Friday, June 24, 2005

Potty Training: My New Maddy Plan

She is over 3 1/2 years old and she CAN go on the potty - she just usually chooses not too. I have her already in cloth pull-ups (made by my mom) or toddler prefolds/pins ONLY (no more disposable pull-ups or dipes at ALL). But she keeps putting off the covers and peeing on her clothes and then changing clothes AND cloth pull up - up to 8 times a day. As in she creates 1-2 loads of laundry on her OWN every day and I am completely sick of it.

So starting today - I said ONE change of clothes in the morning. You pee on it - you are in cloth dipe/training pants ONLY (which means NO playing in the yard as I think she's too old to be in public in only a dipe) for the rest of the day UNLESS we have to go out. No plastic pants in the day either in the house because she'll just pee in them until she leaks through the plastic pants and soaks her clothes anyway. Just plastic pants at night (and I mean Gerber plastic pants - none of this nylon/fleece comfy stuff). I bought more plastic pants AND some of the Gerber cloth trainers at Walmart tonight in hopes she'll be in underwear soon.


On the Potty - This was over a year ago now, and she's still not PT!
Originally uploaded by Allan & Cheryl.

She peed this morning and soaked her dress. I didn't let her have another one or a shirt. She cried, screamed, fussed, pouted, tried to sneak more clothes, and had them removed. I was the meanest Mommy in the whole world. She did not get to play outside with the other kids.

BUT she used the potty the rest of the day and was dry from 9am until 9pm bedtime when she got a nightgown and plastic pants over the pull-up. AND that's taking herself most of the time - I only reminded her a couple of times and never actually went in the bathroom with her. That's a first for her.


Potty Cam - Always the ham.
Originally uploaded by Allan & Cheryl.

So that's the plan. At least if she wets in just the cloth dipe or cloth pull up it'll be JUST the cloth pull up and not clothes too. It's summer, it's hot, she won't freeze. She knows how to go potty, she can take herself potty, she just generally doesn't want to bother - so I'm upping the stakes a bit.

Now tell me how mean and cruel I am and how she'll train on her own when she's ready.

1 comment:

LarryandJean said...

No "mean and cruel" comments from here. You've just arranged to increase her motivation, and ease her access, that's all. ;-) (Heh, heh, heh.)

Is there a positive reinforcement in the wings for when she's finally decided to move over to the dry side? Oh, right, the Dora panties.
GMP