My Three Part Potty Training Strategy for Staying Accident Free at Preschool

Some of you know I reluctantly agreed to temporarily put Bug back in pull-ups at the request of her preschool teachers. The mom in me was soooo bummed but the teacher in me totally got it. She was having multiple accidents and I know how hectic the beginning of the school year can be. Bug has been in school for about six weeks now so I feel like we can try to go pull-up-free again. Here is my three part strategy to keep her dry at preschool.

Part One:  Custom training pants. I purchased plain white Gerber training pants from Target and let her decorate them with fabric markers. I did not expect a masterpiece. It is hard to slide the markers across the fabric. My goal here was to create ownership and pride. I want her to want to keep these dry. Note: we had a very important conversation on how these were special markers for a special project. We do NOT color on any other items of clothing.

Part Two: Nail polish. Yes, nail polish. Every day she comes home from preschool with dry pants we paint one of her finger nails. I wish I could take credit for this awesome idea but it was actually our pediatrician who suggested it. We use Piggy Paint-a non-toxic, eco-friendly and hypoallergenic nail polish. You can find it on the Piggy Paint's website, at children's boutiques and at some Target stores. (They also have nail polish remover.)

Part Three: A reward chart. Since Bug has been on a pirate kick recently, I was going to make my own treasure hunt themed reward chart but luckily I found a cute one on Pinterest from Happiness is Homemade. (There are boy and girl versions.) Every time Bug tells her teacher or me she has to poop, she gets to mark off a coin. In our house, every pirate coin equals one quarter. After five quarters we get to make a trip to the dollar store to buy some new art supplies, like glue sticks, stickers and paper. 

Side note:  Since Bug now wears big kid underpants, Luke Bear just had to get a pair too. Because Luke Bear is a boy, he got some new boxer briefs. I felt a little weird buying underwear at the Build-a-Bear store so I grabbed a cheap t-shirt too.

If you have any other ideas, please share! Leave them in the comments, send them to me on Pinterest or post them on my facebook page. Thanks! I'll keep you posted on our progress. :)