Potty Training Completed?

Well, I would say we are 95% potty trained. It is HUGE to me. I just wanted to take a minute really talk about why it was different for her and then I will move on to new topics. I think there were a couple of things at work in the process. First was/is just the ability to figure out which muscles control that area. At times early on, she knew she had to go, sat on the potty and just looked at me pitifully saying, "I can't make it work." Finally, on her little potty where there was no extra balancing or anything for her brain to work on she figured it out. Next step was trying to 'make it work' on a big potty where she had to also work some balance and postural control. We went from little potty to small seat on big potty to just big potty. Each little step she had to really work hard to get the right muscles firing.

At this point we were ready to venture out into the realm of public bathrooms. After all, what good does having her potty trained do me if it just means I can never leave home? Biggest hurdle I had was the little sensory overload that often takes place when she is in a new place. We would head in, she would get in place but you could just see she was so distracted by the 'stuff' around her that she could not focus on 'making it work'. Often this required lots of patience on my part as it meant going into the potty, trying, leaving the potty, heading back into the potty, trying... you get the pattern. At first, 3 trips was normal. Then 2 trips. Happy to report today, success on the first try! I found I need to just be very quiet and sort of ignore her so she can concentrate. It takes a bit of time, but she knows she can now so she will try long enough to make it happen. Whew!

The awareness of needing to go potty seems to be about the same as any child. Pretty good if you remind them. I am actually surprised that she has caught on to that part with little trouble. Now if I can just get her to stop stripping wherever she happens to be when she knows she needs to go and THEN running to the bathroom nakey!