My boy is so hilarious sometimes. Lately we’ve been trying to get him potty trained and some days he’s all for it and some days he could care less. We’ve been trying to bribe him by giving him a little piece of candy (one for a #1 and two for a #2) because with baby 2 coming, I would really like to not be changing the diapers of two children and he seems ready for it. All day today I’ve been asking him if he needs to go in the potty and he says no. Tonight he didn’t eat much at dinner. When we were getting ready for bed, he asked if he could “play in his room.” See, when I need him to play in his room for awhile (usually so I can work), I give him a treat (i.e. a little piece of candy). It’s kind of like my way of saying, Thank you for being such a good boy and being willing to play in your room awhile so I can get stuff done. This usually results in him enthusiastically agreeing to play in his room and I feel a little less bad for making him. So anyway, I knew he was saying this so he could get a treat.
I replied that no, he wouldn’t be “playing in his room.” He would need to stay in his room until he fell asleep, but it was his choice whether he wanted to play first. So we finished his bedtime routine, I said good night to him and left. Aaron and I settled on the couch to watch Buffy the Vampire Slayer (we have no cable, so we typically watch videos together each night to wind down) when we heard Alex whimpering. So Aaron went to check on him. Apparently he had taken off his diaper and gone pee in the potty chair that was in his room. Aaron was like, “Wow, Alex. Good job!” Alex was like, “I get a treat!” Very happy. So even though we’d already brushed his teeth (oh, well), Alex did get a treat. He is one smart boy. He couldn’t get a treat for “playing in his room” so he decided to go in the potty. This shows me that he completely understands the whole potty business. The question is when will he want to do it full time? Should I force the issue? I don’t know. But that is one funny, smart little boy!
I am a mean mommy and force the issue. No more diapers. I would decide on a day and make it fun. This is the day we don’t use diapers any more because today you are Big Boy. Since you are a Big Boy no more diapers. This is the tough part because as soon as you see he has an accident it will be hard not to run off and put him back in diapers. I have found parents that do this have potty problems. Have him clean it up and make sure he knows that we go in the potty because we are big boys! Since I have bed wetters I have to make sure they know that a pull-up is only used at nap-time and bed time. Hopefully yours wont be but mine are. Also it is tempting to put on a pull-up or diaper for long trips but stick with the underwear. Larissa peed in the store once and that was her last accident. I even made her clean it up at the store. She had to go around with wet underwear and was very uncomfortable. Don’t make it easy. Don’t take a change of clothes for small trips. They learn a lot faster if you don’t give in. Keep up the encouragement and the praise. Enjoy being a diaper free family for a few months.
I totally agree and all, but when you’re working full time, it’s much harder to do that because I don’t have the time to devote to helping him make the transition. For now, this is working for us and I think that he will get to the point where he is ready to just use the potty–probably in the next month or so. I wish I had the time to really focus on him and getting him trained, but I don’t see that happening. As it is, I spend all day working, then I help Aaron with homework (either reading some of what he needs read for class and then summarizing it for him or helping him by typing as he tells me what he wants) and then it’s dinner time and I haven’t even cleaned at all. Such is life at the moment.