Have CONFIDENCE in what your child can do.

Seriously. 

Our kids, no matter the age, are more capable than we often give them credit. 

I say this because WE ARE POTTY TRAINED AT AGE 2 (25 months)!

It's been 8 days and 7 nights without diapers. 180 hours. 10,800 minutes of working hard to help Ruby learn how to be a socially acceptable human and pee and poo on the potty.

I've never worked so hard at something in my life. Not college. Not my teaching career. Not earning my National Board Certification. Not applying for jobs. Not moving cross country. Not growing a human inside me. Not pushing that human out. Not breastfeeding. Not sleep training. You get the idea. 

How did I manage to do this in a few days? Because that's really all it took...

This. 

It changed my parenting life,  especially my thoughts and mindset to potty training my daughter. (Note: I also read a book for sleep training that worked really well for us... The Good Sleeper by Janet Krone Kennedy). 

So I read this book early March. And gave myself a few weeks to reflect and plan. 

I planned to start thurs or fri march 22/23 (depending on weather and my work schedule) because the whole following week was spring break and I had much less work than normal. That gave me more energy to devote to this big life step for Ruby and we had no social plans or obligations and could do what we needed at home.

I told Ruby a few days before that we were running out of diapers and diapers were for babies. Soon she would be a big girl.

I didn't make a big deal about it. But we did go cold turkey: no diapers or pullups for naps or bedtime either.

Pro tip: layer disposable puppy pads under fitted sheets so when accidents happen at 2am you just peel a layer off. 

That first morning when she woke up, I took her diaper off and told her she was a big girl now, all the diapers were gone, and she needed to put her pee and poo in the potty. 

And  then I watched her naked little bum like a hawk. Every time she fiddled "down there" I told her it was time to sit on the potty to put her pee or poo there. 

And 90% of the time she did!

We kept at it for a few days at home, and then added pants by the third day. Our first outing was to the doctors office to discover probable double ear infection and antibiotics were needed... meaning major poo squirts. 

And she did it! Day 7 on meds and only two accidents, and LOTS of yogurt and a strong probiotic are getting us through.

When we go out, we use this little potty:  Potette 2 in 1 Travel Potty  that we found online. It fits in my backpack and works as a seat for public restrooms or it's own potty if needed. We keep a potty in every room and the trunk. 

And now we are DONE with diapers!