 days at home to ensure success. Prior to Day One, be sure that your house is cleaned, laundry is caught up, grocery shopping is done, and easy dinners are planned. Essentially, you will be following your child everywhere they go until they 'get it'.

Supplies: I would recommend about 30-40 pairs of panties (thin cotton, not training panties), potty treats (we used mini nilla wafers), and a quick clean mop for wood/tile bathrooms.
We began 'preparing' for potty training last December by buying Peyton a potty chair and lots of books about going potty. By having it in the house and discussing it for so long, it wasn't such a new 'surprise' to her once it came time to ditch the diapers :)

How it worked for us: Day One was rough and I am thankful that Ben was home to help me! At one point, I counted 12 accidents in 15 minutes...yikes! We expected this as Peyton was working to understand the relationship between feeling the sensation to pee and actually putting it in the potty. By the end of Day 1, she had figured it out and we experienced no more wet accidents on Days 2 and 3.

Sleep Times: This method enforces no diapers/pull-ups during sleep times. I was especially nervous about this because I really count on Peyton's naps to get things done/catch some zzzz's myself. During the day time, I cut fluids off at 10am with sips of water at lunch time. Prior to 12:30 nap, we make sitting on the potty part of our wind down routine. For bedtime (7:30-8pm) we cut fluids off at 5pm with sips for dinner. Again, we make trying to potty part of our bedtime routine. ALSO, we get her out of bed and sit her on the potty when we go to bed (typically 2-3 hours after she's been sleeping). Even in diapers, P did not wake up dry so this works best for us getting through the night!
 At first, P had a lot of false alarms and was in and out of bed constantly, with the most wet accidents happening at sleep times. Now, we have a great system, Peyton has learned to trust/hold her bladder for longer, and our sleep has returned to normal!
An ABSOLUTE MUST for sleep time training: Goodnites Disposable Bed Mats. These mats have an adhesive back to stick right on the sheets, and they don't crinkle! These things saved us a ton of time and hassle of changing sheets in the middle of the night! Whew!

 

Poop: This has definitely taken the longest to master, and I would say we are about 99% of the way there. I know pooping in the potty is difficult for kiddos, but I couldn't pinpoint if Peyton was experiencing fear, lack of motivation, or confusion. After trying many methods, I think we've finally figured out what works for her. 

-Poop Candle: I know, it sounds crazy. Peyton loves to blow out candles. She is always pretending to blow out 'candles' around the house (i.e. salt shaker, fleur de lis bookend, makeup brush, etc) so I thought this would work for us. After she poops in the potty, we light the candle, sing "Happy Potty to You, Happy Potty to You. Peyton pooped in the potty. Happy Potty to You" and she blows out the candle.

-Marshmallows: I figured nilla wafers were getting old, so we switched it to something a little more exciting for poop in the potty.

Between these 2 methods, Peyton has been very consistent in making it to the potty! She always says "I'm going poop and then I can blow out the poop candle and get marshmallows!"....Clearly some good motivation.

 

Public Places: This just took time for us. At first, Peyton was terrified of the big potty, and our first meal out consisted of 6 (unsuccessful) trips to the bathroom and a very wet accident all over the high chair. We tried the chair cushion, the portable potty....everything. After lots of practice and time, Peyton has just become accustomed to the big potty and now we have no issues when we are out and about! What a relief :)

One Month Later: Things are really going well and we very rarely have accidents. Now, we are working on pulling panties on/off by herself. Currently, we still have to go with Peyton every time she needs to go potty, but sometimes I will pull her panties down and have her walk to the potty and go by herself. I'm trying to get her used to that because I can't imagine having a newborn and running to the potty with P every 10 minutes! I highly recommend this method (when done the correct way!) and I am so relieved that we did this prior to Bean arriving. I anticipate some regression with the arrival of a new baby, but it will be temporary and not starting from scratch! I am so proud of my big girl :)

Please feel free to contact me with any questions! This was already a lengthy post, so I did leave out some details. I am happy to help out because I believe in this method 100%.
Happy Training :)