Waterproof and magical

Jackie and toileting has been an ongoing discussion in this blog since she was very very small. Yesterday and today we decided to try some waterproof underwear to replace her diapers, since she is already familiar using the bathroom and has been doing fairly well with staying dry in her diapers. She had one urination accident at 10am. She was in her waterproof underwear when she had the accident and felt herself go. She looked down and said "Uh Oh". I took her to the bathroom and emptied the urine that pooled inside the underwear like I do whenever she has dirty diapers. She waves bye bye and we flush it away so she knows where its supposed to go. Since that first accident, she stayed dry and clean all day (until 4pm when we left the house and I put a diaper back on her).

Since that first accident, she would run into the bathroom or say Momma and point to the bathroom door. I would take her into the bathroom, pull down her underwear, and she would pee in the potty! However, at 3:30pm, she ran into the bathroom and sat down on the potty and peed independently. Unfortunately, she did not remove her underwear. I still consider this progress because she urinated sitting down on the toilet as she is supposed to and that is really what I want her to get used to. She had one BM. She began to go in her waterproof underwear but must have felt it because she darted to the toilet and did most of it in the potty. She also made me empty her underwear into the toilet so she could say goodbye to it as we flushed. She definitely knows where its supposed to go!

Today we only did it for a couple hours because we went to church and I didn't want to experiment outside the house, obviously. So, from 9-11:30 she stayed completely dry with no accidents in her underwear!

We saved so many diapers just by letting her wear the underwear this weekend! I truly feel she is more aware of holding it and controls when she goes now that she can feel it in her underwear as opposed to her diaper.

Bye bye for now!

Separation Anxiety

I should really report on Jackie’s past few weeks she has developed an extreme and adorable attachment to me. She only wants me (which is a nice change from her only wanting her daddy when she was younger). However, it is getting to be somewhat of a hindrance on my life. Today she was on my leg more often than ever, not letting me go anywhere without her as my shadow. She is teething recently so she has wanted to cuddle with me more, but it is getting to the point I can’t do anything without a whine or a cry. I am staying strong. I can hear the whine and not run to hold her, but it’s difficult because part of me wants to run next to her just to keep her from being upset. But, most of me knows she’ll be okay and be more independent. She’s learning I am coming right back (I went into the next room not off a cliff). Although her little tears and little cry is hard to hear, daddy and aunts and uncles will keep her just as safe, and accepting separation is a good thing. I know with all my heart that this will pass. It is difficult that when I want to independently get things done, I have a year old anchor wanting me to constantly hold her. I have gotten good doing things one handed, but sometimes it’s important to let her know I am not going anywhere for long.

An important thing to note is that although it’s slightly frustrating having a little one holding onto me, most of me is just trying not to smile. I am secretly loving every minute of it! I know that when she’s older I am going to miss her desire for my attention, and I’ll be the one begging for hers.

Toileting Initiation Update

Jackie pooped in the potty on Monday! More than that, she initiated that she was about to go! She stopped playing and running, pointed to her diaper repeatedly, and looked at me as if I was talking to her. I took her to the bathroom and she pooped in the potty within about a minute of sitting down on the potty. It was absolutely amazing! She hasn’t pooped in the potty during trips in so long, so the fact that she actually went was amazing! Not to mention she kind of initiated beforehand, which makes me feel like this toileting stuff I have been doing with her has served a purpose.

She did this whole pointing to her diaper repeatedly and looking at me on Saturday, but by the time I realized she was trying to tell me something and I got her to the bathroom, she had already gone in her diaper! So when she did it again on Monday, I took her immediately there and she pooped in the toilet! She just turned 16 months old!

Nightime dryness

Jackie has been staying dry at night for about a week now. She pees ALOT in the potty after staying dry 5 hours, and then goes back to bed and does it again. What are the odds of getting nighttime dryness before daytime dryness??? She is just a quirky little girl.

Revision of previous post!!

Revision/Update of last post: Lowell informed me that when he changed the diaper at 1:30am it was completely dry and he reused that same diaper (the one that was dry when she woke up in the am. So my daughter went the whole entire night dry because she peed on the potty in between!!!) WOWZERS and Hooray!!!

