Potty Training, Interrupted

We decided to take advantage of the long, holiday weekend to get serious about potty training. Claire has been interested in the potty for months. We have toddler seats on all the toilets and she regularly requests to use the potty. She'll sit there reading books, singing songs, and trying to make some potty magic, but, for the most part, her efforts have been fruitless. She has put a little in the potty twice, but it almost seemed accidental. She just can't seem to get comfortable enough on that big potty to let loose. Plus, she seems to like her privacy when she's doing her business, but giving her privacy in the bathroom usually results in (a) her unrolling all the toilet paper into the toilet (b) her getting the soap pump off the sink and pumping it onto the floor (c) her playing in the toilet. Since I do not find those bathroom habits particularly charming, I don't allow her to sit on the big potty in complete privacy. Overall, it seems the big potty's size, lack of privacy, and the general to-do associated with running to the potty, setting up the potty seat, climbing the stool, and feeling a little over-supervised is just too much for her little toddler nerves. She gets potty shy, waits until we put her diaper back on, and then does her business. So, we finally caved and took her to buy a little floor potty, which she (ironically) calls her "big girl potty". We also explained to her that every time she put pee-pee or poo-poo in any potty, we would give her an m&m. We brought the home on Friday evening and the first thing she did was pull off her pants and use her new potty. It seemed like the start of a great weekend!

Saturday, we let her run around the house naked all day and she used the potty like a pro. Only one accident the entire day. She even "held it" when we went out to dinner and made a quick run to Target in big girl panties. Sunday and Monday were great - not a single accident. It was so much easier than I had built it up to be in my head.

Then came Tuesday (today). It started off well enough. I decided to have her dressed today (she can't run around naked all the time!) We toured a preschool in the morning with no potty emergencies. When we got home, she used the potty a little, so I gave her an m&m. Then, I found her big girl panties on the floor, soaked. She had an accident. No big deal - one accident in 3 days is pretty good. I picked up the panties, threw them in the washer, and didn't think about it again, until... THE POOP BEGAN.

While I was cooking dinner, Claire had disappeared into her playroom (the potty is in a secluded corner of the room). I thought she was just playing until I heard her say, "I need a bath." Then, I smelled it. I looked down at her expecting a poop-covered toddler, but she was relatively clean except for a little on her dress. Where was the poop? I checked her potty only to find that she had lifted the "containment section" of the potty and attempted to carry it over to the trash can. Unfortunately, she wasn't strong enough to finish the journey before dumping the potty contents all over the floor. As an added bonus, the poop was, let's call it "lax". Mass clean-up and disinfecting of both child and floor ensued. Then, I went back to cooking dinner (amazing what my stomach can handle after 2 years of motherhood).

Within a few minutes, Claire returned to the kitchen saying she needed a wipe. This time, I looked down to find poop on her hand and one of her feet. I then followed her poop footprints to find diarrhea on my living room rug. Excellent.

So, our potty training has now been cut short by a stomach virus that has left my poor girl's bottom in a rather distressed state. She's going to stay in diapers until this passes. I'll just have to keep my fingers crossed that she'll pick up right where we left off once this virus runs its course.