Oct 27, 2010

Gimme a D, R, Y!

Noah, you are a full 4 1/2 years old by now.  I am not going to stress over or push you too hard to master nighttime potty training before your body is ready to handle it.  But I will challenge you to be sure about whether or not you are ready.  I think you are; Daddy does not think so.

So I merely offered a reward chart to motivate your nighttime potty efforts in case it is within your power to manage it.  When you make it through the night dry, you get a stamp.  When you get yourself up and go potty all by yourself, you also get a stamp ... even if you are wet in the morning.  The fact that you roused your sleepy head up and out of bed is a big step!  So at this stage of the game, an A for effort is worth as much as a dry pull up as far as I am concerned.  Once you fill the chart you get to cash it in for a brand new toy of your choosing. As I expected, you rose to the occasion.  It didn't hurt my cause either that we changed the rules for your video games - you can only play video games if you stay dry the night before.  Who knows, maybe that is where the real motivation lies for you. Suddenly, we have dry nights, and twice as many Noah solo night/early morning potty runs, too.  This tells me you are ready.  So we're keeping it up.  We even give you a head start by getting you up for one last potty run when we go to bed.  This sometimes means we practically carry you to the potty and back because you are so out of it and you keep stumbling around.

Nevermind all that, though. This week you finished your first nighttime potty training chart and you are so pumped about that accomplishment.  Here's how it looks filled to the brim with your hard earned stamps.


Now we are on to your new and improved chart, excusing Mommy's embarrassingly crooked lines:


For this next challenge, Daddy and I will not get you up for one last potty run when we go to bed.  That job falls on you now. My job will be coaching and cheerleading.  And crossing my fingers and toes and praying.

Give me a D!
Give me an R!
Give me a Y!
What's that spell?
Happy Mommy - I mean, Noah!

Go, Noah!  You can do it!

4 comments:

The White Family said...

Great idea! Wonder if this type of chart will work with potty training Connor. He knows how to go and all, but he does not want to stop playing to go! It is a constant fight!

Elizabeth Bradley said...

Smart Mom = Happy Mom :) Hooray for potty success!

Unknown said...

You're so awesome with your charts! We're so bad. We get Jacob up every night still to potty one last time before we go to bed. I just can't imagine him waking himself to go on his own. I'm the one with little faith over here. You're my inspiration though.

Kimberly said...

Go on, Shannon. Give the boy some "want to." Sweeten the pot a little. Heh, no pun intended.

I have even thrown around the idea of setting a little alarm to wake him at some point in the night so he can at least take THAT ownership without relying on Mommy and Daddy.