Elimination Communication Led to Early Potty Training

Christmas 2011 I received Kindle gift cards, which I was super excited about!  I was browsing through parenting books and the title, Diaper Free Baby made me chuckle.  I remember thinking, "yeah right!"  Well, after reading the reviews, I ended up buying the book, which led me to put my 8 month old (at the time) on the potty to see what would happen.  She peed!  I was sold from that point forward and purchased a potty seat.  Since my daughter was 8 months, we have been using the potty and on average, she would go 4 times a day in the potty.  About a month ago, she began to walk into the bathroom and lift the lid of the toilet.  I would put her on it, and bam, she would go!

The signs were there, I needed to get this girl in underwear!  I had worked as an Early Childhood Interventionist with Coyne and Associates, working with children on the Autism Spectrum and had potty trained 4 kiddos I had worked with.  I knew the potty protocol by heart, so I implemented it on my sweet 17 month old, Ivy.

I lined my carpet with blankets and put little baby underwear on Ivy.  The first day, she did great!  We only had 2 accidents before my husband got home around 3pm.  She was getting tired, and it seemed as if she could not control herself at that point and was going often in her underwear.  I put her in diapers for the rest of the evening.  The next day appeared to be the same situation.  As I said to my husband, "she may be making a mess, but at least she is learning what it feels like to pee and what it feels like to be wet."

Then, my schedule got a little crazy and we had to hold off with the underwear.  A few days later, all on her own, Ivy began signing potty, hand-leading me into the bathroom, and doing the cutest potty dance I have ever seen in my life! 

I am happy to report, it has been 26 hours and we have been dry the entire time with exclusive potty use!  I am such a proud momma!  I really believe we do not give our children enough credit.  They are capable of so much more than what we, as a society, believe.