I am loving this stage of the toddler phase - potty training, that is. My 22 month old son has been doing very well. I remember buying a frog potty {and a few simple ones from IKEA} a few months back and placed them in each bathroom around the house. I was hoping Pierce would start getting used to seeing them in the bathroom and become curious. He really could care less for awhile and thought they were better used as "trucks" to push around the house.
I thought "OH GREAT, this is never going to work. Why would he EVER want to sit on a plastic frog and go pee? What a stupid concept." My other fears were: to sit or to stand? I was clueless. Nervous too.
In fact, one day I showed him the froggy potty and explained what it was used for.
"Pierce, do you want to pee pee like a big boy and use the potty in here? You know, like mommy? That's what this FROGGY is for"
"NO! no no no!" He shook his head and sort of looked freightened as if he was going to cry.
"OK, fine, you don't have to, whatever."
So, I never pushed the issue {as I didn't want to scare him}. I would just continue to ask him. And he'd continue to say NO.
Then, one day my son asked me for a "cookie" and my wheels began to turn: BRIBERY - That might do the trick!
"okay, you can have a cookie, but only if you go pee pee on the potty!"
"OK!"
So, Pierce ran to the froggy {of all potties} potty. I took off his diaper and bam! He sat down {another issue solved} and did the deed. I clapped and we high-fived.
"Cookie Mommy!" Of course that's all he cared about, really.
That was the awesome day that marked his first day of being ready. He only got a cookie one time. And after that it became fun. I would sometimes bribe him with books or going to the park. But for the most part, he thinks its fun. It's been about 2 weeks and he's doing a pretty good job so far. Right now we are in diapers at night and nude or "undies" during the day! Both work fine, but the undies make it a bit more fun.
Pierce often forgets and has accidents on the floor. But who could blame him? He's gone his whole life not having to worry about when to pee.
If he does pee, he notices it and tells me "looked it, all wet, mommy!" and we race to the potty where he will finish his pee. Then he often points to the floor and says "clean it mommy" and then points to his undies and says "all wet! new ones, mommy!"
note: themed undies are great because they get to CHOOSE which ones they want to wear. This way, it makes it more fun. Pierce loves the Spiderman themed undies that I bought from Target and also his new shark and dolphin ones from the Gap.
He did his first poo poo, too, a few nights ago!
Oh wow...listen to me? I never thought I would ever be 31 years old blogging about my sons poop and froggy potties and Superman undies? Who have I become? Not sure, but I can't imagine if things were any different!
Tonya
Agh... I dread the potty training days. Good luck and be sure to share any tips and tricks with us.
Mike
I love this entry and the pic! Pierce is very cute and your blog is awesome!
Juli Novotny
@Mike - the whole story is true actually, except the part where I claim to be 31?? what was I thinking writing that? I'm only 30! Anyways, I've been slacking lately but promise some more good content soon. 🙂 Thanks for the comment...love getting comments from guys!