Step 4: 3-4 weeks after

About a week of her going to the potty by herself I moved her little potty from our living room to the bathroom and put the seat on the big potty, which is where she went from then on.

I've heard that for some kids potty training is like a light switch - once it clicks for them they never have any accidents. Madeleine wasn't like that. So, for a few weeks after she figured out how to go on her own, I had to constantly remind and reward her. Below are some things that worked for us...

• She wore a dress instead of pants to make going to the potty as easy as possible.
• Every 30 minutes or so I would say something to remind her about the potty - either praising her for staying dry, asking if she wanted to try, showing her the M&Ms that were ready for her once she went, or pretending to call someone and brag to them about how she now goes potty by herself.
• If she said she didn't need to go, I would remind her "Do NOT go peepee or poopy in those pretty new pink panties". Of course, if she did have an accident I wouldn't chastise her... read Accidents for more about that.
  
• If I was pretty sure she would be need to go soon I would make her sit on the potty for a while until she went. For this, I did not take her "no, I don't need to go" seriously. Read my No Doesn't Mean No post for details.
  
• I had to continue to use M&Ms as a reward periodically for the following weeks, tapering off and stopping completely about 4 weeks afterward.
• We would also continue to reinforce it with potty books.
• I made her try to go when she first got up (when we would trade her pull up for panties), when we were about to go somewhere, and right before she went to bed.