Potty training easier? Clearly you don't have kids.

I've heard many times that life is so much easier once your child is potty trained.  I really do laugh when people say this.  Let's start at the beginning...

First of all, we were very fortunate that Jayna was ready for potty training early.  She was sitting on the little potty for months already, but I didn't expect her to actually potty train any time soon.  In all honesty, it was nowhere in my plans to do so for the next while since life was busy enough with the twins as well. One day, I decided that I would let Jayna play around the house in underwear (we have laminate floors) and just see what happened.  The first day, she actually peed on the potty, which shocked me because I didn't think it would actually work.  From there, she would wear underwear at home and a diaper when we went out.  I wasn't prepared to deal with that mess if I didn't have to.  We had a few accidents at home, but they were easy enough to wipe up, when it was pee anyway.

After a short time, I noticed that we would go out for a few hours and upon coming home, I noticed that her diaper was bone dry.  After this had happened a number of times in a row, I decided to venture out of the house with Jayna not wearing a diaper.  For the most part, we were good.  We have also been very lucky with the overnight training.  Jayna went a week or more without a drop in her diaper overnight so we decided to try no diaper again.  She has yet to have an accident over night and it's been over a month for sure!

As for the not so easy part.  For most children, the pooping on the potty is the hardest part.  Jayna had some issues because she would hold it in and then she would end up constipated and that would be painful for her, which would make things worse.  As you can see, this became a vicious cycle.  It also became very annoying because she would be in and out of the bathroom a million times for an hour or two and I had a million other things to be doing.  Somehow, this usually occurred at the same point the twins were screaming.  After giving her some stool softeners, life became a little easier and she saw some success in the number 2 on the potty area.  Thankfully, the constant poop accidents only lasted a couple weeks.  It could have been much worse.

I also find that now I have one more thing to worry about.  I'm always asking her if she has to go to the bathroom and staking out the nearest washroom or taking note of the fact that we're not going to be around one.   I feel like I'm now obsessed with the bathroom and my child going to the bathroom.  I also have to have an extra set of clothes with me at all times....just in case.

And the most difficult part......I said to my mom the other day that sometimes I have a hard time remembering that Jayna is barely two years old.  I have to remind myself about this when she has accidents as well.  Sometimes it would be easier to still have her in diapers, because if she has to go to the bathroom and I can't get to her right away or we aren't near one, then it's not an issue.  I find this the most difficult at the park, even though we haven't had too many accidents.  A couple weeks ago, Jayna said she had to go potty when we were at the playground by our house.  I took her away from the crowd and took off her shoes and as I went to pull down her pants, I realized I was too late and there was a huge mess.  I felt really bad for her having to walk home with poopy pants, but what was I supposed to do?  It wasn't supposed to be bath night, but it became so.  Yesterday there were two occasions at two different parks.  When she told me she had to go the first time, I just undressed her and she went at the park.  I knew we weren't going to make it back to Grandma and Grandpa's house.  This lead to a pee party for the rest of her cousins, because they saw her peeing outside.  Later in the day, we were at Assiniboine park and she peed her pants.  I got frustrated, not at her, but just at the situation.  I guess we just have to do a better job of making her go and not just asking if she has to go.

Yes, it is nice that I have a few less diapers to change and buy, but at the same time, sometimes it would make my life a little simpler and less hectic.