Potty Incentives

Mia is now 90% potty trained. She still has small accidents when she's preoccupied, so I usually put a Pull-Up on her when we're out and about, but overall she's doing really well. I'm constantly thinking of new incentives to keep her motivated - especially when we have to use a public potty. I think the loud flushes scare her - especially with the ones that flush automatically and sound like they're going to suck the toilet down with the water. Or, maybe she's just a germaphobe like me. So, I sometimes have to bribe her to use them. That has gotten better, though. She used to have a fear of all potties outside of our house - even at the grandparents'.

We've used just about every incentive in the book - stickers, M&Ms, gum (yes, she loves sugarfree Orbitz gum - we give her 1/2 piece, which she chews and then spits out when she's finished), dum dums - and my latest - pretty toes. I told her since she's a big girl and goes potty now, she can have pretty painted toes like mommy. So, I painted her toes pink. She was so cute. She sat perfectly still on my lap while I painted them and then helped me fan them dry. It was a very exciting moment for her. She couldn't wait to show daddy when he got home.