potty-power

We haven’t had a whole lot of luck with the potty-training lately. Jane has not been very interested in the potty. We were motivating her by giving her a doll from one of her favorite shows, little einsteins after every 3 potties. That was really motivating at first, but her enthusiasm slowed down a lot after she got the first 2. The second 2 took a long time. After she got all 4, we had to ask how we would motivate her next.

We knew that it had to involve cheetos. Jane has a thing for cheetos lately. But I also knew that it had to be something that involved her dollhouse too. She loves the dollhouse, and seems to always be playing with it. She thinks it’s a real treat to go to the “dollhouse store” (a hobby shop in Campbell) and just play with dollhouses until I can’t take it anymore.

So this is the plan that we came up with: for every potty-try, jane would get a small bag of cheetos or a small bag of m&m’s. and then for every successful potty, she would get a piece of a playground set that could go with her dollhouse. I thought it was a pretty good plan, but I didn’t expect just how good of a plan it was.

I hung the cover of the box on the refrigerator and told her to put a “good-job” sticker on whatever piece she wanted, once she did a successful potty. She got to work right away. And before the end of the night, she had 3 tries and once success. She picked the see-saw.

That was yesterday. Today, she has been trying all day. Like ALL day! She drank 2 whole cups of water. She is focused and motivated. She eventually lost interest in the m&m’s and cheetos- she wants that swing-set bad. Deanna and I have been sitting with her all day, reading stories, listening to music, playing with toys, and sadly, no potties. it was a little sad when it was time for bed- we all wanted to see her do a potty so bad; and she was giving it her very best. but I have to hand it to Janie- she’s no quitter; and when she sets her mind to something, she’ll do it. Hopefully tomorrow she’ll have that swing for her dolls to ride on.