Potty Training Plateau

We've reached a potty training plateau at the Hofer house.

Alex decided over Labor Day weekend last year that he wanted to use the potty. My brother Mike and his wife Jen were in town. I think Alex just wanted to impress Uncle Mike. The kid announced he wanted to use the potty and proceeded to go potty and earn about 100 stickers over the course of the weekend.

Well, we've had to increase the rewards (now it's a sticker AND M&M's), switch to pull-ups (while they are more expensive, I don't mind. We don't seem to go through as many as we did diapers), buy "big boy underpants" for the ultimate reward, but we've made little to no progress since then.

My mom even bought one of those "potty ring" deals. You put it on the seat and it makes the opening smaller so little bottoms don't slip through. It has Bob the Builder on it. Alex loves it.

Unfortnately our love affair with the potty ring was short lived. Less than a week after we started using it, Alex slammed the toilet lid on it, the splash guard went in the water, and Alex flushed before Daddy could fish the plastic splash guard out. (As a result, Craig will likely have to remove the toilet from the floor and explore the plumbing, as the splash guard is stuck somewhere between the toilet and the sewer output. Hopefully that repair won't end up being another blog topic!)

If we put him on the potty, he'll go. We've tried to make it a routine. Go first thing in the morning and ask constantly during the day. He simply won't tell us when he has to go. Pee or poop. And as for the "looking for signs..." forget it. This kid will be a fantastic poker player.

I'm not sure how helpful they are being at daycare, either. I know that he sometimes goes in the potty there, but I just don't feel like they're making enough of an effort. I've talked with his teachers, explained that we're working on it, but I think they get too busy with 10 kids in the class to pay as close of attention to that as they need to.

The next trick will be to place clean underwear underneath the pull-up. So he knows what it's like to feel wet. Hopefully he won't like it, forcing him to tell us when he has to go. It won't be fun, but it may just do the trick.