Sunday, April 13, 2008

Trains in the bathroom


So we have started the process of potty training and we have good days and bad. We told Siena she could play Thomas the tank engine on the computer if she sat on the big girl potty and went potty. We know when she goes potty in the pull up because she gets all nervous and walks around quickly not knowing what to do so we knew it was coming but she didn't want to sit on the big girl potty. So... we brought the computer in the bathroom and sat it down while she sat on the potty. It didn't work, she went potty right after we put the pull up back on and she won and got to see the trains on the computer. So any advice for potty training would be appreciated because our great ideas aren't working at the m0ment.

3 comments:

Kelly said...

OK, I am the expert at what NOT to do, because my two oldest children still can't comprehend why they should use a toilet -- but I would say more than anything make it positive.

My kids would get stickers just for sitting on the potty (for months), eventually we moved to stickers (candy works too) only when something actually got put in the potty, then we did charts where they'd get a sticker if they went, and if they got up to 5 stickers, they got a toy from Dollar Zone.

I know another lady who put the potty chair in the living room in front of the TV and let the child sit there watching until "lo and behold" something ended up in the potty chair and Mom went crazy with how exciting and happy that was. It didn't take long for the child to figure out what was making Mom shower her with praise and treats...

Oh, and in retrospect, I think Pull-ups undermined all my efforts. As much as I don't like cleaning out poopy, icky underwear, maybe it would have been worth it.

But remember, I am the world's worst role model on potty training, so don't believe much of what I say might actually work.

Jenny said...

I agree with Kelly about the pull-ups. In my experience, and in talking to other moms, they undermine potty training efforts. If you can go without them, it may well work better.

Of all our tactics that we tried, the one that worked best was putting a sticker on a chart each time they had success. When they filled up the chart with stickers, they got to pick out an inexpensive toy at Target.

Horner Family said...

Hey Kristi! I talked to a friend this weekend about the joys of potty training and how it worked for her daughter. I don't have time to write it all out so when I see you hopefully today I will tell you what I heard was a good idea. I'm hopefully going to try it soon as well.