I wanna wear underwear!

Jocelyn made that declaration earlier tonight. I will tell you the story leading up to it.

Like I mentioned, we have been trying to remotivate Jocelyn on potty training.  We don't want to push too hard, but we want to push some.  So we have been sitting on the potty a few times a day at home (a practice they already employ at day care).  We do it for Donovan as well. 

Well, in an unrelated (or, actually, probably quite related) story, Jocelyn has terrible diaper rash that she just can't shake.  We switched from Pampers Pull Ups to Seventh Generation training pants (they are dye- and scent-free), which helped a bit. But no cream is helping it.  No amount of baking soda or oatmeal in her baths is doing anything.  So we let her run around bare bottomed all evening.  We sat her on the potty after her bath, but she didn't go.  So then we played for a while, I asked her a few times if she needed to go, and she always refused. 

Then, out of nowhere, she said she had to pee, ran to the potty and went!  Well, this was no small feat, so I celebrated!  We cheered!  She ran out to tell her daddy what she did.  And then she declared that she wanted to wear her underwear.  So we picked out the Abby Cadabby underwear, slipped them on, and called grandma to share the good news!  Then we set a timer to try again in 30 minutes.  It didn't take that long... 20 minutes later, Jocelyn told us she needed to pee, went to the bathroom, and peed in the potty.  Huzzah!

So we set another timer, had a pre-bed snack and curled up to watch some Mickey Mouse Clubhouse on Youtube.  The timer beeped pretty much when the show ended, which we thought was good timing.  And Jocelyn said she had to go potty, but then she changed her mind.  Then Mike took her to brush her teeth, and something happened - she started to freak out. She didn't want to brush her teeth.  So Mike told her that she could potty and get a diaper first, and she declared that she wanted to sleep in her underwear.  Mike told her no, I agreed, and she went on to throw a fit and ask for mommy.

I went in there, I told her that she could only wear underwear to bed if she sat on the potty, so she reluctantly sat there.  After a few minutes, she declared that she did not have to go, stood up and put her underwear back on. She then proceeded to squat on the bathroom floor to play with the rest of the underwear from the pack (there was a 3-pack and a 7-pack, so she had lots of pretty underwear to look at).  I left the room a minute and when I came back, I thought she told me, "I playing with my underwear."  So I said, "I see that. Do you want to bring them to your room and put them in your drawer?"  To which she replied, "No mommy, I PEED in my underwear."  **Sigh**  Of course accidents happen.  That is fine.  But she was *just* on the potty.  And she was *right* next to the potty.  But she was upset.  So I controlled my frustration.  I mean, she did pee in the potty two times tonight, and it went really well.  I can't be too upset. 

After another try at the potty, Jocelyn asked to wear a diaper to bed.  I think that is best.  But she did decide that she wants to wear underwear at home and at daycare.  I got her to agree that wearing a diaper when we go to the park or the store is still best for now, until she gets used to going potty. 

I am so, so proud of my baby girl, though.  I really, really am :-). 

Potty Time Blues

Last month I told you about the book I bought to potty train Jocelyn - Diaper Free by Age 3.  I should have read *about* the book before buying it.  I don't think that the methods are going to work for her.  They say to sit on the potty at regular intervals until they start to use it, and also to put them on the potty during a bowel movement (when you hear the grunting).  The scheduled potty break technique is already employed at daycare, and to no avail.  So I don't see it working at home.  And we always ask her if she wants to use the potty when we catch her pooping.  The answer is always no - that she wants to poop in her pull up.

But we are trying it.  And since this book recommends starting between 6 and 9 months, we are trying with Donovan as well.  So right now we are sitting on the potty before and after bath.   Donovan won't sit long.  Jocelyn sits there fine, but doesn't go. 

Tonight, however, Mike took pity on her.  As he got her out of the bath, she gave him sad eyes and said, "I don't wanna sit on the potty, Daddy."  So he told her that she didn't have to.  He put a diaper on her, and before he could finish washing his hands, she declared, "I peed!"  He was aggravated, to say the least.  No more falling for that trick anymore.

This book also recommends against incentives - saying that other life skills are not incentivized by anything but the skill itself, so why should the potty be different?  So we'll see. 

The thing that I don't trust is that it is the author's contention that children do not revert when a new sibling comes along.  Yes, she is a well-researched person on the topic, and also a pediatrician, but I don't buy that. Reverting is a thing... it's documented all over the place.  So how could it not be real in her eyes.  Let's not forget - Jocelyn was well on her way to being potty trained before her second birthday.  And then she moved to the toddler room, and it all stopped.  Maybe that was the transition that broke it, and not baby brother.  I don't know.  She's been in the toddler room since August, though... so if that was it, then I don't know what to do about it.  Surely, she is used to it by now. 

Beyond the potty time blues, though, Jocelyn continues to crack me up.  We had this conversation prior to taking a bath... I was about to take off her diaper, and it looked bulky in back:
Me:  Jocelyn, do you have poop in your diaper?
Jocelyn (sticking her hands in her diaper):  Nope.  Just a butt!

Then there was this one:

Jocelyn: do we have any pineapple?
Me: yes
J: I want blueberries!

She cracks me up. 

I am concerned about the whole potty thing, though.  I am thinking that maybe I will buy her some big kid undies and go from there.  We may have a few days of bags of wet clothes.  But it might be the immersion she needs.   Other parents - what did you do?  I'm looking for whatever I can find here!!!