In March, Ricky was nearly potty trained. He went 2 days straight without wetting his pull-ups. He was ready for underpants. Then my father and stepmom arrived and stayed with us for 2 weeks. All the excitement sent all his progress down the tubes.
Ever since they left, I have been buying packages of Pull-ups every week. I breastfed Ricky for 14 months and loved to think of all the money I saved on formula - but now I realize I am spending it all on Pull-ups!!
He starts pre-school in September and they will not take any kids that are wearing Pull-ups. He has to be 100% potty trained. I know he must be stressed a bit because we are moving, but he really needs to move on.
Today I put Bob the Builder underpants on him and pointed out how soft and comfortable they feel and how they are so much better than Pull-ups. Then I made a chart for the week and took a package of 2,000 small smiley face stickers and sat him down and told him that every time he uses the potty, he gets a sticker. The more stickers he gets, the closer he is to getting new toys and a trip to the Renaissance Fair. He was revved up and sure enough, he used the potty and got his sticker.
I thought all was good until I put in the Tom & Jerry DVD and repeatedly asked him if he needed to go potty. He is fully aware of the pause feature and actually knows how to use it himself. But then he jumped on my lap and there was wetness all over. I tried not to be upset with him because he is only 3 - but I know he knows better than this.
I know deep down that the only way to train him is to go all hardcore and put him in underpants all the time. But to be honest, I am terrified to do this because I do not want our house to smell like pee when we are trying to sell it. I remember when we were house-hunting in 2000, we went to an open house and the basement smelled like pee and there in front of the tv was a toddler. We couldn't wait to get out of there.
What to do?
1 comment:
When I took the plunge and "threw away" all of my daughter's pull ups, I just dealt with the mess. Yeah, I had some cleaning to do, but by the end of the week, she was 100% potty trained, day and night.
We had 3 nighttime accidents where I had to wash her entire bed. The daytime wasn't as bad, but there was the random accident here and there. I simply cleaned wherever she happened to be. I have a little mini carpet cleaning machine (it's a little hand unit) and I cleaned the carpet or couch or whatever. My house does ~not~ smell like pee. I think if you just clean it up immediately, you'll be fine.
Good luck!
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