We've been bribing Lukas to use the toilet for probably the past 10 months or so (I've lost count). He knows how to use the potty, both number 1 and number 2, but he won't use it consistently. The odd thing about him is that he prefers to use the potty when we are out and about, and usually when it is very inconvenient (just ready to get into the checkout line at Costco, etc). He loves to talk about the "flusher, the sewer, the poop goes to the sanitation district", etc. He loves to note whether the toilet flushes automatically or not, whether the water comes on automatically, whether the towels are dispensed automatically, or whether we use a hand dryer. Yes, he can say "automatically" and "sanitation district."
Anyway, at first the bribes were M&Ms, until he broke out and we assumed that batch of M&Ms came in contact with a peanut somewhere along the line, so we switched to Skittles. He is quite capable of using the potty for a Skittle, but we end up using the same number of diapers because he doesn't ALSO stay dry and/or clean.
So I had an epiphany on Thursday: instead of bribing, let's try taking away something he values. We chose apple juice. Lukas does not like to drink water that isn't slightly flavored with some kind of juice, and apple is his favorite. So we told him apple juice is for big boys who stay dry, and he only gets milk and water until he can stay dry. We told him Friday morning, but still put him in a pull-up for the Zoo, and he stayed dry the whole day! So he got some apple juice that night. The next two days he didn't do as well, so he got no apple juice. Yesterday he did well, but today not so well. So it is up and down, but we feel we have hit upon the solution. Lukas likes his Tow Mater underwear.
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