How do you keep them sitting on the potty?

nicolita14w · March 2012

James has now peed on the potty 4 or 5 times-- yay! But the only way I can get him to actually sit on the potty long enough to pee is by letting him watch TV while he sits there. Other incentives such as mnm's don't work for getting him to sit there for more than a few seconds.

What did you do in the stage before they were able they realized they needed to go and told you? (we are definitely not there yet-- I've had him in underwear and pants today to try and get the idea across but he's peed in his pants 5 times). I feel like I shouldn't be letting him watch so much TV, but maybe the ends justify the means here?

mrsolsenk12 · March 2012

I use games with hayden. Toss a ball back and forth, sing a song, use a stuffed animal going potty, etc.

charmcitygirl · March 2012

Read books. Sing songs.

desabean · March 2012

I started with books or catalogues that we had in the bathroom recycling bin but I am not ashamed to admit that early on (and I'd do it still if I had to) I certainly said, if you want to use the ipad, you have to do it on the potty. Heck, she has eaten her dinner on her potty (her request). My motivation was to get her on the potty and pee or poop so we could celebrate....how we kept her there long enough for it to happen was not important to me. Once they enjoy some of that success it will become second nature and the reward requests will diminish (though sometimes she still says "now I get jelly beans?" silly kid)

kme930 · March 2012

Books, games (we play with his bath toys when we're in his bathroom), songs. I'm sure we'll have to bring out the bigger guns at some point, but for now that keeps Will on the potty!

ESTH2000 · March 2012

We use books!!! Still do...

Go James!!!

desabean · March 2012

Oh and at the risk of even more judgment and ridicule...we also have a potty in our Rec Room so G can (and has) sat right there while watching TV. It is rare but it happens. I really could not care less. Obviously that can't go on forever and truth be told, these days she would much prefer to use the big girl potty so I think we are already moving away from it and now she more fully grasps that we can pause the TV but in the beginning she thought she'd miss out and like I said, my goal was to get her on that potty....but on my list of "parenting no-nos" this is way down.

LisaMarisa · March 2012

The second time (which was the successful time) we had the potty in the living room with the tv. He could sit on the potty and watch tv or play on the ipad or whatever he wanted to do. We are 2 months out and he is trained and uses the potty in the bathroom now so I dont see any long-term negative effects from this method. Do whatever you need to do.

Also, M&Ms didnt work for us either, I rewarded poop with Cars 2 socks. Whatever works!

GypsyEsq · March 2012

We use the TV and we have her sticker chart right in front of the potty so she can color on it, ponder which sticker she will put up to celebrate her potty going ways, and of course bribes of gummy worms after the peeing is done. We've also had her draw on her pad or color, pretty much anything we can do to keep her there long enough to give her time to do what she needs to do. But like Desa we don't worry about how much time she spends on the toilet even if it is watching TV, as long as she gets that she needs to go potty I'm fine with it. And we also have seen a desire to use the big toilet in recent days so I think DD's perspective is watching TV and waiting to go potty is fun but getting straight to the high fives and stickers (and gummy worms) is more fun.

RoxBride · March 2012

We just sat for a minute, if she went great, if not we moved on.

JillRock96 · March 2012

Bubbles! Worked like a charm with Ava. The potty in the bathroom was the only place she was allowed to use bubbles in the house. We got one of those little buckets that don't spill when tipped over. She thought it was the greatest thing and would sit there for 20 minutes, several times a day.

LVBlvd · March 2012

Bribery. I'd put her on the potty and say, if you tinkle, you can have (chose your child's best currency here) peanut butter on a spoon (her favorite treat), watch Little.Einstein's, crackers, play the iPad...etc.

Worked very well.

Then, once we got actually going in the potty down, we did naked time at home. She wouldn't want to go into air, so she would tell us. Once she got that down, it was downhill from there!

How do you keep them sitting on the potty?

Re: How do you keep them sitting on the potty?

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