Nothing like going from contemplating religion to poop talk. We each have our strengths. Don't you judge.
The short story is that Yuki now poops on the potty (cue fanfare).
Here is the longer story. Yuki got a stomach bug. The kind that travels south. Up to this point, she would request to put a diaper on when she felt it coming, and we would encourage and remind her that the potty was also an excellent way to poop and that there was a small gift waiting for her should she choose to use it. We decided to see what happens and not push her because she gets freaked out. When this bug entered her body, we proceeded in the same way. But then something unexpected occurred (What?? When does that happen when you parent??!).
She had to do her business at school (tum-tum tuuuuum)!!
Yuki, like many of us, has been very particular about where to go. Lately, it's been in her bed (in a diaper) when she is alone. Her body was conditioned to go at that time so this stomach bug was a bit of a curve ball.
I suspect what happened was that she got desperate and the teacher just took her to the bathroom, giving Kiddo no time to explain that she needed her diaper, which really was the best way to make her get over her fear. So she went. TWICE. We get a note from the teacher everyday about how she did, what she ate, and the toilet situation and I couldn't believe it when Philip told me--so he sent me a photo of the note in her school book.
The stomach bug was persistent and after that, she had to go 3 or 4 times a day. She fought us less about going on the potty (and we didn't let her wear the diaper because we now knew she could do it), but it still took some doing and we could tell she was trying to hold it in, which increased the pain in her stomach and made her panic. And if we got her on the toilet, she would continue to panic so we had to calm her down and let her know that her body was trying to tell her something and she would feel a lot better after. Then she would finally do it. But it would take several visits to the bathroom.
Then the thought occurred to me that this maybe the right time to bribe. I went to Archie McPhee and grabbed everything under $2.00 that wasn't creepy. When I got to the cash register the tattooed and pierced lady said, "You got a lot of fun stuff in here." And I said "I'm potty training my kid," to which she replied, "We get a lot of that."
I had a bag full of stuff and when she told us next time that she had a tummy ache, we said, "If you poop on the potty, you will feel better AND you will get a present." She ran to it. We keep the presents in a bag and she gets to stick her hand in without looking and pull a toy out. It was a duck finger-puppet, which we will know forever as the "first poop prize." As you can imagine, we now have a present fiend on our hand, but she is doing it.
I had to amend the rule that she had to do a big poop to get a present because she would run to the potty and give birth to something a size of dry dog food (thank you for staying with me on the graphic description, by the way--hello?). I told her she would get a sticker for such an effort, but it had to be sizable for her to get a gift. I'm making this up as I go.
We also told her that she would get gifts until the bag was empty but then that was it. We'll see how that will go. I've been told by friends who used similar methods that kids grow weary of the idea after a while and stop asking. In one case, the kid picked the last prize and when the dad told him that was the last one, he ran and gathered all that he got and put them back in the bag so it could continue.
I look forward to her being able to take care of all of it, which I feel issooner than we might think. I would like to have a party when we get rid of the diaper pail.
Next up: A visit with the Tokyo grandparents! No more poop. For now.
The short story is that Yuki now poops on the potty (cue fanfare).
Here is the longer story. Yuki got a stomach bug. The kind that travels south. Up to this point, she would request to put a diaper on when she felt it coming, and we would encourage and remind her that the potty was also an excellent way to poop and that there was a small gift waiting for her should she choose to use it. We decided to see what happens and not push her because she gets freaked out. When this bug entered her body, we proceeded in the same way. But then something unexpected occurred (What?? When does that happen when you parent??!).
She had to do her business at school (tum-tum tuuuuum)!!
Yuki, like many of us, has been very particular about where to go. Lately, it's been in her bed (in a diaper) when she is alone. Her body was conditioned to go at that time so this stomach bug was a bit of a curve ball.
I suspect what happened was that she got desperate and the teacher just took her to the bathroom, giving Kiddo no time to explain that she needed her diaper, which really was the best way to make her get over her fear. So she went. TWICE. We get a note from the teacher everyday about how she did, what she ate, and the toilet situation and I couldn't believe it when Philip told me--so he sent me a photo of the note in her school book.
The stomach bug was persistent and after that, she had to go 3 or 4 times a day. She fought us less about going on the potty (and we didn't let her wear the diaper because we now knew she could do it), but it still took some doing and we could tell she was trying to hold it in, which increased the pain in her stomach and made her panic. And if we got her on the toilet, she would continue to panic so we had to calm her down and let her know that her body was trying to tell her something and she would feel a lot better after. Then she would finally do it. But it would take several visits to the bathroom.
Then the thought occurred to me that this maybe the right time to bribe. I went to Archie McPhee and grabbed everything under $2.00 that wasn't creepy. When I got to the cash register the tattooed and pierced lady said, "You got a lot of fun stuff in here." And I said "I'm potty training my kid," to which she replied, "We get a lot of that."
I had a bag full of stuff and when she told us next time that she had a tummy ache, we said, "If you poop on the potty, you will feel better AND you will get a present." She ran to it. We keep the presents in a bag and she gets to stick her hand in without looking and pull a toy out. It was a duck finger-puppet, which we will know forever as the "first poop prize." As you can imagine, we now have a present fiend on our hand, but she is doing it.
I had to amend the rule that she had to do a big poop to get a present because she would run to the potty and give birth to something a size of dry dog food (thank you for staying with me on the graphic description, by the way--hello?). I told her she would get a sticker for such an effort, but it had to be sizable for her to get a gift. I'm making this up as I go.
We also told her that she would get gifts until the bag was empty but then that was it. We'll see how that will go. I've been told by friends who used similar methods that kids grow weary of the idea after a while and stop asking. In one case, the kid picked the last prize and when the dad told him that was the last one, he ran and gathered all that he got and put them back in the bag so it could continue.
I look forward to her being able to take care of all of it, which I feel issooner than we might think. I would like to have a party when we get rid of the diaper pail.
Next up: A visit with the Tokyo grandparents! No more poop. For now.
Comments
xoxo
gibs
I am so proud of everyone involved. :)