Happy Monday, friends!

I thought I’d take the opportunity to write a post about our beginning stages of potty training. I say beginning stages because I’ve quickly learned that this is a process and NOT necessarily a 3-day and your done sort of thing; regardless of how its portrayed on social media. 

I’m just going to make one statement to start this off… I DID NOT THINK POTTY TRAINING WOULD BE THIS DIFFICULT. I thought I was a pretty calm and patient person, but HOLY COW do you need patience for this! I can’t even tell you how many times I’ve wanted to just QUIT and put a diaper on Vivienne to allow her to happily poop! It is exhausting to say the least and I wouldn’t have continued on without feeling the love and relatability from all of you and the encouragement from Chelsea Kunde of Building Blocks AZ. So, thank you!

I understand that some of you may have an opinion on whether or not Vivienne appears ready. I get that. I’ve thought that too. Yet, I am super grateful for Chelsea for pointing out our progress (even small) that has determined my decision for continuing on. I won’t be able to say how the rest of today will go or even a week from now… maybe it’ll click, maybe it won’t but I’ll be sure to update you all on our progress and of course…keep it REAL.

So, today we start our fourth day of potty training and I’ve decided to take it one day at a time. Honestly, that’s all I can do to keep my sanity. So, this is our intro… it’s been way more challenging than I thought but… it has to be done one way or another.

So, are you interested in getting started yourself? First, you want to look for signs that your child is “ready.” A good indicator is your child is telling you when they are going to the bathroom and interested in the toilet. From there, show them how its done, talk about it often, and encourage your child to put on their own pants. This was something that Chelsea told us and it couldn’t have been more helpful that she can do this even though it may take a little longer in our day to day. Yet, super helpful this week.

I’ve linked my Amazon page on the items I got before we started. This includes stickers, the squatty potty, and toilet insert. I know some of you are recommended a version of their own potty, but I’m trying to skip a step as I don’t want to travel everywhere with it and knowing they will eventually have to use the BIG potty anyway.

The other items I’ve used came from taking Chelsea’s class at Modern Milk, where she provides a schedule, example chart, and game plan for the first 4 days. I won’t be providing this as it is her business and you can reach out to her personally or take her Leaping into Toddlerhood course or contact her personally. Find more information on Building Blocks AZ here. There are of course many other ways of getting information on schedules and how to do it- we personally are just going with Chelsea’s method.

Wishing you only success and a reminder to stock your house with wine before you start! xo!