Potty training wisdom.

Objective:

Go on the toilet for number one.


Number one:

This one was relatively easy.

Offer potty to the potty resistant Brent 5x a day.
No good - he still won't go.
Go to the store - buy jelly beans.
Give Brent couple of Jelly beans so he knows what they taste like.
Put jelly beans into the "pee jar". Every time he goes he gets 1.

Voilà  - 3 days into it - he'd go on the potty, go grab jelly beans out of the jar himself. Yes he sometime cheated and got two. But on the whole he's Very honest. 

Accidents: there were at least 15 of those since we started potty training. Look for his cues. I learned to recognize his body language instantly. If hand goes down to the groin, that means he needs to go five minutes ago.

Punishment: While I dig the whole: Don't spank for stupid stuff, we do spank for different (harsh) offenses. Spanking for having a real accident is evil. Spanking when you know he KNEW to go on the potty versus his bedroom is not evil. But generally I didn't spank for this. Being disappointed and making him take a bath (one day he took 5 in a row) is punishment enough. (he loves baths but enough is enough - you know?)

Note: This was not good enough of reward to go for number two. And if he liked some healthy small tiny snack as much as jelly beans - I would have gave it to him. But I faded jelly beans out of his life as a reward within a week of complete success. Latest dental check confirmed that he has BEAUTIFUL healthy teeth.
If your  child sleeps with you PUT A PLASTIC SHEET UNDER YOUR BEDDING!!!!!!!!!!! (I can't stress this enough) And Possibly plastic pillow cases on your pillows!.. I simply had to wash mine and luckily they're cheapies from Wal Mart but still.. eww.



Objective:

Go on the toilet for number two.

Number two:

This one is down right difficult.

Here are some Tricks that we used.

A) offer a COOL (most desired) toy as a prize for success. (Yes we had to BUY his cooperation, but not until he actually cooperated) In our case it was a helicopter, remote controlled.

B) Speak ABOUT the child, instead of TO the child.
"Hey Logan, I think Brent Brent is TOTALLY going to use the potty, cause he WANTS to play with that helicopter and because he's such a good brother and shows good example.

C) Know a little of his body language. He'll tell you in volumes with his body that which he Should be telling you with his mouth. But whatever - he's 3. Put him on the potty and Make him stay there.

D) Give him a favorite toy to hold (in our case helicopter) and put a diaper in front of him. I don't know why - but it works. Oo

E) know the hour/day that he needs to go and STAY HOME if you can. We made a mistake of taking him out and at this point it's really not his fault for having an accident.

Punishment: We'll take away the helicopter. Skateboard. Scooter. Car... whatever makes this kid tick. And that being not enough I make him wash his own butt.
Again we don't spank for potty offenses. It's not like he ran out in front of the car or something.  Plus it makes him feel bad about the whole thing. But we don't ignore it. In few words we explain that we're disappointed etc. and toys will be taken away.

Accidents: I make him clean his own underwear. (No I'm NOT kidding, while supervised you can limit where the germs are going and wash him again after he does it himself. He actually does a pretty decent job. For a 3 year old)

Note: this is something not everyone tells you. When they (other people) say "Sally is POTTY  TRAINED!!" that means that 99.9 % that kid will go on his/her own into the potty. There still will be that .1% that he/she will piss/poo in the pants, bed wet or be so excited/tired they'll miss the potty.
So don't be too hard on yourselves. Just be prepared. Maybe don't co-sleep, although we do at times. /shudder

This is a long post sons, but hopefully someday in future when you're potty-training your firstborns it'll come in handy to look at your own experiences as children.
Brent is definitely a not-very-cooperative child when it comes to this. Very (VERY) smart kid, but something about potty that irks him. Maybe it's the diaper - baby thing. I try to baby him as much as possible but we Have been spending a little (lot?) less time together because Logan is still new. However it's not end of the world. I've come up with some projects Brent will like and do some stuff together with him and do a little bonding. Cause he's my awesome boy :)