It wasn't until this very moment that I felt confident saying that my daughter is now a potty trained preschooler! We have been working with potty training actively for about 8 months or so? Maybe a little longer? We introduced the "big girl potty" when Ava was just over a year. Our goal was to introduce the potty early on to ease her into it, give her comfort, and make sure she saw it on a routinely basis. I never wanted to "make" her ready before she was ready though. 

I think Justin and I both have always been the kind of parents that want their children to show them that they are ready to tackle something new. Ava is very much so that way and she thrives when she can go her own pace in any milestone. There were a couple of times prior to now that we thought she was potty trained but after Olivia was born, Ava regressed MAJORLY. 

She only wanted diapers, she didn't want to be a "big girl" anymore... we know that was in large part to a new baby joining our family and that was one of the ways Ava was coping with change. We had to be okay with that and made plans to actively start trying to potty train again once we got to our new home in Texas because we had so much crazy change going on the last couple of months in Washington. The goal was to be consistent + settled, but road trips don't really allow for that. Luckily we didn't have to actively try anything because in this new house, Ava has only wanted to potty on the big girl potty. She hates diapers and if we pull one out she tells us no.

And here we are. We let her show us she was ready and she is! 

If I had to give advice and share what we used/did... these are the things I would share. 

*** LET YOUR CHILD BE THE ONE TO TELL YOU THEY ARE READY *** 

--->Definitely grab some sort of potty, whether that be a seat for your own toilet, or a smaller potty that is toddler sized. We actually have both but Ava has been preferring her Princess Potty Step Stool. 

--->That brings me to my second item, a step stool. We started giving the bathroom much more attention and in order to do that Ava needed to reach things. Teeth brushing, toilet flushing, and washing her hands are all things she was able to do because of the stool. The cool thing about the princess potty step stool is that Ava uses it as a step stool to get on the toilet we use. It's nice because she doesn't need assistance getting on or off. 

--->Praise! We never did a sticker system or rewards for using the bathroom, but we definitely jumped for joy each time she used the potty successful. Ava absolutely LOVES alll the words of affirmation and she loves receiving praise from mom and dad. That was enough for her to continue her success on the toilet. 

--->Patience. It doesn't happen over night. It's not something you can force your kiddo to do. If they say they aren't ready or they show signs of not being ready, let it be. I can't stress this enough. 

--->Undies. Ava picked out her favorite character undies and although she prefers to be nakey at home (she does wear a princess dress or nightgown), doc mcstuffins + minnie mouse are her preferred undies. We found that (in the beginning of our potty training days) Ava saw underwear as a means of being able to pee.. it didn't register with her that she needed to use the potty until we took away diapers and undies.

AT NIGHT: Because accidents do happen, we utilize the Cinderella pull ups (night time version). Surprisingly, Ava does not like to pee on Cinderella.. her words, not mine. This is a precautionary, that i feel like we'll stop using here in the next few weeks.

ON THE GO: Undies are utilized and because germs are everywhere, especially public toilets, we use Sofia the first on the go potty toppers. Almost each public restroom we've come across in Texas does not have the protective toilet toppers, so these are a must for sure. When we are at a shopping mall, there is always a family bathroom with a toddler sized toilet. That's great for Ava for sure.

I really hope our journey helps another family with theirs! This was a huge milestone.

♥- Leilani

The Princess Potty & Michael Buble

These last few days have been absolutely glorious, and the weekend has only made me even more ancy for two whole weeks of vacation with my mister and our Bug. As much as I love blogging, I enjoy time away from technology with my sweet family. So many new things have happened with Ava these past few days, but I plan on saving some of that for her fifteen month update. I even busted out the Christmas music (Michael Buble Christmas cd)! Those of you who know me personally know this usually happens at the beginning of July... Justin convinced me into waiting until August (we are pretty much there). The Christmas countdown always starts in the summer for me, and I really couldn't be more thankful that I am in my home state this year! Everyone's been asking, so I'll keep this brief... I definitely ovulated like the doc predicted, and now it's just a waiting game to see if we conceived!

This past weekend we actually made a conscious effort to get Ava familiar with her "Princess potty" and I am proud to report that things are going even better than I could have imagined. From the moment we showed her the pink, singing, and sparkly princess potty, she loved it! She treated it like a toy at first, but we played a little monkey-see, monkey-do and she caught on very quickly. She has used the potty every single morning since Friday, and she'll even use it throughout the day if mom and dad encourage her to. There are three things that have really helped us since we started the potty journey, and I'm going to share them with you guys.

1. Every time we potty, we put Ava on the potty, every time.
2. After every meal or cup of milk, we put Ava bug on her potty. 
3. Whenever she goes potty, we clap, we hooray, and it's a big ordeal (especially once Ava hears the music play from her potty). 

So far these are the only things we've tried, and they've been extremely effective. *** We really didn't plan on actively trying to potty train for at least four more months** and we still really aren't pushing it. I'm just glad that Ava is familiar with the potty, and that we've made some awesome progress. The thing I love most about purchasing an actual potty for her is the growth factor it comes with. You can remove the seat off of her potty and place it on the normal toilet. The top of her potty also folds down, which turns the potty into a step stool. Despite some of the reviews, I'm really glad we went with the potty we purchased. 

Have any of my readers introduced the potty when their child was 14 months or younger? What tips have you found work the best? How many of my readers have young toddlers that are potty trained? I'd love to hear from you in the comments below or by email. 

Happy Tuesday all! 

♥- Leilani