Tiny Tot takes on the pot
My LO has learned to use the potty!! You could only image the emotions running through me right now. My baby! She’s growing up! She’s using the potty! I mean, she wasn’t quite 16 months when she grasped the concept of potty training, it’s really mind blowing! Awhile back a friend of mine, who works with children, shared she starts potty training her kids once they turned one. I couldn’t fathom having my LO potty trained at what I thought was early however I started listening to other mother’s potty training stories. I searched potty training my 15 month old and felt inspired. I stumbled upon YouTube videos of mothers who completed the Elimination Communication (EC) method. It was fascinating to see so many mothers potty training their children as early as infancy up to 18 months. After about 3-4 stories I figured I had enough information and examples, it was time to see if my LO was ready. Once her potty arrived, I picked an afternoon to try it out. I allowed her to be diaper-free and sat her on the potty immediately after she peed - each time. She did well. Though she never pee on the potty at all that day, it was refreshing to see how she responded to the potty. After about a 3 weeks of trying to narrow down the perfect weekend to start, I began wondering if I should postpone our start date to sometime in May. It just seemed like something was always going on during the weekend and I didn’t want to interrupt my week if I didn’t have to. Ultimately, I had some changes in my schedule freeing my day up which allowed me to be home at least 3 consecutive days. I set in my mind we were going to begin and we did. The night before potty training began I set up our potty training area - the living room. My husband helped roll up our rug so we wouldn’t have any accidents on it. Then we layed out her toys and placed her potty close by. My final step was putting together her potty training basket. The potty training basket are odds and ends that will be helpful to have near you. 
Our basket included extra panties, baby wipes, lysol wipes, two children’s book, a potty toy, extra socks and diaper cream.
I also had two old towels in the living room for cleaning purposes.
Although I based our process off the EC method, I made adjustments by giving us simple daily goals. Our 3 day process looked like this:Day 1) Bring awareness + provide an alternative - I started the day with excitement telling her, we are going to use the potty today! She may not have fully grasped what I was saying at the time but she eventually understood what it meant. Throughout our day, anytime she had an accident on the floor, I pointed it out. I made her stop everything she was doing, announced what just happened - Oh look, you peed! - then placed her on the potty. When wearing diapers all day everyday, children are use to peeing whenever/wherever without thinking about it. Potty training is challenging them to start paying attention and make adjustments. EC talks about looking for signals when your LO needs to potty. For me, this wasn’t easy. She never used the same signal so I often times missed it. I just worked with where she was. I figured providing an alternative with an explanation could help us in the long run. Once I called out what happened and immediately placed her on the potty I let her sit there for a bit. We would sing a song together like the ABC’s or our potty song. I was creating space for her to finish releasing or simply getting use to sitting on the potty. I’d also explain whenever you need to pee, let’ mommy know so you can pee-pee on the potty. Children understand so much more than we realize. I talk gently with her trying to be very clear so she can receive a general sense of what I’m asking. By the end of this day, I was worn out. I felt like I was a broken record repeating myself over and over. Realistically, she may have only peed on the potty 2-3 times that day. She had more accidents than successes which was okay. I was simply happy she continued to try. Day 2) Repeat, reiterate and continue practicing - Even though all I kept thinking about was how tired the day before left me, I knew how important consistency was for her. Again, I started the day with a smile and excitement telling her - we are going to use the potty all day today! I stuck to to her new routine: wake up, sit on the potty, get dressed for the day then head downstairs for breakfast. I’d allow her to finish her breakfast before fully getting into potty training mode. It allowed us both time to gather ourselves for the task of the day. Once potty training mode was in full effect I tried new things. EC talks about timing and intuition as a method to potty train. I intentionally made note of when she peed and the frequency. (Example: She woke up at 7am with a full diaper. She didn’t pee on the potty first thing this morning. She finished breakfast around 8am but didn’t need to pee until 8:30a.) From there I took note of any accidents or successes she had. She was averaging 30-40 mins between accidents/using the potty. Thankfully, timing and intuition helped this day. She did such a wonderful job using the potty. The only accidents she had were times she started to release then caught herself. She’d look at me with a face almost like “mommy help”. This was only day two! I was so proud of her! By naptime she was successfully using the potty every 30 minutes or so. She only had 1-2 accidents all morning! However, when she woke up that afternoon, it’s as though she forgot everything we’d been working. She rarely peed on the potty. She didn’t catch herself anymore. Having accident after accident. I started wondering if I was pushing her too hard. I questioned if she was ready. I wasn’t sure if she was really understanding what we’d been doing. But I knew we invested too much time into this already. I also didn’t want to give up on her, I couldn’t! I just adjusted my goal for the afternoon - make it through the day. And we did!Day 3) Practice, practice, practice - On day three I woke up feeling hopeful thinking today is the last day of this intensified potty training. She’s got this! We’ve got this! We started our morning similarly as the previous days then started working on potty training. If she had an accident, I talked her through it. If she peed on the potty, I overly expressed my excitement. If she got annoyed, I distracted her with a song, dance, book or toy. At this point you just need to do whatever it takes to finish strong! The other tactic I tried from the EC method was cues. I tried them on the other days but it wasn’t really sticking - for me or her. I’m sure if I was more consistent with this she would have gotten it. I learned sign language for pee, poop and potty in hopes this would help her communicate when she needs to go. I tried teaching them to her but she wasn’t having it. We don’t use them much even now but that doesn’t mean it’s not helpful for someone else. The big test on day three was when I had to leave and my husband became on potty duty. I prepped him so he knew what to look for and how to assist her. I was interested to see if she would regress with him or continue to do well. When I returned home that evening I was greeted with great news. She did well! She had no accidents and peed on the potty all evening! Ya’ll, my heart was full with of joy and pride. She really has been trained to use the potty! My favorite part of it all is after she releases on the potty, she'll clap for herself! She knows she's made both my husband and I so proud but she is also very proud herself! This experience left me feeling simply amazed by my daughter. I not only feel closer to her but also understand her more. She has a willingness to learn and try new things all while being so patient. It’s humbling to see her patience with the process as well as my patience with her learning the process. We basically encouraged each other unintentionally. I was also reminded how valuable consistency is for a toddler. Note: Our process included our LO being diaper-free. The first few days she went commando. We place a onesie on her leaving the bottom unbutton. After she got the hang of using the potty and having less accidents then we put her undies on. Now, she wear her little undies during the day under a onesie or a dress. She only wears a diaper for nap time and bedtime. She’s gotten better with holding her urine longer and will communicate when she needs to go. She gets really squirmish, she will whine not taking anything you give her or will grab her undies whenever she needs to go. Move QUICK or they will let it out. 