PT question regarding bribes

My DS, who is 3 1/2 years old, was having a hard time with potty training. So I tried bribing him with M&M's, and it worked!!! We've had almost a week with no accidents (knock on wood). But now I don't know how to stop the bribes. This afternoon I didn't give him a "treat" (bribe) and he cried a lot. I'm not sure how to make this transition to no bribes.

Thanks,
thea

 

I'm not sure how to break that habit. :sorry: Could you try a sticker chart? Give him a sticker for every time he goes/no accidents and then maybe by the end of the day if he's had none he gets a treat? I hope someone comes along with something to solve your issue.

 

It took maybe about two weeks total to extinguish our bribes. I just stopped offering them and started a star-chart (which has about 50 spaces on it). We did the star on the chart, along with a treat, for a good week or so and then they just sporadically would ask for the treat and I gave it to them. Still now, DD will occasionally ask for a treat and I'll give it to her for going, but not before asking if she wants a star on her chart. They've each filled one chart and we took a trip to the dollar store and they were allowed to pick out a prize...we've even gotten off of that lately too. It's still on the fridge, but I don't mention it...we wash our hands and head back to playing 99% of the time.

 

I started gradually phasing the M&M's out. First they stopped getting them for only putting 1's in the potty and they were only getting them for 2's. After that, I only gave them an M&M if they asked for it after putting 2's in the potty. Then I just told them we were out of M&M's and that I had to buy some at the store. Luckily they never reminded me to buy them when I was at the store and that was the end of treats. DH didn't like my reasoning, but it worked for my kids.

Congrats on a good week with PTing.

 

How about offering a large prize for a week without an accident. Then you can say that now that he has earned the prize, he is a big kid and no longer needs m&m's to go. If he questions, just remind him that he is a big kid, and big kids don't get rewards for doing what they are supposed to do--like going to the bathroom.

 

We kept doing the bribes long after they were PT'd. But after they quit thinking of going potty as a big deal, sometimes they'd forgot to ask for their M&Ms. If they remembered later, we'd still give them.

But when we were getting near the end of our last bag of M&Ms, we warned them that pretty soon the M&Ms would be all gone. And then we wouldn't buy any more because they were so good at using the potty, they didn't need them anymore. They were fine with it.

 

I started off with 'forgetting' the treats when we went out. If they went while we were out and asked for the treat I just said "Oh, sorry, I forgot them." they always took it fine and went back to whatever we were doing. I also stopped offering the treat at home and only gave it if they asked, which they often forgot, then one day (once they were forgetting more than remembering-I think it took a couple of weeks) we 'ran out' of the treats at home. That was the end of it.

If your son is better at remembering and asking for his treat then I think switching to a sticker chart is a good idea.

 

Mine eventually started forgetting to ask. If they don't ask for the treat, I don't give it.

I also forget to bring them if we go anywhere. And they can't have any after they brush their teeth.