Potty Training - Vallejo,CA

We just potty trained my little girl and we sing pee pee in the potty and poo poo in the potty and dance around until she is done. At the beginning she got a sticker chart on the wall. We would put 1 sticker for pee and 2 for poo. Now that she is potty trained we slowly phased out the stickers as she forgot to ask for them I did not offer and now we just sing and clap and make a huge fuss over how big she is now in her big girl panties.
FYI she now tells Everyone she sees that she just went pee or poo :)

What I did to reward #2, is I searched the playroom for old matchbox cars, board books, other neglected toys and wrapped them in wrapping paper. Be sure to pick toys he will like, but not recognize. You can also go to a yard sale or dollar store. Put them in a basket and let him choose his present. Works great for my son and is quite affordable. I just posted a question about getting my son to TELL me when he has to go potty. Rewards don't work for him in that arena. Any ideas for me? Hope I helped you and good luck!! M.

We got a sticker book and my son gets to pic a sticker after each sucessful pee and poop, poos get 2 stickers or largers stickers if he is struggling with going. there a lots of good potty books to teach kids, we found good ones at the local library
good luck

The potty dance is very popular in our house!

I'm not a fan of rewards, candy, stickers, etc. What we do with our daycare kids is to simply give them a bit of positive feedback. When the child goes on the potty we say something like "great job!" They will sit and make sure they push out even a drop (if they have just managed to wet the diaper before we get them on the potty) and even with only that little drop, we give them the positive feedback. We often hear a proud "I did it!" from them. We're currently working with two boys, one who will be three in January and the other just turned two last month. Both are interested in going, but a while away from total control, so we simply try to be patient and encouraging.

Yay! Happy hugs! Clapping! Everyone being proud!
That's the best thing, in my opinion.
What if you are out of treats one time...they will hold it until you get some?
I just don't think it's a good idea.

I would love a new diamond everytime I go.
I'm being sarcastic, forgive me, but mommy goes, daddy goes, everybody uses the toilet. It's a milestone when kids get the hang of it, for sure, but rewards...I'm not so sure that's a good thing.

Just my opinion.

YOur son sounds READY, it's not pressuring him if he is the one showing you that he is ready to potty train. I tried food rewards with my daughter for a little while when she seemed to be afraid of going (not sitting, just when she actually WENT in the potty), they eventually faded away. What she really likes is the singing and dancing. She starts the song now so that I will sing and she can dance. She also likes to high five me for her job well done. I'd say go with lots of encouragement right now and just put him on as soon as he wakes up and a few other times of the day. When he shows an interest in being on it. Praise his effort and praise his successes even more enthusiastically. 17 months is unusual anymore, but not TOO young, my sister and I were both completely potty trained by 18 months and my grandmother claims my dad was potty trained at about 8 months (first child, stay at home mom SOMEONE was trained, lol). Despite what the advertisers tell us we don't always need to give our children material rewards :-)

Rewards can be confusing especially if they are not in any way related to the success for which the reward is being awarded..

dumping the potty out into the toilet and getting to flush it himself and maybe singing a song or giving a cheer about it should be more than adequate.

Remember he will be graduating to going in rest rooms or at friends and family members homes and if a concrete kind of reward is not available but is expected the whole reward thing may become counter productive.

Wonderful that he is interested and you are going along with it and it may last reward or not, but also it may just be a passing phase and he may balk at this later on before you can consider him really out of diapers or pull ups.

Goodluck and enjoy. Eventually it will become just a part of normal living for you and for him with no celebration involved.

(if you compose a good celebratory song to reward him with, please pass it along to other mothers who want to celebrate this great milestone in our children's development!!)

Blessings! N.