Reuben holding his jars when he had just moved his last marble across and knew he was going to get Mack!
When I first started potty training Roo I was filled with dread at the thought of how difficult it was going to be! Fortunately, I was given a lot of advice by his brilliant nursery, who were so supportive and helpful. This was my favourite tip from them and I only had to do it once and Roo was trained and dry within a week! Don’t get me wrong, we still have accidents, usually because he is concentrating and doesn’t leave enough time for himself to get to the toilet, but he always tries and thats what counts!
The other thing I think I should mention, we don’t use pull-ups or anything like that, he went straight into pants as he needed to understand that he was having a change from a nappy to big boy pants. Pull-ups are often mistaken for nappies by kids, and are more likely to make potty training harder than easier.
So this fab tip: Incentive Marble Jars
How it works:
Take two jars of the same size and fill one with marbles. You can fill it half full, right to the top or however you like but just make sure there is enough for at least a days worth of toilet habits. Then explain to your child that every time they go to the toilet successfully they will be allowed to move one marble from the full jar to the empty jar. When the emypy jar is full and the full jar is empty they will get a treat.
This works especially well if you child has seen something that they really want or if they have a favourite thing. Reuben developed a love for Mack from Disney Pixar Cars movie, he was obsessed (well still is actually) with all the toys and he had seen a large Mack in disney store that was filled with racing cars. I told him he would have to be a good boy and would maybe get it for Christmas but when this idea as suggested to me I though it would be the perfect thing to offer him. I even printed off a little picture of Mack and told him that he would get him once he had filled his empty jar.
The first day he had a couple of accidents, but had managed to get to the toilet once and was so excited to get his marble to move across to the other jar.
The following day I swear he drank more water on purpose and he only had one accident all day.
The third he has no accidents.
By day five we were heading to the disney store to buy Mack. I have never seen a child so excited by a toy, he played with it for hours and I was such a proud Mummy. He really earned his prize, and we have never looked back. I did repeat the process but made it harder for him with a fuller jar and I also gave him two marbles if he did a poop as he was refusing to go on the potty for that. Again it worked a treat.
We did have a bit of an accident when we got home, hence the lack of trousers BUT can you blame him – he had a Mack!
There is only one rule with this, never take away a marble that has been earned. It underpins everything and is just plain mean. If they have an accident and want a marble, just explain that because they didn’t do it on the potty or toilet they can’t have their marble this time, but next time they will be able to because they will remember to go to the potty.
I really hope this works for you. It is such a troublesome time for so many parents and this was actually quite fun for us to do and rewarding for all involved!
Harriet x
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