Potty Training Twins – Nearing the End

We have been working much more diligently with our twin daughters on potty training (since about the time Josh got done working) and it is really starting to pay off!  Alison is now peeing in the potty occasionally, and Lisa is pretty much completely #1 potty trained. 

While we introduced the potty to them at 18 months (see this post), and it went well (see this post) we eventually stopped, trying again a few months later (see this post), we really felt like they were ready now, at 26 months old, well at least Lisa.

We spent a few days without bottoms on and had quite a few accidents.  It was frustrating to say the least.  The first day had me thinking it was a big mistake.  Stressed me and ruined my patience, but after a few more days of doing this, it got better.  And when I told Lisa that she could start wearing panties all the time if she went to the potty every time she had to go, it really seemed to help, because panties are so much cuter than diapers.  Also, we implemented chocolate chips as a reward for peeing on the potty.  No more stickers, just one small, semi-sweet chocolate chip, each time they went pee in the pot.  And that was also a great incentive.  They would be repeating the mantra – “Pee in the potty – Get a chocolate chip!” over and over again, and even had their stuffed animals “pee on the potty” and told me that they did so and that they needed a chocolate chip, to which I imaginarily obliged.

I had also read that one tactic to use, which I feel worked well, was to not concentrate as much about pee or poop in the potty, as much as teaching them to keep their panties dry.  This really seemed to make a difference with Lisa.  She understood that and would tell me that as she was putting on her panties, that “no pee or poop in them, need to go in the potty.”  Because if they peed in their panties they couldn’t wear them anymore and they would have to wear a diaper again.

Also, we went ahead and braved panties to the store early on, bringing a change just in case, but have yet to need to use them.  In fact, Lisa has gotten to the point where she will TELL US when she needs to go, and we will take her to the public restroom and she has no problem sitting on the big toilet and letting loose.  She has done this on numerous occasions and in different locations.  In fact, she told the nursery leaders on Sunday she had to go potty, and she went on the toilet like a pro.

This girl is potty trained.

Mostly.

Because, she has a problem with getting #2 in the toilet.  She hasn’t done it once since this last go-around with potty training.  Not once.  She has either pooped in her panties, or waits until she has a diaper on, sometimes demanding a diaper for this purpose, even though she will often tell us she needs to poop, and we’ll stick her on the toilet, only to have her only do #1 and hop off.  And we’re not quite sure what to do about it.  Suggestions for this would be greatly appreciated.

Alison is doing alright, but just doesn’t seem to have the same bladder control, though she wants to wear the cool panties like her sister.  But when Alison is bottom-less, she lets loose frequently, or poops where she is.  She just doesn’t quite seem to have it yet, and she may just not be fully ready.  We’ll stick her on the toilet or sometimes she’ll surprise us and go pee by herself, but it’s not as common.  But, we’re still putting her on the toilet every day all the same.  And one day she even made two little poos in the toilet!  So, there’s hope.

Of course we still have naptime and overnight potty training to do, but I’m not as concerned about them right now.  I figure the better they get with daytime control, the easier nighttime will become.

But, I am seriously so thrilled with Lisa and Alison’s progress in this department!  They are getting so big!  I am also thrilled that I am spending less money on diapers!  Hooray on both accounts!