Presents for potty

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

I just got the following e-mail from my wife concerning our 2 1/2 year old son:

"Colin just pee’d on the potty!! YEAH!! He said he had to pee and we went. As soon as he sat down, he did it. He’s all excited. I gave hime stickers. If he goes again after nap he’s getting a present. He’s been in the same diaper since this morning. "

What sort of present should we get? Should we even get something that big? We’re both very excited, and I know that rewarding the boy is a big part of potty training, but he’s a smart kid. I don’t want him to start working the system, you know?

2

LOL! He’ll work the system, all right. but hey, all kids do.

We gave our daughter treats after potty. Raisins, oranges, the occasional sucker or hard candy. An ice cream cone the first night she slept through without needing a diaper.She did fine. She eventually learned that “big girls” didn’t have to be rewarded for every potty; by that time she was so excited about her new clothes it was a moot point. Don’t know if I’d go overboard with presents because that becomes a bargaining chip, and we surprised her with the “treats” rather than her feeling she “earned” them. Worked out well.

Good luck!

b.

3

Getting to put a sticker on the toilet seat seems to work great for my nephew.

Now, pooping in the potty seems to be a much bigger deal. They bribed him with a toy toolbox for that one. Subsequent poops garnered new toy tools.

4

Heaping simple (but sincere) praise on him is enough. I’d vote against material rewards, especially food.

5

Lilly, Queen of the Universe, got to put a sticker on her “Lilly Went Potty!” poster every time she went. That was enough for her (in fact, I had a hard time keeping her out of the bathroom for a while).

6

I’ve heard putting Cheerios in the toilet for “target practice” works well too.

7

Both my kids had starts and stops.

My daughter was successful at going potty at 19 months - she still wears diapers at 3 1/2.

Don’t count on it being over. And keep any rewards small. I currently have promised her a Disney Cruise if she gets herself potty trained.

8

Well, we had only raised dogs before we had children, and we treat-train the dogs, so…

M&Ms for pee pees and poops at first, or a small toy. Nothing for pee pee now, but if he goes poop in the toilet, he usually asks for ice cream or pudding. Luckily, he is a late afternoon/early evening pooper, so I’m not giving out Haagen Dazs for breakfast!

I wasn’t worried about the rewards part of it- the bigger he got, the less he wanted a reward. Now, going potty like a big kid is it’s own reward!

Oh, and the first time I saw him pee standing up, I almost had a heart attack! Apparently, he’d seen older boys at preschool doing it, so he just did it too!

The things we parents find adorable… where did I leave my blazing intellect and all my clean clothes?!?