msmith I am a wife to a wonderful, supportive husband who works VERY hard so that I get the privilege of being a Stay at Home mom to our vibrant 18-month old daughter Autumn Rainn. View all articles | Contact author

The Blood:

It was October 28, 2009. My daughter was 18 months and I chose to bravely go where many moms had gone before-to the Land of Potty Training.  I had all my fun snacks, kid potty training books, juice, stickers, and new big girl panties in place.  I was ready for action. I even brought some plain colored helium balloons to make the bathroom "a fun place" to be.  I basically turned the bathroom into a potty carnival. The first time I put my baby on the toilet, we were both excited.  I decided to use the adult toilet with a "toilet top" so she would not fall in. I was encouraged by several moms to do this since the other chair is cute and fun, but Oh so messy to clean. Not to mention when you go out to eat or visit friends you cannot take that big musical potty chair with you. 

Using the adult toilet made sense to me because I felt it was best to practice on what she will use in public places. Unfortunately, in all my excitement, I left her new big girl panties in her bedroom. I decided since she will be in the bathroom a while, sitting for at least ten minutes, I would have enough time to run and get them. Well…. needless to say my eighteen month child got the wiggles and moved around so much that by the time I got back with her panties I was greeted by LOUD screaming and Blood shooting out of her mouth.  My poor baby girl had fallen off the toilet and hit her lip; her tooth had gone into her bottom lip, causing the gushing blood. Potty training was already getting off to a ROUGH start, and my bathroom quickly turned from a fun circus to a hospital ER.  I cleaned her lip, calmed her down and decided to keep moving forward.

The Guts:

One of the Main resources I used was a book called "On Becoming Potty Wise" or "Potty Training 1-2-3" (exact same book with different names, by same author- Ezzo), and both may be available at your local library. In this book there are several sections where moms gave input. One mom shared that to help take some of the stress away, it is best to have your child sit on a towel when reading, watching TV or eating. This way when they make mistakes, (which they WILL) it will be easy to clean up. This sounded like a great idea to me and once again made so much sense. It certainly worked great when she was sitting.  However, since I have a walking, running and getting into EVERYTHING 18-month old, the moments of her actually "sitting" during the course of a day are very limited. Well… while she was on the run she managed to have pee running down her legs and made nice big puddles for mom to clean up. The word GUTS is symbolic for "puddles". It seemed like the puddles would never end.  Of course among all that pee, we also had some serious "guts" in the form of a big pile of poop in her new panties. Initially my timing was off, because she would sit on the toilet for a long while, but then no sooner had I taken her off when there was a new puddle for me to clean. Day One was BRUTAL! I certainly was not prepared for blood, or even the emotional fatigue that comes from disappointment and feeling defeated. 

The Glory

I began to quickly doubt whether or not I was doing the right thing at the right time, and for potty training TIMING is everything, for baby and mom.  I was ready for the success, but not realistic about the failures -- and those come with the territory. In spite of how Day One turned out, I was committed to see this through to Day Four. Along the way, Day Two was much better. There were still accidents, but there was enough hope for me to keep trying. I shared my experience with two other moms who had some potty training challenges with their kids, so they also had doubts right along with me.

Nevertheless, I kept going. On Day Three, the accidents were even fewer. I really began to believe there was light at the end of the Potty Training tunnel. I still had my doubts because my child was not able to tell me when she had to go.  As day four approached I was thinking this would either be the day to retreat back to the diapers and wait til she's older or keep going. In a conversation with another wise mom and friend Elizabeth, I was encouraged to KEEP GOING! I really needed that mom support because I was still unsure of myself.  The book I read was excellent but even great books have limitations.  Nothing can compare to the wise, heart-felt wisdom and encouragement from another mom. I shared my struggles and uncertainty. She helped me to see that I was having success and that the ability to say, "I have to pee" is a skill that often comes later for kids-- especially when you train early.  Her words were the exact motivation I needed to not only see this to the end, but also continue beyond the fourth day. On the fourth day my daughter only had one accident! My husband and I were on cloud nine with joy of her continued progress.

I am sure that some moms may consider my purchase of helium balloons for the bathroom and renting potty training dvd's for the baby a bit over the top. Even so, I have no regrets about anything I did to prepare for potty training. Each parent will have to choose what works best to make the experience a success. I am simply sharing the ways that made it successful for me. I do believe that if you go into it with dread it will be a dreadful experience, and probably more difficult to stay the course.