Sunday, October 19, 2008

Working...almost a little too well

We were just about to give up on Henry ever using the potty when my friend Elizabeth suggested that we try m&m's. It was the only bribe that worked for her when she was potty training her daughter. Generally I am not a fan of giving sugar to an already high energy little person, but we were desperate so we gave it a try and it worked immediately. He has been in his big boy underpants ever since. 1 m&m for a pee. 3 for a poop. Why this was not suggested in any of the 20 parenting books that I own is a mystery to me. Thank God for the advice of other Mom's. There is a problem though. Henry loves getting m&m's so much that he has been walking around with a glass of water since 8 am yesterday morning. He has two tiny sips, says "I think it's ready" and then runs to the bathroom. Even with the trips to the bathroom every 3 minutes we are all thrilled to see him use the potty. And it is fun to see him so proud of himself. Next stop....preschool!

3 comments:

Lisa said...

lol. Made my Night! Congrats Henry on the MAJOR accomplishment.

Alex said...

Good job, Little One! And I applaud your flexibility--being willing to try something a little unorthodox. One question: how will you phase out the reward system?

elliot said...

yes! I use m&ms too! I am using them now to get him to go to the bathroom by himself. He too tries to pee a lot! Often ending in screaming "IT DOESN'T WORK!!! I WAN A mNm!" -- It creates a certain amount of obsessiveness but I think that eventually he will realize it is easier to go alone rather than making a big scene about it.