The potty train!

I started potty training Evangeline around 18 months. We bought a potty chair and put it in the living room for her to sit on and just get used to it. I didn't want to rush her, and I found that she would sit on the potty for stickers. At first every time she sat on the potty she got a sticker, but I didn't know how long to have her sit, or how to get her to sit for any amount of time! So I let her play with the stickers. I made a poster and pinned it to the wall at a level she could reach. Then while she sat on the potty she put stickers on the poster. You can get tons of stickers at a local dollar store, ours is called Dollar Tree!

After a while this got old to her, and she was ready to start sitting on the potty with no diaper. She went a few times and we made a huge todo about it! This got her excited for a while. We then had the problem of her not being able to sit on the potty without her brother climbing on her. Plus, her Dora potty kept falling apart. So we got two new potty chairs "frogs". The kids love them. We keep these in the living room and Dora in the bathroom.

This solved the problem of brother climbing on sister. Then as an added bonus Christopher is already starting to potty train without even knowing it. He is encouraged to sit on the potty when Evie does. With his diaper still on because he doesn't sit long. He even says, "pee pee in potty" in his baby voice, but momma knows what he's trying to say. When Evie goes we take the tray to the bathroom to empty it, flush, and clean it out. Christopher follows with his in hand just because that is what you do. He isn't ready for actual potty training, but this foundation should help!

After the joy of the stickers wore off I made a chart on poster board. Evie got to color it then I wrote on it "Evangeline's good girl chart" I filled the chart with squares and every fifth square had a star on it. She gets stickers for going potty, and any good behavior I notice throughout the day! Then every time a sticker gets placed on the star she gets a prize. I have a shoe box that I fill with toys from the dollar store for her to pick from. It is our treasure chest.

Christopher is old enough that he wants stickers and prizes to, but doesn't understand why or what for. Every time Evie gets a sticker he does to. He also gets stickers for any good behavior noticed during the day! Then he to gets a prize. His chart is simply a blank calender that says on top "Christopher's good boy chart".

Both of them love to get stickers and prizes. The problem I now face is that Evangeline goes potty all day with no accidents only if she is naked. I can't get her to tell me she has to go when she has diapers or pull ups on. She even has accidents in panties. I don't know if she isn't quite ready for that or what. I know that she can not pull up or down her pants on her own. I am working on teaching her how to. Hopefully that will help. So for now when we are home she mostly runs around in a tee shirt!