Potty training rewards? Motivation?

[Emmas Mom]

DD#2 is 28 months. She can use the potty. She just doesn't like to, especially with #2. She'll run off to the corner & ANNOUNCE she's "going poo poo". Nice. :rolleyes: If I try to take her to the potty she throws a FIT, so I don't want to push it yet. But lately she'll even resist when I take her to pee, like when she wakes up from naps or in the morning. She's a grouch then. This is very different from DD#1 who was much easier to PT. So, does anyone have any ideas for rewards or ways to motivate her? We've got the Bear & the BBH DVD on Potty Time & one of the PTing kids books (can't remember the title, the one with the little girl named Hannah). They don't seem to be working with her & I'm hoping for some other ideas. :)

[misshollygolightly]

I have no personal experience with this one (my baby is due in about a month), but a friend of mine came up with what I thought was a fairly clever reward system for her little girl--and it really works for them! After each successful potty trip (I think they only count #2s), she gets one Pez candy. She's thrilled because it's candy, it comes out of a fun dispenser (one she picked out herself), and she never gets to eat Pez otherwise, and my friend is happy because Pez are super cheap and really small (no fear of ruining dinner or anything!). Just an idea!

[ThreeofUs]

We used stickers on train "potty training track" sheets. DS loved putting up the puffy Dora/Diego stickers and it eased his transition by refocusing the outcome. Also, when we got to the end of a "track", he knew he could go to Target and pick out any toy he wanted. After the first trip, he was hooked!

But, you know, we tried just about everything. M&M treats, other promises, stories, etc. I think what works for each child will be different.

[citymama]

My 26 month old is totally motivated by sticker rewards. We
started out trying to put them on a potty chart but she just wanted them on her hands, and the lure of stickers even gets her to call out from her crib when she has diapers on! Target sells a book of motivational stickers for like $5 - we've been using those for 2 months now.

Big girl underwear was another big motivator - being able to wear underpants around the house instead of dipes. That appeal seems to be wearing off a little, but the stickers still work! I would recommend keeping character underwear as a long-term reward - I think we capitulated too soon.

[hbridge]

It sounds like she need motivation to actually sit on the potty and try. While stickers and sticker charts work great for tracking and for fun, they did nothing to help our DC get to the potty. For us, the ONLY thing that worked as a motivator was a "treat" on the potty. The best things were chocolate: an M&M, a piece of chocolate bar, a few chocolate chips, but in a pinch a marshmallow, lollipop, whatever has also worked.

DC's been trained for a while, but we still use this when needed before getting in the car for a long trip.

Best of luck and try to follow her lead with a few pushes here and there...

[HIU8]

DS potty trained after he turned 3. Stickers did not work for him. Lollipops worked (I get the all natural organic ones) and new cars (small matchbox cars) work for pee. For poop, which we are still working on, the promise of something new that he is into has started to work. and the reassurance that it's ok to let go of his poop in the potty (he has issues with sitting on the potty and letting his poop go that we are working through with him now). Oh, new Cars PJ's worked also.

[mamaoftwins]

We haven't been there with our guys yet, but I know that my mom used M&Ms as a bribery/reward tool with me & my 3 bros.

Good luck!

[hillview]

DS is almost 3 and when he was 2.5 he went through this. We let it go and went back to diapers figuring he wasn't ready (NO idea if this is the right answer). He was peeing and pooping in the toilet for about a week and then decided he didn't want to anymore. Go figure.

/hillary

[rbsmom]

It's finny how each child is SO different.

The chocolate (m&m's) and stickers worked to get my DD to SIT on the potty, but what finally got her to do the deed(s) was a reward chart. She filled it in with a sticker each time she did #1 or #2, and when she filled in the appropriate boxes, she received a reward (I took a picture of the prizes (small reward for pee & bigger one for poo) & taped it to the end of the chart).

After filling it up 2 times for pee, she was trained, and after about 3 times for poo, we were done with the chart.

Good luck!!

[Piglet]

We just went through this with DS2. The best thing for PTnig was naked time. He also would go off in the corner to do #2, but being naked didn't allow him the 'luxury'. He PTed super fast after a few days of naked time. The reward we used was candy. After a few big treats for #2, he stopped asking for the candy and has been going on his own since. Now we reserve the treats for a week of no accidents. He is great about going on the potty most of the time, but sometimes he forgets or he just reverts a bit. We now save the big rewards (chocolate) for big accomplishments.

[Gena]

I rewarded DS with M&Ms for pee and a Hershey's Kiss for poop. But what worked best for us was just making going to the potty part of the routine at certain times of day and before certain activities.

Funny tidbit: One day Hubby came home from work and walked in the door just as I was handing DS a Hershey's Kiss. Hubby wanted to know why I was giving DS a candy. I told him, "Because [DS] went poopie on the tiolet like a big boy!" Hubby pouted and replied, "I went poopie on the tiolet today too and nobody gave me candy." I told Hubby that he knows where we hide the candy and he should feel free to get himself one whenever he poops if that makes him happy.

[Sopamanda]

DS was 2 1/2 when he trained and it was fast. Like many other posters, he was fully capable, just not interested. We'd done regular M&Ms for pee, peanut ones for poop (come on, we all know they're better!). One day his daycare provider asked that we bring in underwear and outfits because his "potty partner" was going to try it too. He had two accidents. Ever.
We did pull-ups for maybe 2 weeks.

We also did loooottss of "yay, mommy went potty" and "oooh, daddy went poop!" which certainly helped.

I have a friend who tried something interesting. Her DD helped pick out cool underwear (surely a large motivater as well), and the mom told her that if she peed on it they'd have to throw it away. It happened once at daycare and although the provider looked as her as if she was crazy as they tossed it into the trash, the little girl never had another accident. Not saying it's a great idea, but it does seem to be efficient.

Good luck, everyone!