Potty Training

So this past summer Ellie was doing better and better at going to the bathroom in the toilet and keep her diapers clean.  Then, unfortunately, our smart girl realized that she didn't have to stop playing to go to the bathroom because her pull ups still functioned as a diaper.  As a result, we suddenly regressed until we were flying through pull ups and not using the bathroom at all.  Expensive!  After consulting with some friends and family, we decided it was time to see if we could move forward again instead of backwards.  So, September 3rd we went and bought her "princess panties".  Ellie was so excited about having princesses on her underwear.  We went home and had a couple accidents right away as she learned that things functioned differently in underwear than in a diaper, but really she did pretty well.  Then everyone got sick and we were all diapers for a few days.  But, when we got back to underwear, she already was much better and only had one or two accidents in the next few days.  And even then she would often come tell us "Panties be yucky!"  which we took as a great sign of progress.

Now, a couple of weeks later, I can say that (other than sleeping) Ellie is basically potty trained at 25 months old.  No, she won't ask to go to the bathroom hardly at all, nor does she go to the bathroom on her own like many of the 3 year olds we know who are potty trained.  We have to remind her and take her to the bathroom, but she is proud of herself, loves wearing big girl underwear, and loves getting a single skittle or pudding etc. when she's done really well with her potty training that day.  She now only wears diapers at nap and bedtime and often wakes up from naps dry.  She has only had a couple minor accidents and usually stops after about two drops, tells us her "Panties be yucky" and we go to the bathroom where she finishes up and is good to go.  She has done so well with potty training really that it's almost ridiculous as we haven't even had major issues with her pooping in her underwear.  We did learn a week or two ago that she won't poop with anyone in the room with her, but who can blame her for that?!  Basically, she was just ready, and we can't take any credit.  But, it is a fabulous development and we are proud that she has grown in such a big way, especially because we hope to only have to buy one set of diapers each month once the baby comes!

Our next adventure will be to try napping her without a diaper and continue towards getting her more independent in her potty training, but for right now we are satisfied and proud of how well she is doing!