Potty training question, they want to potty constantly

I've gone from having kids who don't want to get on the potty to having kids who don't ever want to get off. If they pee on the potty they each get a mini reese's peanut butter cup. If they poop on the potty they get a peanut butter cup and a Dora sticker. My problem is they like the chocolate so much that they use the potty, eat the chocolate, and then immediately want back on the potty. Then they'll maybe have a little drop of urine 15 minutes later and they want chocolate again. I don't want to change the rules on them since they're so enthusiastic about going and aren't having any accidents but they are smart girls and they are getting a LOT of chocolate. I'm afraid if I stop giving it to them they're going to stop using the potty. It's not been consistent for long enough yet for me to stop rewarding them.

Should I swtich to a reward they don't like as much as chocolate? Should I only give them a reward when they are really emptying their bladders instead of just a couple of little drops? Has anyone else been through this and have a solution that worked?

 

We are living this right now, so I am interested in what others have done. Meara will pee a teeny bit of pee, get her sticker, and then run back "because I need to get the matching sticker mommy!" One night it got so bad before shower time I actually said "thats all the stickers for today. Get in the shower!" Not my best mommy moment, but OMG she was working the system. Sorry I don't have any advice for you Aimee... I might sit on the potty all day too if I got reeses, num num!

 

As I type this Amelia has moved the little potty into the living room so she can sit on it and watch TV.

 

:rofl: Genius!

 

This is my DD EXACTLY!! We reward with M&M's instead of mini cups, but the concept is the same. She would go on the potty, eat her reward and then hop right back on for more. I worked a system where she only gets 1 or 2 M&M's for a trickle, 5 M&M's for a real pee-pee and 10 for a poopy. She rarely gets 10 because she prefers to poop in a diaper.

Good luck!!

 

I think this is pretty normal for beginners. My boys would do the same thing. We still gave them an m&m every time they got something in the potty, because it really encouraged them to keep trying. And I also think this helped them realize what the feeling of really needing to pee was like. It lasted a couple of weeks, and then the novelty of the m&m's wore off. We actually set the potty chairs up in the living room, because I was getting so tired of running back and forth to the bathroom every 2 minutes. It wasn't the decorating statement I was going for, but it worked. As far as treats go, could you give them Reese's pieces for peeing, instead of a whole peanut butter cup? Good luck! Life without diapers is grand! =)

 

My girls did the same thing, and that is when I went to stickers. I printed up a chart, and told them once they filled it up we would go to the store and pick out a toy. It worked like a charm, and the change of reward didn't have a negative impact at all because they were all amped up about the new system. Good Luck!!

 

We did smarties and had the same issue, but it only lasted a few days. If it carries on too long you may want to say you ran out of the mini cups but you have X (something slightly less appealing but still good). Hopefully the thrill will wear off soon, though!

 

We went through this early on, and after a week, I upped the ante. Mini stickers for little pees, and a m&m for big pees. Poos earned a gummy treat. After a while, they stopped asking for a reward, and I just didn't remind them. Ha. Occasionally, they still ask for a gummy treat for poos and since that's been the hardest thing to get them to do, I still give one when they ask.

 

I haven't read the replies so forgive me if this repeats something already said. What I did with mine was this. Once I knew they had the concept of sit down, release pee, get up, stay dry, sit down release pee again I gave them a time limit. I would set a timer for 30 minutes. They could pee as many times as they wanted but they couldn't get another treat until the 30 minutes had passed. I then stretched it out to 45 min then an hour. Once we hit the hour, they were well on their way to being trained so I switched it up to include no pottying for the whole hour (so staying dry for a whole hour) getting a treat. It only took a few days. The initial switch to no treat for the 30 min was the hardest but after just a few hours they understood.

 

I have GOT to get a timer. It would be useful for so many things like time outs, potty training, sharing, etc.

Thanks for all the advice. I like the idea of a sticker chart too. They are driving me crazy with pulling down their pull ups and getting on the potty today. I have cleaned up more poop off the floor today than I thought I'd clean in my whole life.