Mamas and Daddies it can be done!

My baby girl is potty trained.

We have been working on this for a while, since my baby girl was 18 months old. I tried several methods to potty train her, including the three day system, setting aside an entire weekend to just sit on the toilet with her, the Tot on the Pot training program and showering her with rewards and treats for successful tries.

But in the end, I believe it was a combination of consistent effort and peer pressure at her new daycare that really gave her the extra nudge.

And the hard work is paying off.  She is consistently using the potty, flushing it, adjusting her clothing and washing her hands all by herself.

And I’m feeling like a very proud mama.

It’s a watershed moment in a mother’s life when her youngest baby gets potty-trained. There’s a sense of validation that despite the countless accidents and cleanups, you’ve achieved your goal. Along the way, there were definitely days when I lost patience and just put a diaper on her to stay sane. Those days felt like defeat, and actually sent her mixed signals about potty training.

But each time she pooped and peed in the potty, I felt like I had accomplished something, another baby step in the steady march toward raising children who will become independent, capable people.

According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, the readiness skills and physical development your child needs to potty train occur between age 18 months and 2.5 years.

Potty-training also marks the end of an expensive era. Before we started the training process, we easily spent between $75 and $85 a month on diapers. And that’s WITH an Amazon Prime Diaper subscription.

So not only am I helping my daughter be a capable person, I’m saving money too? I deserve an award!

Really, having both of my toddlers potty-trained gives me proof that despite some of my less than graceful parenting moments, I am doing something right.

So let’s keep it real, she still has accidents occasionally. She doesn’t always get up during nap time to use the potty. And we definitely put her in a diaper at night.

But honestly, I teared up when she did Number 2 in the potty the other day. I was just happy to see that the poop finally made it inside the toilet, and not beside it.