Adventures in Potty Training With Walt (Part 2)

Since the last time I wrote about Adventures in Potty Training With Walt, I am proud to report that he is officially potty trained--just in time for preschool!  Yay!

Waiting until Walt was ready and life settled down this summer was definitely the right decision.  It's fantastic to be in a place with parenthood where we don't compare our kids to other kids' timelines.  We're learning to take the cues from our kids and help push them along when they're ready.  Waiting until he was 3 was the right decision for Walt, and he has totally dominated this potty training stuff.

For the first two weeks, the strategy was visiting the potty every 30 minutes.  For every successful visit, he got to pick out a "potty present."  (Like I wrote in Part 1, I got the idea for "potty presents" from Philip's mom.  It's just a bunch of small, inexpensive items in a bin that Walt gets to choose after going on the potty.)  Bribery ended up being a great motivator for Walt.  In fact, he was doing so well with the potty presents, that we ended up flying through them.  

Instead of making a run to the store for more potty presents, I decided to create a sticker map.  We had used a sticker map for Jane when she potty trained, too.  

Jane's sticker map

Jane, "paying" for her coveted Hello Kitty lunchbox with her completed sticker map

When we started using the sticker map with Walt, he got to put 1 or 2 stickers on the map when he successfully used the potty.  (I'll let you figure out what earns 1 sticker and what earns 2!)  Every time he reached a marked square, he got to pick out a potty present.  When he reached the end of the map, he got to go to Hobby Town to pick out a new engine for his train table.

Looking for the right engine

Making his way to the register with his sticker map and engine

Walt, "paying" for his new engine Luke with his completed sticker map

Walt's on his second sticker map.  

Walt's 2nd sticker map

We promised him another trip to Hobby Town to pick out an engine when he gets to the end.  

In the last few days, Walt has started to tell us when he needs to use the potty instead of waiting for us to ask.  He is in big boy undies all day, and he wears pull-ups to nap/bedtime.  He's almost always dry when he wakes up.  He hasn't had an accident in four days despite an eventful weekend with a roadtrip to Omaha thrown into the mix.  He starts preschool in a few weeks.  I am excited for him to go, and I'll be anxious to see how he continues to do with potty training away from home.  

I'm so proud of my big boy!  Way to go, Walt!