Stickers and charts

So the boys' Thomas potty came in last night, along with a pack of Thomas stickers that I was going to use as a reward for using the potty (1 sticker for trying, 1 more if they produce anything). I put both boys on the potty, talking up how they'd get a sticker, and they sat, but started to cry and wanted to get down. I praised them for trying, then gave them a sticker to put on their chart. Nate freaked, and had a crying jag that lasted the rest of the night when I tried to put the sticker on the chart. I finally managed to convince him that the sticker goes on the chart, and he cried because he wanted to carry the chart around instead of putting it on the fridge.

He was having a rough day yesterday anyway, but I'm getting the idea that I'm not doing this whole sticker thing right if it ends in tears instead of smiles. I mean making your kid cry isn't much of a reward, is it?

So what am I doing wrong? Or are stickers not a great idea for PT?

 

I think stickers are as good as anything for PT, but your boys may just not be ready to understand the concept of a sticker chart, or the delayed gratification of having 5 stickers in a row (or whatever -- if you were planning to count them up somehow).

So if they really just want to carry the stickers around or stick them on something besides the chart, why not let them? You could just make it a general reward (just as if they were M&Ms or something, which is what we used) rather than a chart.

 

All I can say is that my 2.5 yo would do the same thing... they wouldn't care about a sticker they can't carry around and put anywhere they want. I think it's too early for this to be really effective IMO.

 

I offer a sticker for sitting on the potty before bathtime. After bath, they can put the sticker on their arm/leg/face or on their jammies. I think my kiddos would be upset if they had to put it on a chart??

 

We used candy. They got 1 M&M or skittle (depending on what we had) when they went. They loved it and I thought 1 tiny piece of candy isn't going to hurt them. Even if they went every hour they were awake that would only be 12 candies in a whole day, not that many really. It worked much better to have the instant gratification.

 

I think you let them put the sticker wherever they want. My girls were a bit older when we started the sticker chart and loved the idea. If they don't understand the chart and just love the idea of a sticker, then go that route. The m&m deal did not work for my girls, but it may work for them better than stickers.

 

i agree with PPs that it might be a bit early for charts. i've been having some success with Danika (she has sat on the potty a few more times now for stickers but hasn't peed again) - anyway, after she's done & washed her hands, she gets to pick a sticker & then put it where ever she wants. which is usually on her cheek or her hand. :laughing: they also have coloring books that she will sometimes put her sticker in but overall, the reward is getting to play with something "'ticky". ardon:

 

I agree that the boys just might be too young for a sticker chart. I used M&M's as a reward at first and then added stickers for when they went poo on the potty. I let them put the sticker where they want it, usually on their shirt. I say just keep up with the praise for the steps they are doing and just remind them that pee and poo go in the potty and they will do it when they are ready.

 

ours did ok w/ the stickers around that age, or even close to 2yr... I'm sure it depends on the kids.... I agree, the point is to create excitement... and if its creating tears that's no good.

our chart was a simple calendar and I loved being able to see the progress of the stickers on the days... you could keep your own chart by just putting tick marks or checks for pees or "x"s for accidents.

anyway, something else that worked for us was a big fun high 5! free and you never run out of them! they just want something fun.

the other thing that I did was chocolate chips (that's all I had in the house... instead of m&ms)... but be warned that the chocolate does smear if they don't pop the whole thing in their mouth.

good luck! keep making it fun!

 

my twins are competitive. We had 2 pottys and each had a piece of paper on the wall directly behind their potty.
I drew a line down the middle of the paper. I wrote pee on one side and poop on the other. I gave out a sticker and 1 candy for pee, and 2 for poop. They would put the sticker on the paper under whether they pee'd or pooped. They liked to see who had more on which side between the two of them. But M&Ms were the real kicker.

 

Thanks for all the feedback! I'm really hesitant to use food as a reward; my family has so many eating disorders and obesity issues that I don't want to associate food with anything but hunger. ardon: Besides, my SIL who was just congratulating herself for finishing PT with her 2.5 YO DD, decided to cut back on the M&Ms she had been rewarding with, and the DD decided that no M&Ms=no potty so she's back in a diaper!! :lol:

I may have to give up on the stickers and just use praise though. Jack dropped a Harold the Helicopter sticker in the toilet, Nate flushed it, and now all they can talk about is "Harold in the potty, Harold all goooooone".

 

Oh Harold STICKER! I thought they dropped the metal Harold toy from the trainset in the toilet and flushed it. :lol:

 

funny about flushing the Harold sticker! kids are funny with what they say...

High fives work great for us! and shouting and just plain getting excited too!

we also checked out a few potty videos from the library, and the nanny had the brilliant idea to let the kids "tell Joshua" how they did that day... yesterday I had to take the video back and I thought it was going to be traumatic, but my ds just said bye bye to "joshua"...

keep up the good work!