The Battle

(Disclaimer: this may be more than you want to know:))

Starting this past Saturday we have been battling it out with our sweet little Lily. We "threw out" the diapers and crossed out fingers. She was no longer potty-training, but was resistant to the process. We had warned Lily and even had been crossing off days on the calender until the diapers go away and she gets to be a big girl. Right off the bat, she threw a fit when I tried to take off her last diaper that morning. We then told her that it was her pee and poop and her job to put it in the potty (therefore transferring the power to her). We were shocked when she voluntarily sat on the potty numerous times that morning (although with no success). Then she shocked us again but peeing in the potty that afternoon. In all of the excitement, she skipped her nap and then decided that we couldn't get off that easy. From then on she refused to sit on the potty at all. She was up in the middle of the night soaked of course. The next few days were awful. Lily would hold her pee to max capacity before peeing all over herself. Heaven forbid she would give in and use the potty. The amazing thing is that she has always been dry all night (except the first night) and for naps. The hardest thing to deal with was her screaming, yelling, crossing her legs, dancing around, and constant request to "take me" (pick her up). It was extremely difficult to not get mad at her or bug her about using the potty. It needed to be her choice if she was going to finally use it. Would you believe that she held it from 7:30pm Sunday night until almost noon the next day?!?! On Sunday, I ran to Target at hit up the doller aisle. I got a big bag of "prizes" that she gets for peeing in the potty and a few bigger ones for pooping. Unfotunately, that didn't seem to inspire her very much. I can't even explain the frustration that we felt! This has been the most difficult parenting experience for us...ever. Finally, she had a break through on Tuesday and used the potty twice that day. Once she got that first prize and all of the hugs and kisses, it must have clicked. Then today, she was perfect with #1 all day and used the potty 5 times! I about fainted. Unfortunately, #2 has been a whole other ball game. As of Wednesday morning, she had not pooped since Saturday morning! We've been pumping her full of Miralax (which she is always on) and today, she finally got a little out. Sooner or later, she's going to have to give in on that too. We knew Lily was stubborn given the bottle battle we had with her when she was a baby and the food struggles we have with her now. We figured she wouldn't give in without a fight, but I didn't think it would take that long. Thankfully, we appear to be heading in the right direction! Whew!