Ms Spice:
Will sit on the potty but won't do anything. I've concluded that she's physically and mentally able to use the potty but emotionally has decided it's going to be a power struggle between the two of us. I think this will be counterproductive and a lose-lose situation so starting this week, I have her back in diapers. We'll try again in a few months
Ms Sugar:
Had a couple of accidents in that first one week and quickly figured out that going to potty is the solution. Both in school and at home she will say "potty" when she wants to go. She successfully went for the whole of last week without an accident.
Right now she's capable of going to the bathroom by herself and taking care of business without adult supervision (she'll even bring the potty to where TwinDad and I are so we can "admire" her work). She's not ready to poop in the potty yet and will wait to do it in her undergarments. We'll wait to work on that as she's done a couple of times and may consider pooping in a potty a scary thing
What didn't work:
* Peer pressure: Seeing Sugar use the potty regularly and get rewarded has not been enough to motivate Spice* Asking regularly: Sugar gets irritated if I ask her to go potty at regular intervals. She wants to be asked to go only when there's a deposit to be made
* Forgetting the rewards: Flushing automatically instead of letting the victorious toddler do it. It's enough to cause a major meltdown
What worked:
* Home arrangement: Creating a clear path between wherever the girls were and the toilet. The gates stayed open and the lights in the toilet stayed on. This way, when they realise they want to go, they can dash down before an accident occurs. I think this was instrumental in making Sugar very independent with the going to potty business.
* Peer pressure: Spice actually peed in the potty a couple of times before deciding it wasn't her thing. Sugar wanted the high fives Spice was getting and that was one of her motivating factors
* Simple rewards: The only rewards I give are high fives and the "honor" of flushing and wearing the monkey underwear
* Understanding the personalities involved: Sugar thrives on competition so peer pressure worked for her. Spice is very self aware and when she says "No" she means it. I know that until she agrees to pee in the potty, she won't. (Yes she's told me "No peepee in the potty" every time we've actually had that conversation)
Notes on Pull Ups
There's a school of thought that believes that pull-ups slow down the potty training process. I haven't observed that with Sugar as regardless of if she's wearing pullups or cotton underwear, she'll go to the potty.
