I feel no shame in bribing my child..

axr8111

into potty training. It worked like a charm!!! He's almost 2 and a half, but he's fully potty trained! Everyone kept saying, they'll do it when they're ready which is probably true, but you can also help them to be ready. You might not be able to do the "3 day potty training" technique but I will take the 4 week, ease into technique that was low stress and successful. No more bribes necessary. Actually none were need for #1 after the first week, but training poop was a bit harder and longer process. 

YAY! Talk about needing to feel accomplished as a mom. This really is something you can see.  

jnksmom

Just curious what your 4 week ease into/low stress technique is. I think DD might be ready but she is young so I don't want to do the 3-day but don't want to miss the opportunity either.

axr8111

jnksmom:

Just curious what your 4 week ease into/low stress technique is. I think DD might be ready but she is young so I don't want to do the 3-day but don't want to miss the opportunity either.

Well I wasn't sure he was ready to even be able to tell me or to hold it so for the first few days I just put him on the potty and we read books until he pee'd on accident. Then I made a big deal about it and danced around and sang a potty song, (XXXX went pee pee on the potty....yay yay, XXX went pee pee on the potty). I did that every once in awhile and if he went pee he got one m&m. No pressure, he was still in a diaper and I only did it a couple of times a day. Then after a few days, I saw that he understood what he was supposed to do on there. He'd go every time just to get an m&m. Then I started doing diaper free time for a couple of hours when I was home, knowing that there'd be accidents. I would put him on the potty every half hour. Then back in diaper for the rest of the day. Then the diaper free time would increase and eventually the time between would increase. It took a long time (2 weeks) before he ever once told me he had to go. All along he either got an m&m for trying and 2 for peeing. We eventually had to move to stickers on a board since that was a lot of candy. So after awhile we went to no diapers for a full day (minus naps/bedtime) and I would put him on there every 45 mins, then started increasing that up to 2 hours. I always had him in full clothes since he was more bothered by getting his pants wet than just by having wet undies. So I was prepared and we played in the yard a lot. Then at about 3 weeks, he was telling me every time he had to go except poop and so I had to bribe him again with candy and just in the last couple of days, he's also telling me when he has to poop. We can leave the house with out any issues as long as I have him go before we leave. He can now go around 2-3 hours before he has to go again. Keep in mind, there were days, I didn't bother and kept him in a diaper and just rested my mind from the whole idea of it. So I think that's why it took so long but for me, it worked great. It was on my schedule and I never felt pressure to force him to go. He always wanted to go because I made the singing and dancing and treat so fun. Good luck to you. I'd say give it a try. Even if it's just introducing the idea. It might take longer but it won't be stressful on any of you. 

lms_bride

Wow thanks for sharing.  This sounds like an awesome potty training method!  I don't think we will start for several more months but I really like your low stress, low pressure approach with lots of rewards and praise.  Thanks!!