The Woes of a Potty Trained Toddler

Some would argue that there are many benefits to having your young toddler potty trained, as my 20 month old daughter Rose is-- not having to change poopy diapers, less laundry to do and/or fewer diapers to buy, and, did I mention? No poopy diapers to change. While I appreciate all the many benefits that come from early potty training, there are a few drawbacks.

For one, she can't speak very well yet. So she relies on banging on the door, whining until I take notice, or taking off her pants to let me know she needs to go. Since she relies a lot on getting my attention to take care of her toileting needs, she has accidents frequently. Sometimes two a day on a bad day. Sometimes we don't have any at all, but frequently we have at least one accident per day. Not a big deal, she's still learning. I don't mind cleaning up after accidents if it means no more diapers for me to deal with.

Lately she's taken it upon herself to take care of her toileting needs on her own. This means I will very often find her sitting on the potty in the dark of the bathroom, alone. This is usually a great thing!

I decided to take up an exercise routine today. While I was doing my yoga, Rose got into the one cabinet that she's allowed to get into. She got out the nesting plastic mixing bowls and played with them. Next thing I know, I see her with her pants down, sitting on the largest bowl while I'm bent over in a downward dog.

And she didn't just go #1, either.

So, I'm just trying to look at the positives here. She's now so reliable that she's essentially bathroom independent at 20 months old! Yea! But it's really hard to overlook the fact that she used my mixing bowl. Gross.