It's All About The Stickers

Last week I began potty training Isa, in fact I had started writing a post on her first day's progress and I never got around to finishing it. Lets just say that after spending a good part of an evening Googling "potty training" and reading all the advise, as well as the dos and don'ts I was prepared to take on the challenge.

That first day, she went through three of her new pretty 'big girl' underwear in 10 minutes. But I did not freak out, no, I was prepared. I knew that this would happen and I made sure that I explained what happened and got her to sit on her potty and went with the motions. We were able to make it to the potty one time that day. You can imagine the commotion I made when it happened. After all they tell you that you have to make a big deal of the thing so that they feel proud of their accomplishment. And believe me I did.

That was our first day, on our second day things where pretty much the same in the morning. Thankfully I had bought enough underwear to last me for some time before I had to do a wash. I had also prepared the house by rolling up the carpet and making sure that she did not play in her carpeted room (though it did not escape unscathed). A good friend told me that she would reward her daughter with one sticker every time she made it to the potty. So given that Isa LOVES stickers I decided that I would use this as well. All is fair in potty training.

With the promise of a cool sticker as a bribe, potty training turned into the easiest thing in the world. By the third day, she was doing very well and there were only a couple of accidents. Now after one week she is almost fully trained. It is just amazing, she pulls down her own pants and underwear and sits down. When she is done, she does her little cheer and dance, she oversees the flushing of her efforts and chooses her sticker. I ran into a small problem at the beginning of the sticker implementation when she wanted to get two every time. I did not give in and she eventually stopped crying and accepted her one sticker. Nice try on her part though.

Believe me when I say that I was soooo dreading starting this thing. Now the only thing I am unsure off is how to wean her off the stickers. They are like a drug to her. I will ask my friend how she did it...thank goodness for friends.

So, if you are reading this post and are thinking about potty training your little one...use the stickers. Get yourself some cheap ones at the dollar store and bribe your way through.

Good Luck!