TOILETING OUR INFANT: Bad News, First: Promising News, Last.

Jackie has NOT been doing so well with toileting lately. I know you all must be very disappointed. This decline is partly because we have not been taking her. When we do take her, we don’t keep her on for the three minutes that we used to. During the day, she doesn’t want to sit for long periods of time on the potty now that she’s walking and has better things to do. We have to change the toys constantly to keep her engaged. I feel she gets sick of sitting there before she even has the chance to void. However, I stated in my previous posts that I would be okay with her not voiding in the toilet. I just wanted her to know what the toilet was and be accustomed to trying. The truth is If I say “go to the potty” or “where’s the potty”, she will walk into the bathroom. So, it is part of her life and her vocabulary. That was my original goal. However, daytime data is unfortunately at zero percent for her BM and urination because she just doesn’t want to sit long enough. That is the very sad news of this experiment. She is no longer voiding in the toilet during the day. *Sighs*

Another thing I feel like discussing today is her sleep habits—she is a VERY good sleeper. She goes to bed at 5:30pm and most times I have to wake her at 8:30am because she hasn’t woken up yet. Because she sleeps so much, we have to wake her up now to change her diaper in the middle of the night. She soaks through it if we don’t, because she sleeps so long. So, we have been lifting her up in the middle of the night while she is still asleep, changing her diaper while she sleeps on the diaper table, and then putting her back to bed without her waking. However, I started to think that if she was actually getting toilet trained, she would be woken by her parents to use the bathroom in the middle of the night. The idea being that if she holds it and is given the opportunity to go appropriately, then her bladder would be empty to hold it again and she would be more successful at staying dry. So, I started taking her to the bathroom during her diaper change, rather than trying not to wake her. The good news: At night, she is consistently (90%) urinating on the toilet. She’s too tired to resist it, I think. She is half asleep and compliant! Although she is not going during the day, at least she is making the connection at night.

The most recent occurrence:

Last night, Lowell woke her up at 1:30am to change her wet (revised-it was dry) diaper. She peed in the toilet, put the diaper on, and went to bed. The best news: I woke her up this morning at 8:30am and she had a dry diaper! I mean completely dry! This is very promising. I took her to the toilet and….!!! she didn’t go.

She had a dry diaper so she must have had to go! I didn't put the diaper on her because I didn't want her to go in the diaper before I tried the toilet one more time. I then ran around the house with the un-diapered child to do a preference assessment. I had her find a toy she felt like playing with. Once she picked up the toy, I took it from her and if she complained and/or grabbed it back, I knew she really wanted it and it was a perfect choice! I took her and her preferred item to the toilet and she played for about two minutes. I was starting to get discouraged (because she used to go immediately upon sitting) but then she started urinating in the toilet. She urinated for about 1.5 minutes straight! My baby woke up from a 7 hour sleep with a completely dry diaper and peed in the potty!!! THAT, my friends, is amazing! She is 15 months next Wednesday.

We learned: Mix up the toys, do preference assessments, and if she doesn’t go, wait a minute or two and try again before the diaper goes back on! Otherwise, she will pee in the diaper and a learning opportunity is wasted.

Other promising toileting facts:

When she's not wearing a diaper, she looks down when she’s peeing when standing (meaning she feels it on her leg) AND she cries if she pees on herself. This is another good thing because if she is uncomfortable and does not like the feeling, she will be more likely to avoid that discomfort and use the toilet appropriately! It also means she’s becoming aware of her body which is an important sign for toilet readiness.

Grass Update

Today, Jackie went to her first play date and we played in a giant backyard and playscape. She held my hand when we first entered the grass and then walked downhill in the grass all on her own. We were making an art project so she was on my lap for a little while, but when I put her down, she was gone like the wind. She played follow the leader, and followed the boy all across his yard, completely out of my sight and without turning back at me! She was cruising along and an obvious grass-walking professional. It was very cool to see her so comfortable in something that daycare said only a few days ago that she would not do.

I told the other mothers and it's very true: daycare better not be sitting her on their lap on Monday while the other kids play in the grass!