Potty training Caleb has been as easy as a trip to the moon. Granted, the kid has had a lot of life disruptions during the process, and every parent knows that potty training is largely psychological (screw this part of their life up, and you pay for therapy instead of college), so we've been as understanding as possible. But, last week, I determined it was time for Underwear Bootcamp, in which we went full time underwear (during the day), and dammit, even if I do a lot of laundry, we'll get this business done.
The first few days were urine-soaked, but he has mostly done well (with pee -- he has yet to drop a deuce in there). However, I feel like he's missing the appropriate motivation. If he had that, I think we could turn the corner from ME wanting him to go on the potty to HIM wanting to go on the potty. We have promised toys and candy aplenty, but he's not easily swayed.
One barrier (I feel) is that he doesn't find his underwear to be superior to his pull-ups. If he had the undies he liked, I think - maybe, just maybe -- he'd drum up some enthusiasm about NOT crapping in his drawers.
Unfortunately, the kid underwear selection is extremely limited. You go to Target (why shop anywhere else?), and the choices are limited to licensed characters, so boys get the vast choice of either Jake, Thomas, or Superheroes. Caleb has no particular passion for any of these. He picked out Jake and Thomas simply because they were deemed the best choices of the 3, but he doesn't love any of them. (Very different from Norah, who LUH-VED the Disney princesses. And, parents of little girls are pretty much tripping over Disney princess apparel.)
So, I launched the only other shopping tool I rely on: Amazon.
Zilch for what he wanted (rockets ships or sharks).
So, then I did a Google search. Very limited results (there are some Gap shark undies, but when I showed Caleb the images, he said he didn't like them), but I did find Underdoodles, which features some unique designs, including...rocket ships!
Problem? They're $12 a pair!
Still, I filled my shopping bag with them. Then, when it came to checking out, I stalled when I saw the total, which equaled the GNP of a small country. Plus, they take 7-10 days to ship. For a nearly 3 year old, 7-10 days is like seventy-ten years; I need something NOW.
In the end, I didn't buy them. Would the $12 (a pair!) undies really make THE difference? Are they worth the expense and the wait?
For now, those questions will be left to linger in the ether of my abandoned shopping cart. We'll persevere with the substandard Jake and Thomas and wish that we lived in a world where a boy could find rocket ship underwear a little more easily.
5 comments:
Go to office depot and get the iron on transfer paper, buy some plain white undies, print out rad designs. Iron them onto the underwears.
BAM!
My wife found some construction and dinosaur themed boxer briefs for our boy when he was starting to potty train. I can ask her where and how much if you're interested.
Things that worked for us last year:
Buying a bunch of small prizes from the toy store and setting them up in the bathroom like the prize-counter at a Skee-ball arcade. The thinking being that when he went into the bathroom, he gets to decide which prize he wants if the deuce happens. The pull of the bribe is a little stronger when he can shop while trying to poop.
Putting construction, airplane, race car, etc... decals on the walls to make the bathroom more boy-friendly.
Dropping a handful of fruit loops in the toilet before he has to pee and encouraging him to aim for them
a tub of gummy fish in on the bathroom shelf, doled out each time he pees in the toilet. He'd remember them during the day and come in for a sugar fix rather than just pee in his pants while out playing in the yard.
good luck
I seriously hate the boy underwear selection. And they are crazy expensive for as little as they are. Carter's has some stuff online, including rocketships(!!!) and dinosaurs, which were big in our house.
yep, that's nuts (ha! a pun!)
We used peer pressure to do the potty training for us, which meant they were each in diapers until about 3.5 years old, and that sucked. But it was easy for them to figure it out when they wanted to.
I actually found that JC Penney had better kid underwear selection.
good luck!
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