I bought Little Miss PITQC’s first Princess Potty when she turned two years old. I’ll never forget how excited she was “Mommy!!!! Yook!!! It’s a POTTTYYY” . I really don’t think she had any clue what it was. She was just excited because mommy was excited. Maybe we can finally say goodbye to diapers….right? Wrong.
When she immediately started using it as a jewelry box, I knew I was in trouble. How in the world was I going to get thru this stage?
She’s been in “school” since she was 1.5 years old. They have been awesome in helping her develop into a bright little girl. And secretly (and openly) I was praying they would be just as good at helping me get her to pee-pee in the potty. I think I was really convinced she should be potty trained at that age and when she was slow to take to it….I got frustrated.
Thankfully I saw she was right on par with the other kids her age which helped a bit. Fast Forward to birthday #3. Still not potty trained. I was at my wit’s end. I made her sit on the potty. I seriously sounded like a broken record “do you need to potty?” ….”do you need to potty?”…..”are you SURE you don’t need to potty?” . Oh and the song……*clapping hands* “PEE-PEE IN THE POTTAY….PEE-PEE IN THE POTTAY”. I sang it so much that she actually sang it to me in a restaurant bathroom. That got a good laugh from people.
Several months ago, she would pee-pee at school but that’s it. At home, we finally made it to #1 in the potty but #2….she always went in her pull ups. I chalk some of it up to being lazy…..or distracted with her toys.
After talking to another mom at a soccer game, of all places, about her potty training experience, I decided to try something new.
I told my little that if she pottied in her pants, I would take a baby away. I sat the baby on a shelf and she only got it back when she used the actual potty. If she could go two weeks with ZERO accidents, then she got a brand NEW baby. There were a few days where there were quite a few babies that had collected on the shelf BUT guess what?!?! My bribery worked! Within 3 weeks, she was completely potty trained. 100%. Even thru the night. We never even had to buy night time pull ups.
She’s such a princess that of course she wanted a new baby to add to her collection.
So, with that said. I support bribery and potty training. Seriously, how else are you going to get your toddler to sit on a bowl and “go”. You aren’t. There has to be an award. No matter how much clapping or twirling around in a funny dance you do…..our children need something to work towards.
And that will continue on until they are adults. You want something. You have to work for it. You have to earn it.
And in the end…..the Princess now uses a potty. And might I add….she never…..not even once…used a child size potty……the one in the picture above remained her jewelry box until mommy decided to get rid of it.
