Potty Training Boot Camp: The End

Despite the fact that a friend came over during the afternoon of Day 2, and spent the night and stayed until naptime on Day 3, I was going crazy by Day 3. Just waaaaaay too much time spent in very close proximity to Calliope, constantly asking, "want to sit on the potty? where's the pee-pee?"

A mom from a local moms' group offered to host a playdate on the afternoon of day 3 and I decided to take Calliope, even though we were only "supposed" to go out for an hour, per the potty training methodology. I took two sets of dry pants, a dry shirt, dry socks, the potty, three cloth diapers (for clean up), and two disposable diapers plus a pack of wipes.

She had peed on the floor (with the last few drops caught by me "whisking" her over the potty) right before we left. I put her in dry pants with nothing underneath (no training pants or underpants as well as no diaper) as per Babycenter's instructions. She stayed dry on the way over... but wet her pants shortly thereafter. I mopped up the puddle with her wet pants.

She passed gas while playing so I grabbed her and put her on the potty. She lunged off. I put her back. She lunged off again. And suddenly, seconds later, we all smelled something. Each mom sniffed her toddler's diapered bottom, but no one could find the culprit. And then in one horrible moment, we all realized that Calliope had let go a few drips of very liquid poop on the sissal rug.

Ouch! So embarrassing. I was trying to be so careful! And the host is a woman who makes me a teensy bit insecure anyway, in her apparent perfection -- just bought a beautiful Victorian house AND a car, despite having decided recently to stay home for another year with her daughter (she has a husband). Oh, and I did I mention she bears a striking resemblance to the character of Charlotte from Sex in the City?

So it sucked. And I was just DONE.

It's clear to me that Calliope knows how to hold the contents of her bladder... just not how to release on command.

She was remarkably good natured about the whole endeavor. I would have found it annoying to be constantly pestered about sitting on the potty, but she cheerfully clambered on each time I asked. She was very, very interested in the idea of pee, and kept checking the potty to see if any had landed there (one reason I think she wasn't ready is that she couldn't tell if she had peed or not). And now we have been talking about poop more (she says it as "pppp" or "pooh") and I have been showing her the dirty diaper because I read somewhere that if they've never seen it, it can be scary when they see it in the potty.

I was a little mad at myself yesterday for wasting so much of a perfectly good vacation on a rather miserable and of course unsuccessful endeavor... but I'm mostly over that now. It was an interesting experiment.

And now I'm very grateful to be back to diapers! Calliope and I had a very low key day today, with a visit from our downstairs neighbors this morning and a trip to the chiropractor (for me) this afternoon. Her bedtime has been creeping later as she's been really amped up in the evenings... but the lovely side effect is that she's been sleeping later, too. Past 8:30 this morning! I know I need to nip it in the bud because we go back to our old schedule in a few more days... but today never seems to be the day! Maybe tomorrow I'll get her to bed on time.

Oh, and one more thing. About poop. She had a stomach bug maybe two-three weeks ago? Only threw up once, the rest of the time was diarrhea. She finally started eating more and seemed better. But now she's having really frequent loose stools. I think 5-6 times today. But they don't smell particularly bad like diarrhea. But her diaper rash can't heal as a result. So diaper changes are painful for her. Even though I change her diapers right away. So I'm wondering what is going on. She's not acting sick, but I wonder if something she is eating isn't agreeing with her? She mostly eats a somewhat constipating diet these days, so I don't really get it. I've been giving her probiotics since she was sick and I'm wondering if they could be the culprit?

Her diet: cheese (lots), banana, apple, toast, crackers, peanut butter, broccoli, green beans, cauliflower, cherry tomatoes (lots). Oh, and she's breastfeeding. No other dairy at the moment except she has had ice cream a couple times in the past week.

Could the cherry tomatoes be the culprit? I only let her have them once today. She's obsessed with them so it's not easy. I bought the yellow ones which are supposed to be low acid, in case that makes a difference?

If anyone has any insight, please let me know!