Jeni Gazes at Her Navel

Well, not really. But this post is more for my own use than for the entertainment of the masses. Consider yourself warned.

I've been potty training Patie for 2 weeks now, and I've committed to trying it for 2 months, and so far the results have been amazing. I read that a baby will wet 18-20 times a day, and today I was able to get her to the toilet or sink for 8 of those. Not bad considering I was out of the house for three hours, and I do not require anyone else to take her to the potty. She also did her serious business twice for me--in the toilet. Oh my goodness, it is so much more pleasant to wipe her and flush the toilet than use multiple wipes to get her cracks and crevices clean.

When I first began, I was a little too obsessed with getting her to go, and she cried a lot those first few days out of frustration. I even thought about giving up, but I had mentally prepared myself for a two month trial, so I persevered. I noticed that after she took her bottle, she would be fine with going potty once, but after that, she fussed. So I backed off and tried to "catch" that first wetting. Success, and less frustration. A few days later, I added trying for the second wetting, which usually happened naturally about 15 minutes after the first one. Again, success, and no frustration. Now I can sometimes catch the third wetting. I'm hoping that by the time she's four months old I can get 10 wettings a day.

I read the ways to tell a baby needs to go is 1)timing 2)cues and signals and 3) intuition. Thus far I've mainly relied on timing. I do cue her to go by a hissing noise, but it obviously doesn't work when she really just doesn't have to go. The intuition thing I figured was beyond me, but for the last two days, I saw some hints of it. I would not be clock-watching, but I would think that it's about time for her to go again, and she would. And today after her first big business, I thought that she would probably do some more later, and I was right. I even knew after which feeding it would happen.

I am not saving diapers yet, because I am still not catching even half of her wettings, but we're getting better at it each week. I predict we'll be down to 1-2 diapers a day by the time she's 10 months old. A jumbo pack of diapers usually lasts about a week, and if that prediction is true, a jumbo pack will last at least 2 weeks. I also predict she'll be out of diapers altogether by 16 months old. That is only one year from now. That is an exciting prospect, considering my earliest success at potty training thus far has been 2 years old.