Next I tried positive reinforcement. I took her to Target and went up and down the toy aisles to let her pick out a new motivational prize. We went around in circles looking at all the Frozen dolls and princess castles. After several loops I started walking through the other aisles. Scarlett saw this toy and instantly had to have it:
"Endless hours of engineering fun" I couldn't be more proud!!!! When Jake was a kid one of his friends had this toy. Jake would ask to play at his house, despite the kid being kind of a jerk, just to play with this toy! Needless to say, Jake was also excited at her new prize. I set it up on our bookshelf so she could see it everyday. Jake was extra encouraging (mostly cause he really wanted to play with it). But it didn't take long for us to realize that positive reinforcement wasn't working.
After reading Snort's potty tips on her blog, I decided to play hard ball. Every time Scarlett asked to poop in a diaper I got to pick a toy as payment. I always picked toys that she was playing with right before. I wanted it to be motivating. She still uses a diaper at night (I'm just not ready to go down that road). So often she will just use her nighttime diaper to do her dooty (haha!). That's why there aren't more toys on the shelf.
After doing this for a while we realized this wasn't working either. I tried to figure out what was holding her back. I mean, she was already sitting on the potty while doing her business... why did she need the diaper? I would ask her to sit and give me 3 big pushes before I would put the diaper on. I dreaded this time of day. So many tears. So many debates. So many headaches.
Finally, after discussing my woes with Laura we got this genius idea. I would cut a hole in her diaper, sneak it on her without her noticing, and see what happens. I was afraid it would backfire, but I was desperate.
The stars aligned on Sunday afternoon. I put the hole-y diaper on her and let her have some privacy. After a few minutes she started screaming "I POOPED IN THE POTTY!!!!!!" She was sooooooo excited! She asked me - "how did the poop fall out?" I showed her the hole and said "I think the diaper got ripped."
Her excitement continued the next day. The next morning she ran into the twirls' room and told them "Babes, I pooped in the potty!" KaylieAmberLaura (as she calls them, like it's one big long word) came over and celebrated Scarlett's big achievement. They even brought her a "kineapple" pizza.
Things were great. Until she had to poop again. It's like we were back to square one. I thought that this incident would give her the confidence to just poop in the potty. Nope. I was wrong. So I brought out the big guns, I told her I would put a diaper on her but I would have to take away Marshall. *gasp!* Yep, that just went down. She cried and cried and cried. We ate dinner and I didn't bring up the topic again. Well apparently the fear of losing Marshall just made her more determined to hold in her poop cause we didn't talk about it for another day.
The next day I decided to offer her a bargain. I would put the diaper on her, but it would have a big hole in it. I let her watch me cut the hole so she knew it was there. Then we put it on her and left her alone. She was able to go #2!!! I left to go VTing, but Jake said that about 20 min later she needed to poop again. He told her that he wasn't going to waste another diaper and she would just have to use the potty. I think the urgency of the situation forced her get over her reservations cause she went all on her own! She was so excited!!!! She even got to stay up late and play with the marble toy with dad after the twirls were in their beds (marbles & babes don't mix - we are careful to keep track of all 15 marbles).
That was the final tipping point. After that she had the confidence to use the potty without any help or extra encouragement from us. Luckily (?) that weekend Scarlett & the twirls got a case of the diarrheas. Nasty for mom. But great for Scarlett. She went #2 on the potty so often that she got all her toys down in two days!
She's been telling everyone that she poops in the potty: the staff at doctor's office, the cashier at Kroger, Jake's Webelos Scouts, the dermatologist, the UPS lady, ... It's pretty big news. I'm so glad that she's so proud of herself. I love seeing her confidence grow. Seeing her accomplish something she didn't think she could do.
The marble toy...
6 comments:
Yay for Scarlett! What a big day!
Congratulations! The hole in the diaper is ingenious. I'm curious, though, which friend Jake used for toys.
A glorious milestone! Congrats to you all!! It is so frustrating when they can but won't!
Love the marble toy. We have that one and the boys still love it. I used to hide the marbles in the freezer, where they were all too short to reach. I still keep them in the freezer, actually, and if they're dawdling in bed in the morning I tell them I'm gonna go get the frozen marbles and pour them into the bed. Hahaha. The meanest!
I loved this post, from the title to the photos! The diaper hole was brilliant!
I always thought those marble tracks were awesome, so I bought one for one of my kids' Christmas presents at one point. They played with it a little, but it ended up at DI. Either they have no propensity for engineering, or the playroom was too messy to ever find all the pieces. (Either is just as likely.) ;o)
We love our marble run, so fun!! And glad she has figured it all out.
Wow! I didn't realize the big deal it was that she went poop at my house! Go Scarlett! And the hole in the diaper is a great trick so is the taking away the toys. I will put those in my pocket for when it's our turn!
Post a Comment