The road to success is littered with little puddles!

So I finally did it! Emily is potty trained! Sound the trumpets and let the celebrations commence. I want an award for getting through the last four weeks...greatest mum or maybe just most improved one anyway.

There are certain milestones that you look forward to, when your baby rolls over, learns to crawl, learns to walk, learns to talk and then there are events that you just push on through and hope to get to the end of such as teething and getting rid of a dummy. Potty training, for me, definitely falls into the latter category. And I am not alone it would seem. I recently shared my potty training woes with another mum in the nappy aisle of Morrisons. Our eyes met over the pull up pants and she gave me that understanding and sympathetic look. 
"It's hard work isn't it?" I asked her.
"Oh yes absoultely, if I have to ask my little boy one more time if he wants a wee." she laughed.
"Wow, I'm so glad it isn't just me."
"No, it's definitely not just you." 

We then discussed the options of a sanitary esk towel over a dry nights bed sheet for safe, accident free travel. She went with the bed sheet in the end as we both agreed that the sanitary towel thingy just didn't seem quite right somehow. To date, probably the weirdest conversation I have ever had in Morrisons, although there was the one about the different brands of diarrhoea tablets a few months back. Ahem...anyway!

So what have I learnt from my experiences? Well, in Emily's case that you have to approach each of the potty training requirements individually, i.e. don't just assume that because your child is weeing on the potty that she understand that she is also required to poo on it! We had a few accidents in knickers before we got that one right!

That gentle persistence is the key. Praise for success and no fuss for accidents, just clean it up and remind your child that next time they need to do it in the...?

"POTTY MUMMY." 
"That's right baby, good girl."

And finally that they will only do it when 'they' are good and ready and not because you want them to, because other people are putting pressure on you or because you are under some misguided illusion that society will frown on you for having your child still in nappies at the age of two and a half. I mean, come on, cut us parents some slack, we are doing the best we can and as I have said many times before, that's all you can do!