3 Day Potty Training = Epic Fail

I am the mommy of a 23 month old and a 3 month old, which means I change a lot of diapers. So naturally, potty training has been on my mind. How awesome would it be if Cameron would start using the big girl potty? Not only would we be freeing ourselves from the nastiness of a toddler's diapers, but we would be saving a fortune.

I have heard a lot of positive feedback about the 3 Day Potty Training method, which says at 22 months a kid is ready to potty train. In short, they tell you to go all out. Trash the diapers, get out the panties and stock your toddler's every move to make sure a single "potty" doesn't go unnoticed. Theoretically, over the course of three days they start to catch on and by the end of day three they are consistently going in the potty. Sweet. I like it. Three days of pain in exchange for no more poopy toddler diapers. Sign me up. One weekend and we'd be in the clear.

I was wrong. We were 4 days into it this morning and we still weren't having much success. We had gone through a gazillion pairs of panties, it was a fight to get her into the bathroom and at the meer mention of the word potty she started to tune me out. I pulled out all the stops: we had a potty chart, gummy bears, stickers and we danced the potty dance like there was no tomorrow. But it wasn't enough.

I had no idea what to do. Should I quit and put her back in a diaper? What if she was one try away from it clicking? I desperately wanted her to get it. Not only so we could be diaper free, but to prove to everyone that she could do it.

Then I realized, I couldn't keep pushing her for the sake of my pride. She wasn't ready, even if the 3 day method said she should be. She's smart, she knew what she was doing and she was choosing not to go potty the big girl way. I mean come on...I was bribing her with gummy bears and the potty dance, what's cooler than that? So I put her back in a diaper and decided we'd try again in a few months. I'm not going to lie, I was super frustrated. I just wasted three days of my life and potty training was a complete and utter FAIL. But what can you do?

I tell you all this to let you know it's OK if you you don't succeed on the first attempt. If you do, awesome. But if you don't, there's no shame in postponing your efforts. Even if it seems like every other person in the entire world has a kid who potty trains with no problem in a day or two. You're a good Mommy and if nothing else, you've given yourself the opportunity to practice your potty dance, and there is nothing wrong with that!