After reading different articles and blogs last night I decided to try a different approach and let Tessa lead the potty training experience. I read that one mom would ask her daughter if her panties were dry instead of asking if she had to pee or use a timer. So I figured we would try that. Another mom also made a big deal about peeing on her son’s favorite character, Olaf. So I figured I wok so try that too.
So this morning I went in to get Tessa from her crib with a positive attitude and a fresh start. Tessa was in a good mood and said she was a big girl and was ready to use the potty.
Perfect! We were off to a great start. I changed her into Aurora panties and a t shirt and off we went to have breakfast. Tessa drank a lot at breakfast so I knew she would have to pee soon. I kept asking her if her panties were dry and reminded her not to pee on Aurora.
Then we had an accident. She caught herself and only went pee a little in her panties so we took them off and sat on the potty. Problem was she wouldn’t stay seated. I wasn’t going to fight her so off we went to get a fresh pair of panties.
We decided to go outside and wash my car since it was a beautiful day and we had been suck in the house waiting for a timer to go off and staring at a potty all day. I brought her potty outside and reminded her about not peeing on Sofia (this time) and I asked her if her panties were dry. Again we had another accident. Same as last time she would wet her panties then come tell me. I would put her on the potty and she would refuse to sit. Trying to keep a positive attitude we talked about how mistakes happen and that our goal was to make it to the potty next time.
After the same situation happening 3 more times I came to the conclusion that we aren’t ready to be potty trained. I told Tessa that we would try again in about a month and would use diapers in the meantime and could practice using the potty anytime she wanted.
I felt like a failure but then figured it was better to stop and try again at another time than to fight her to sit on the potty and make the whole experience stressful and negative. I researched if it was ok to stop potty training after starting and came across this
So we decided to stop. Tessa is smart so when she is ready we will try again.
Once we put back on her diaper her entire attitude changed. She was listening better, playing by herself and seemed happier. That made me feel better about our choice to take a break and revisit potty training at another time.