When John was 27 months old I decided to give potty training a try with him, school was out and we had the entire summer to learn how to go potty in the "big boy" potty. Within two weeks John was fully day and night potty trained and the experience was surprisingly easy.
Taylor was a different story, I was really struggling with picking a time to start her potty training experience. Unlike John who had the entire summer to learn, Taylor would be turning 27 months during the Fall, while she was in school, plus we would be traveling for the holidays. I did not want to try to early for fear she would regress and I did not want to start any later than 27 months, fearing she would take longer to train.
Everything I had read said girls would be easier to train than boys, but John was wonderful, and mastered potty training in a couple of weeks, how could it get easier than that?
Taylor has a strong independent personality and I was gearing up for what I was sure would be a long drawn out potty training battle. I will never forget the time when Taylor was 9 months old, she had just learned to walk. I do not remember what the situation was, but I told her "no". She looked up at me with her big brown eyes and walked from the hard tile floor over to the soft carpet where she threw herself down on the floor in protest. I knew at that very moment that raising her would be a completely different experience then with my mellow, laid back, John.
So, my thought was that there was never going to be a truly "good" time to start the process with her. We were just going to have to jump right in and learn as we went. I started the weekend before her last week in school. I thought going to school those two days in pull-ups would be a good introduction to potty training in school when she returned.
Friday morning Jason left for work and I got all my supplies gathered. Everything from carpet cleaner, to towels, potty seats, M&M's and stickers for rewards. I used the same method I did with John. Potty training Taylor was going great, much easier in fact than John in some ways. Before Jason got of work that evening I called and told him to stop by the store to buy Taylor some "big girl" panties. By Sunday she was fully trained, I was shocked and proud. She tells us every time she needs to go and even wakes us up at night if needed. Its amazing to have both kids potty trained, not to mention the huge savings in diaper cost!
