We have a BIG girl!

I’m a few weeks late on announcing, but better late than never!  

Hadleigh is POTTY TRAINED!

Oh yeah people, you read it right!  We thought it was going to take for-ev-er to get her trained, but surprisingly it was pretty easy.  That’s not to say there weren't times I wanted to scream, because I did.  All in all, we are so very proud of her!  So for those of you who want the details, here goes!

At first, we were taking a really laid back approach to potty training.  We were letting Hadleigh guide us for the most part (if that makes sense).  If she was interested in going pee-pee on the potty, we were all for it.  We didn't press it.  Part laziness on us, but we also didn't want to “bully” her into it if she wasn't really ready.  We switched her over to exclusively pull-ups.  She would go pee on the potty for daycare, no problem.  Daycare is three days a week and they pretty much take them every hour or so.  Even though she went for them, it was hit or miss.  If she had to go pee and she just happened to be on the toilet, she went.  Otherwise, pull-up it was.  We could tell when she was going #2, so I tried to catch her and take her to the bathroom.  A lot of times she would throw a fit about going to the bathroom on the toilet, so we didn't fight her.  We had sporadically tried the cold turkey approach, but it failed miserably both times we tried (another reason why we were letting her call the shots for the most part.)

Then one Friday when I picked her up from daycare her teacher told me that if I wanted to bring in underwear on Monday, that she would work with her.  I immediately responded with “You know what?  We’re going to cold turkey one more time this weekend” It was a quick decision – ½ made so I didn't look like a lazy mom to her teacher and ½ because it was time.  Whatever motivates, right?!  So, we got home and I immediately put princess underwear on her.  She did it for the most part at school, so I knew she could do it.  The rest is history.  She ran with it and did amazing.  There were a few accidents that weekend, but she needed those accidents to get the feeling.

We still use pull-ups but only at night.  And she has had a few accidents here and there.  I blame those on either 1) us not taking her in time or 2) her not knowing the art of holding it.  We don’t make her hold it, but holding it long enough to make it to the bathroom.  She will get so caught up in what she’s doing she waits until she can’t anymore.  Going #2 was such an easy transition for her too.  She just did it.  At first, she would ask for a diaper to go into but we stood our ground and didn't give her one.  She eventually ran to the bathroom herself to go.

We will still ask her to go to the bathroom every now and then, just to make sure.  For the most part, she is now telling us or just going on her own.  I know she feels like a big girl and very accomplished – and it’s so nice not having to change her dirty diapers anymore! Woohoo!  We are proud parents!

Also linking up for Wildcard Wednesday