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At The Picket Fence with Vanessa Hunt

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February 1, 2011

Potty-Training…Oh Good Grief

The Latest in Potty-Training Techniques

The experts will tell you, “only use positive reinforcement” as you potty train your child. Well, I’m hear to annouce a new technique. It’s called,

 “Threatening”.
Have you heard of it? Some say it is part of the ancient practices of parenting that also include things like “discipline” and “obedience”.
All I know is that after I had tried every other kind of trick of the trade, my daughter still refused to go on the potty.
We’ve had sticker charts. We’ve offered candy and cookies. We’ve made promises of a Princess Party and going to pick out a new toy. When our Pediatrician said, “let her take the lead”, we did! “You don’t want to go potty sweetie? Ok, no problem.”
Except…
It WAS a problem!
She knew how to control herself. She would wear panties for hours on end and then wait until I would put her in a diaper for a nap or bedtime and then let it all flow!
Then one day, I reached my breaking point.
It was bath-time and she had been wearing panties for 4 hours. I knew she had to go. I told her, “you need to try and go potty before you get in the bathtub.” She said, “NO!”
Something in me snapped.
I said, “if you don’t sit on the potty right now, young lady, I will take away that Pink Dinosaur you are holding in your hand and every other toy you own until you SIT DOWN ON THIS POTTY!!!”
She said, “ok Mommy.”
And she promptly sat down and went.

Here are some lessons we can learn here:
1. Pink Dinosaurs are more valuable than you might think.
2. They will try to break you down and wear you out, but YOU can prevail!
3. Negative Reinforcement shouldn’t be minimized as a training tool.
And
4. When all else fails, try some Threatening.

10 Comments Filed Under: Good Grief, Kids

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Christy says

    February 1, 2011 at 7:10 PM

    Hahaha, I love it V!

    Reply
  2. Sarah @ Modern Country Style says

    February 1, 2011 at 7:48 PM

    LOVE this!!! And do you know what?

    I did *exactly* the same with my twins….only it was with a yellow car!!

    This made me laugh my head off…..I’m TOTALLY your new subscriber!

    Sarahx

    Reply
  3. Pam - diy Design Fanatic says

    February 1, 2011 at 8:06 PM

    You never know what will work- it really depends on the child. For my oldest daughter, it was having one of her “older” (by 1 year) friends over. They went to the bathroom together (girls, go figure!. My daughter’s friend used the big potty & then she used iher little potty too. No more diapers or pull ups during the day after that. Staying dry all night was another story, but several years later, she did that on her own, too. My youngest was nearly 3 & I didn’t enroll her in preschool because I didn’t want to lose my deposit since she had to be potty trained in 2 months before school. Wouldn’t you know, 2 weeks before school started she started using the potty and no more diapers after that- not even at night.
    I totally believe in threatening! Just wait til yours are teenagers! LOL!!!

    Reply
  4. Judy says

    February 1, 2011 at 8:19 PM

    That is so hilarious. When my daughter was 2 1/2 I picked her up from pre-school one day and her teacher told me I should start sending her to school in panties instead of a diaper. I asked why would I ever do that…she’s not even potty trained? They said, oh yes she is. Apparently she had potty trained herself. Who knew?

    Reply
  5. Yanick says

    February 1, 2011 at 11:35 PM

    I’ve been there and i’m sure with my 2.5 year old I will be there again!

    I still have your old blog as a fav btw, can’t make myself delete it even though you have the new blog, lol.

    Reply
  6. Lynn Richards says

    February 2, 2011 at 1:58 AM

    Oh, Vanessa, do you ever bring back memories….the best was when I was babysitting my dad’s dog and we were outside with my eldest, who was in the middle of potty-training with the running around with out panties method. I found poop on the garage floor and blamed the dog,(and so did my eldest) until my darling daughter sat on my lap and left me what should have been on the toilet paper…….

    Reply
  7. JodieMo says

    February 2, 2011 at 12:42 PM

    Preach on sister! Preach on! I am all about some threatening. You know why? ‘Cause I’m the boss, not my child.

    Reply
  8. Debbie says

    February 2, 2011 at 1:19 PM

    You made me smile. I smiled at the little Mom Victory, but most of all I smiled because for a rare and fleeting moment, I was glad my little girls are 18 and 21!

    My mom’s best advice to me about potty training was, “Once you start, don’t look back.”

    She was right, as usual. It’s the wishy washy that gets us every time.

    Reply
  9. Blessed Mommy of 2 says

    February 2, 2011 at 1:30 PM

    Ha, ha! I love it! =)

    Reply
  10. Michelle says

    February 3, 2011 at 6:11 AM

    Amen! More parents need to stop being quite so nice. Love and discipline are not opposites, the reverse is actually true.

    Thanks for stopping by The Executive Mom!

    Reply

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