Potty training..again

Potty training Meera was something that I had been dreading for quite a while. I had no idea how to go about it or even when to start. After a bit of reading up I was quite prepared for it and the peeing part was accomplished quite easily (in retrospect) but at the time it seemed like it hell ;)

The pooping part was quite difficult though. For some reason she was never comfortable pooping in the potty. I tried to tell her to poop in the toilet but she just kept insisting she needed to stand and 'kaka'. Sigh...So much so that it became a habit for her to poop just before her nap (when I would put her in diapers). Which was ridiculous because after her milk I would put a clean diaper on and she would immediately poop in it and then I'd have to change her again and put her to bed! So whenever this happened (which was pretty much every time) I would feel so frustrated. It was either that or she'd poop after I left and then not sleep till I changed the diaper. Arghh!

I'd read a lot on this and apparently it's hard for the child to come to terms with the whole toilet thing especially since all they've ever known is the diaper. She had done it a few times in the toilet but it was never consistent. I was getting to the point of just not bothering about it.

But a few days ago (Thursday - 16 June), I think she had to poop a lot earlier than her nap time so she kept saying she wanted to poop and I'd take her to the toilet but somehow she just couldn't get it out. So every time I put her on the toilet she tried but nothing happened. On this day when it came to nap time I told her that she musn't poop in the diaper and to call me if she needed to. I was very firm and just kept repeating it to her over and over as I put her to bed. A few minutes after I left her I heard her say 'Mommy???...kaka'. I went in fully expecting her to have already done the deed in her diapers (as she quite often did) but there was nothing! So I asked her if she wanted to go to the toilet and she said yes! We went and she did it! I was so amazed. Of course after that I had to give her a chocolate (cos I was always trying to bribe her with that) so that day she only had her nap like at 4.30! I was so pleased but then after her nap I found she had pooped a bit in her diaper (so the toilet part was not 100% complete).

The next day (Friday), I tried the same thing but she took her nap without pooping. As usual we go to Chadstone on Fridays, so I just kept reminding her not to poop in her diapers and so when we came home that night she actually pooped in the toilet.

Saturday - I decided not to go out and try to get her to poop in the toilet again. She went down for her nap and during that time kept asking to 'kaka'. After 3 attempts she finally did it. Then at night, she went again. So twice in a day.
Sunday - So it's been 5 days now and she has continued to use the toilet. It's been a bit trying though cos sometimes I have to sit with her for ages in the toilet. But over time I can see she's getting more comfortable with the idea. Initially I could tell she was really troubled with actually letting go in the toilet. She was really trying to get used to the whole concept and over the past few days she is slowly starting to accept it. A couple of times she will tell me she wants to kaka but when we go to the toilet nothing happens. I just try to keep positive and not let my irritation show (really tough) but I just encourage her and keep telling her good girl etc..
Today she did it just before going to sleep and when she asked for chocolate I just said that since she already brushed her teeth she'd get it tomorrow and she accepted it. It never fails to surprise me whenever she accepts my reasoning. I am always preparing for her to get upset and it's a wonderful surprise when she doesn't.