So it's been about a year and we finally got there! About two weeks and my big '17 baby has been nearly entirely dry during the day. (Though I can't say we were actually trying very much for most of this.)

We chose to be very gentle about potty training.

She got interested in the topic last summer when she saw her cousins (6-9 years old) not wearing diapers but using the toilet. She used the toilet once, peed and pooped on the potty, peed and pooped onto the carpet, all in one week - and then promptly lost all interest in the whole thing. We cheered on her when succeeding and kindly calmed her down when she missed it (she was scared by the poop on the carpet 🤣).

And I mean it, she entirely lost all interest in using anything than the diapers.

Every day at bathtime we kept asking if she wanted to use the potty and if I was with her I asked her at diaper changes too, daddy forgot most of the time but he also asked her sometimes. Just asking if she wanted and saying "alright" when she said no. We talked about how big kids in schools didn't use diapers but toilets and potties, we talked about her cousins, her granny's kindergarten group, cartoon characters, read bedtime stories... She steadily refused even trying. We did our best to not push it just to keep the topic alive, always being kind and gentle, just asking and offering the opportunity.

I also went back to the office in September, she stayed at home with daddy who has been working out of home for years (yeah his productivity greatly suffered...) plus I got pregnant and gave birth in June. I understand that these didn't help her greatly. She also just loves saying NO to us 😂

But in July she got interested in her panties. We bought them last summer when she got our hopes up, they were the smallest we could find but quite big for her at the time, they fit perfectly now. Well she wanted to wear them now, but not previously throughout the year. She tried a couple of times, usually with me talking her into sitting onto the potty every hour and staring there for a few minutes. When she succeeded I cheered on her, when nothing happened I just said "OK that's alright, we will try later." The thing is, by noon she usually lost her interest and asked for her diapers back and not try for a few days again.

She definitely gained great insight into what is happening with her body and how she can influence it. She started this cute little thing at bathtime, where she would stand in the bathtub and pee while giggling wildly. After some observation and clear disapproval, we determined that she did it very much on purpose, nearly every day.

We whipped out the potty and started sitting her onto it every day before bath. She was very antsy to get off of it and into the tub so she could pee there... Well we had a great argument. For a couple of days we argued every time before she understood that peeing into the bathtub was not acceptable the way she did it and all she needed to do was sitting onto the potty and "trying" before she could go into the water.

From then on she did very well with this! Most of the days she peed in there before bath but not always. We cheered on her when she succeeded and told her "that's alright, if it doesn't want to come out it's not coming out" if she couldn't pee.

She enjoyed this success a lot! After a about two weeks she started asking for her panties more. I got her to sit onto the potty once an hour, and continued the praises and cheers at success and the OK if not. She got her diapers back for sleeping but otherwise she was mostly dry.

And then two weeks ago everything seemed to just click. She puts on her panties and a t-shirt in the morning when she gets dressed, goes to potty (asked for help for the first week but now usually goes alone), and then asks for help with wiping. A few days she doesn't want to get out of her diapers after her afternoon nap and we let her, I think she feels better that she can have her own choice. We also haven't yet tried in the car or through a nap or night.

I know there are methods to go much quicker but acquaintances with strong willed kids had no success at all with these, and my daughter is especially stubborn. My nephew was going mostly dry for the whole day with encouragements only when his grandma was babysitting for a day and pushed the issue... He refused to use the potty for the next 10 months entirely. With all these in mind I thought gentle encouragements would take us there when the time is right, and it looks like it's finally happening!