We are having progress on the potty training thing!I finally got the whole ball rolling in full force by bribing with M&M's. Don't bother sending me comments trying to shame me for how wrong this is, because I really don't care if you think so. It worked. He got two M&M's for trying and five M&M's for actually producing something. He learned to work the system pretty quickly by dribbling a little in the potty pan and then asking for his "treat" and then five minutes later insisting on trying again and then he would make a dribble again and ask for his "treat" again. He only did that a couple times. By the next day he was going in his potty and saying "No thank you!" to treats.
I had already ordered his toddler-sized flushable urinal (Peter Potty) but it hadn't arrived yet. This is the first time I've potty trained a boy, and it's not easy keeping the pee from shooting around the room when he's sitting on a little potty chair. He's also much bigger than Dear Daughter was when she trained. She was done potty training by 22 months.
Peter Potty is a big hit with Son. It does an amazing job of containing the pee, and supposedly it can be used until they are at least four or five years old unless they outgrow it first. Our toilets are really tall, so it will be awhile before Son can stand at the regular toilet at our house to pee--unless he can master standing on a stool and aiming without falling off. I HATE the smell of stale urine, so I expect this purchase will be well worth the $35.00. Son LOVES it. He has to stand with his feet on either of the urinal's stabilizing feet and drape his arms over the top of it and lean into it, basically in a bear hug, while he does his thing. Dear Husband just snickers and says, "He's all boy!" I'll post a pic of Son with his Peter Potty later. I know you all just can't wait for that (*sarcasm*).
Son also likes to pee a little and say "That's enough!" and flush it and then pee a little more and say "That's enough!" and flush again.
The only problem so far is that Son doesn't want to pee at Grandma's house now because there's no Peter Potty there. I actually considered bringing it over with him for the day yesterday. Then I decided that if I did it once, he would want it every time, and I'd be dragging a toddler-sized urinal around with us everywhere we went. I decided he needed to learn to cope without his Peter Potty when necessary. Not sure how it went yesterday at Grandma's without Peter Potty. I had a marathon day--a 30 minute phone conference followed by five back to back individual therapy sessions, followed by a 20 minute lunch break (during which time Dear Husband had to come bring me some lunch and unlock the family mobile to get out the keys I had left in the ignition when I when I was finishing my phone conference several hours earlier), followed by a 90 minute therapy group of 10 adolescent girls, followed by three more back to back individual therapy sessions. I made it home just before 8:30 pm to kiss the kids and tuck them into bed.
The last thing on my mind was Peter Potty. For Son, however, Peter Potty was the last thing he squeezed before going to sleep last night and the first thing he squeezed when he woke up this morning. It's an odd love affair, to be sure, but whatever works.
8 comments:
We used M&Ms successfully as well, and our son decided on his own that he was finished with them once he was trained.
One tip that a friend of mine gave me...sit 'em down all the time. If you're using Peter Potty at home, that can be your home thing, but otherwise, sit him on the potty all the time and teach him to "push it down." As you might find, little boys can't always tell when they have to "pee" or "poop" or both, so sitting them down prevents a lot of accidents and eliminates the need for extra gadgets. After my son was fully trained, he decided when he was ready to stand "like a big boy."
They're all different, of course, and potty training boys is certainly more challenging than girls.
M&M's are GREAT! I used them and certainly do not fault you for it. Besides, I love me some MGM :) In my mind, you are without any fault whatsoever.
But might I suggest a "dingle bell" ... I got a bell, like the ones they used to use at hotel front desks (think Clark Griswold in Nat'l Lampoons Euro Vay-kay).
Now *that* was some motivation! My oldest would proudly ding away after a "movement".
"Diggle bell" ... still makes me giggle. In a 6th grader-ish way ...
SOL, I was kinda concerned about whether he would always know when he needed to pee or poop, thus knowing when to sit or stand to go. Husband looked at me like I was from Mars when I asked his "expert" opinion on that one. Ah well. My biggest reason to invite Pete to our home was to keep the pee from getting everywhere. It seems to be serving that purpose well.
MM, I've never heard of using a "dingle bell" ha ha! That's funny! Nothing like letting the whole house know what you're up to, and that you "scored!" I'll have to try that (myself-hee hee).
Without fault whatsoever, huh? Dang the Internet is good at masking the truth! And it's amazing how strongly you and my husband disagree on that point. *snort*
I don't think you should be ashamed at all for the M&Ms! They worked for me too with both of the girls. I think they were heaven sent!
Also, I need to know where you found this Peter Potty because I so need one! My son has shot Pee in distances that have to be a record somewhere! Share your secret. Please!
Tracy, as much as I hate to plug the monopoly of discount stores, Wal-Mart online has this on rollback right now for $34 and some odd cents. It's in some stores as well. I ordered mine with free site-to-store shipping to my local store as that one didn't have them on the floor. They have the best price I could find. A quick Internet search will bring up a gazillion hits with options where to buy, but I don't believe you'll beat Wal-Mart's price.
It's totally cool! You don't even have to worry about aim!
Good luck!
Tracy, just remembered one more thing to add. If I remember correctly, your son's name is Peter, right? Hee hee...isn't that funny? He could have his own potty named after him. He might just have to replace the squash. Hee hee!
As much as I hate all things associated with diapers, except my super fab diaper bag, I am so not looking forward to potty training.
We used dum-dums. Worked pretty well.
I'm not ready for the twins. They may just push me over the edge!
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