Toilet training- check!

Don't worry, this post doesn't come with photographs :)

I'm happy to say that just a couple of weeks shy of her third birthday, Sophie is finally, officially, pretty much completely (daytime) toilet trained.

We first got her a potty when she was about 18 months old, not with any big expectations- just to let her know she could try it out any time she wanted. She had a couple of goes early on and was mildly interested, but after a while she decided she didn't like the potty itself, so that was that.

When she was about tw0-and-a-half, her daycare centre decided it was time to take a more active approach to toilet training. She's there 10 hours a day, four days a week, so we were pretty happy to let them take the lead and follow their approach at home. This basically involved using a special toilet seat on the big toilet, and plopping her on there at regular intervals so she could have a shot at it. In the meantime, no nappies.

The net result was frustrating. She showed she knew how to use it- she would go in the toilet almost every time, but then she'd get up, walk out, and within five minutes say, "Hey, I did a wee on the floor!" Wet pants didn't bother her one bit. She found peeing all around the house quite amusing. At daycare, she'd go through five changes of clothes every day.

I started to worry about whether this might be an HIE throwback- whether she was having a physical problem with bladder control, or maybe a cognitive problem with knowing when to go and when to stop. I talked to my fellow HIE friends at the Hope for HIE group, asking for answers- and all assured me this was pretty normal toilet-training behaviour.

In the end, what worked was a combination of a couple of things. First, we got a new toilet seat- one that has steps and handles built in- that made her feel secure. Then, we went on a mega sticker offensive. Every time she peed in the toilet, she got one sticker (which she liked to stick on the actual toilet seat, which was good, because it was a visual reminder of how well she was doing). Every time she did a poop (and she took to that immediately), she got *three* stickers. There was a lot of enthusiasm from everyone- treats from grandma, stamps from daycare, celebrations all round.

And gradually, I guess she started paying more attention to holding it in and letting it out at the right time. In the last three weeks, she's generally had no more than two or three accidents a week. She's also now telling us when she needs to go instead of waiting for us to ask.

She's still wearing nappies at night, but she's now no longer wearing them at all during the day, and she's even started going out without a nappy (in the early days, we'd still get her to wear one when we were out in case there was no toilet available). She went to the zoo for five hours on Sunday, went to the public toilet twice, and no accidents.

And now she's decided she doesn't need the toilet seat anymore, either. Amazing! The main battle now is that she's so independent, she doesn't want any help from anyone for any reason, and the reality is, she still needs a little help with some bits of it.

I know she might go back and forth from here, but for now it's one more worry crossed off the list :) Very proud of my big girl, who's also sleeping in her own big bed now, and putting herself to sleep every night.