Potty Training Part Deux

A little finger painting as distraction

Hello Kitty Pez standing by as a reminder to stay dry

We gave potty training a valiant effort. Day 1 went as expected with a mixture of successes and oops. I was encouraged on Day 2 by not one, but two,
#3s (1+2) in the potty.
By Day 3 I was ready for an a-ha moment that never came.
Eliza was happy to sit on the potty.
She sat

and sat

and sat

and sat.

She would eventually go and get rewarded. She was also rewarded in between when she was dry. BUT, she never told me she had to go potty, so the accidents kept happening.

By the morning of Day 4 the house was a mess and I was weary. After 3 accidents in 45 minutes, I called it quits. I was setting a timer for 10 minutes, doling out candy at the five minute mark for dryness, then cleaning up an accident by 8 or 9 minutes. Something just didn't click as far as her telling me that she needed to go.

I didn't feel like letting her sit on the potty all day was "success". She has to figure out the time when she's not on the potty, and it didn't happen. Maybe I should have given it more time, but with an almost 10 month old climbing stairs, walking behind anything with wheels, and banging cabinets, I was losing my mind.

You know how when you have an infant and you always think you hear crying?
I smelled urine constantly.

So, I was worried that I was committing a huge parenting mistake by starting then stopping, but its like it never happened. I put a diaper on Eliza and she went about her day. She hasn't asked for the candy, hasn't asked for underpants, doesn't seem to care.

Where does this leave us? I don't know. We will start again at some point and I know that some day my child WILL be potty trained. (both children)

These 2 were just along for the ride, getting in the way whenever they could!