Jen and Bob blog: July 2010

Friday, July 30, 2010

Potty sticker chart

Juni has been doing her business on the potty for months, but only sometimes. I suspect that it is time to encourage her into more consistent potty-goings. We have been using a potty song to encourage her. To the tune of the 1985 Eddie Murphy song "My Girl Wants to Potty All the Time". She sings along but the potty song does not always get her interested in pottying. I heard that sticker rewards have been successful, and although I'm not sure that a reward system is in line with the Positive Discipline teachings, we are giving it a try. Today I drew a potty on a big piece of paper. I showed her my collection of stickers and she picked a reindeer head sticker. She picked the spot to put it--on the potty lid--and she put it there. She wanted to put more stickers on but I told her she could pick another sticker the next time she goes pee pee or poo poo on the potty. She was okay with that. We hung up the paper next to the bathroom. On we go.

Juni has shown interest in my underpants for months. So many times when I am folding laundry she will put on a pair of my panties over her clothes. Last week she was at her friend's house who is a month older than she is and who was wearing panties. Then last weekend I found her with a pair of mine again when I was folding laundry. So I thought it was time to get her her own, and we got a pack of 7 pairs that have the days of the week written on them. This morning I gave her a choice between diaper or panties and she decided to wear the Friday pair. However she wet them within an hour. Then I just let her be bare-bottomed for the rest of the morning and she went in the potty 3 times. One time I didn't know where she was until she called out "I did it! I did it!". That is when I thought a sticker chart would be nice to help her celebrate.

UPDATE: I looked up potty training in the Positive Discipline book and read "Avoid rewards and praise like stars on a chart or candy treats. Instead use encouraging statements... Rewards can become more important to your child than learning socially appropriate behavior."

Hmm. I will have to think about it, talk it over with Bob more and see how we feel as time goes on.