Potty Training - Houston, TX - Mom with 1 kid

When she consistently (a week at least) uses the toilet or tells you when she has to and has no accidents, try setting a "Big Girl" date on the calendar which means the reward system stops because she is a big girl. You can have a small celebration dinner and movie night to commemorate this achievement or something else special she helps plan with you. Too many parents today are trained to take their child to the toilet and the child is truly not trained - it's a trial and error system for awhile - and the daycare needs to be doing the same thing you are or close to it at the same time or mixed messages are being sent to her. Good luck!

I don't think of it as bribery---it is a bonus!

Just like the $20 we pay our boys to do a good job mowing the lawn, or $15 if we have to go out and finish the job ourselves or ask them to re-do a part they missed.

You won't have to be doing potty stickers forever. They will naturally end on their own.

I would have daycare start working on it, too, so she is doing the same thing all day.

The stickers will end naturally. You start forgetting to offer and they start forgetting to ask. At least, that is what happened with both my children.

My son also trained himself around 2 1/2. Congratulations!! I think a little bribery and a TON of praise is fine. In fact - when my son wouldn't go #2 inside in the potty (moms of boys will understand) we bribed him with matchbox cars, cause stickers were ineffective. Eventually he quit talking about his reward, and I didn't say anything if he didn't. A few times he would remember later and I would say I forgot and give the reward, but then we all just "forgot"! Now he's 3 1/2 and goes to the potty just fine.

At least your bribe is cheap!

You are on the right track. You do need to reward your daughter for following through on potty training. I promise you won't be giving her a sticker when she is 13 and she goes poopy. For now, rewards are needed to inspire. Also, I congratulate you for using NO PULLUPS. I put my daughter in real panties from the first. She trained early and quickly. (21 months and it took 9 days) In my opinion, Pullups prolong the potty training process. Yes, you can work on the weekends and evenings and have daycare work on the days. Fill your daycare in on the process. Getting to the potty in the morning will come along. Potty training is a big learning curve for little ones. You are on the right track. FYI: My daughter could hold it longer than what any book recommended. It is usually 30-45 minutes in the morning before she goes for the first time. Keep up the good work.

Let her remind you eventually. She will begin to forget about it when rushing off to do something.

It's not bribery, it's a reward. Sit here, do this, earn this. She's learning life skills and potty training all at once! I would continue until she's trained 98 out of 100 or until she doesn't ask for one/two. Hang a piece of poster board up on the wall so she has a place to put those stickers after she's done with them on her hands and they won't be everywhere. It's a great reward and they really enjoy it!

I followed the book Potty Training in a Day and it worked wonderfully. It advocates using rewards and I see nothing wrong with that. We originally gave treats after every time. Then, we moved to just after BM's. Eventually, we just stopped. It just became the norm and treats were no longer necessary. If she is a very heavy sleeper the nights may not come for a while. Just get her great during the day, cut off fluids an hour before bed and the nights will happen soon enough.

I don't think there is anything wrong with a rewards system for the potty. My daughter got stickers when she peed and a jelly bean when she pooped. We kept up the Jelly beans until we ran out of Jelly beans. And the stickers until we ran out of stickers. By that time pottying was something she was used to doing. I say, when its something they learned and not something they are learning. Then you can stop the rewards and just turn to praise.
Good luck
Krisitn

I see nothing wrong with giving her a prize/treat for going potty. Is the day care not working on her potty training yet? If not, you need to let them know that you are working on it and to start her. My son's day care kinda took charge of the situation as they do with all of their kids. He was 26 months old and trained within a month. They gave 1 Skittle each time they went. It was working for them, so I kept the same prize at home. I don't remember how we stopped the "prize". I think we may have just run out of Skittles and that was it.

My pediatrician says that it is pretty normal for kids to wear diapers at night up to a year after they have been potty trained since they really don't have much control over their bladders while they are sleeping. I am in the process of potty training my 3-year old boy and was told to keep him in underwear during the day except for naptimes. You can do a stickers as long as you feel they are effective. If she wets her underwear, make her stop what she is doing and take about 10 minutes of time (drag it out, if you have to) to have her help you clean up the mess. Of course, don't scold her, but rather make her experience the inconvenience of having to clean everything up. Explain how much faster it is to just use the potty. She should eventually get tired of the process & just use the potty. If she can stay dry for up to 5 consecutive days after sleeping, she is probably ready to not wear diapers during sleep times.

Good luck!

Check out Dr. Phil's website... he came up with an excellent way to potty train your child in ONE DAY! The link is...

http://drphil.com/articles/article/264/

Do days first before night. My son has been trained during the day for quite some time and he is just now waking up dry. He is also a year older than your daughter. He wears training underwear at night and will continue to do so until he is a little bit more consistent with staying dry.

I also rewarded my son for his potty training success. I slowly dropped the rewards and he eventually stopped asking for them.

Good Luck to you!