Potty Time

Someone has finally perfected his craft!

Back in the spring Max showed no interest in the potty that had been sitting in his bathroom for months. He would occasionally sit down on it and there may have been a brief sprinkle, but he clearly had no desire to take it further. After Mommy and Daddy arrived home from China, we made a family decision that it was time to get down to business. A new frog potty, a sticker chart, and a prize captured his interest this time!

We are certainly not above bribing our child and since he had no interest in learning to potty for the reward of developmental achievement, we chose the prize route. Max did very well on his first chart, but still needed 2 stickers when the toy arrived in the mail...

The Ultimate Garden Trolley

Immediately after opening the packing box and examining the pictures of the rake, shovel, hoe, etc. Max requested some bathroom time. The trolley was his within a few hours. We increased the number of stickers needed on each chart and the prizes decreased to small items, but Max loved the challenge of filling the chart. 10 potty charts and dozens of stickers later he was wearing big boy underwear consistently and has not had any accidents since the first few days.

The only sticking point? He adamantly refuses to poop in the potty. We have started a special chart to address that concern, but I'm not sure it is going to change any time soon. He either does it during his nap (while wearing a diaper) or comes and requests a pull up so he can do his business. So although he is not completely potty trained, he has made it surprisingly easy on us, thus far!