back to the drawing board

Blake is still having difficulty with the whole concept of peeing in the toilet. Actually, I believe that, based on what we've seen, he's having difficulty stopping whatever fun thing he's doing in order to run to the bathroom and do his thing, then come back to playing. Evidently, it's far more expedient to let his britches and pants soak up whatever comes out, which allows him to keep going, with barely a pause in play time.

We've tried a number of things, which haven't worked, giving each new thing about two weeks before moving on to the next. Taking away what he was playing with when the "accident" occurred? Withholding the cool toys he received as part of a wedding gift, telling him he could have them once he had seven total (not consecutive - TOTAL) dry days? No dice. He has too many other cool toys. Removing the option of wearing his superhero britches until he kept his tighty-whiteys dry for the aforementioned seven days? I told him that Optimus Prime doesn't like being peed on, so he had to go with the boring britches. He cried at first, but now is completely unmoved by the fact that he'll have outgrown his current britches before he can wear cool ones again.

We now frequently remind him to go, requiring him to at least go through the motions and "check" to make sure. Also, we are treating any britches or pants as a privilege, one he reearns every day. He can wear his tighty-whiteys and pants each day UP TO the point that he wets them. As soon as they're wet, we put both britches and pants in the laundry, and he has to run around stark naked below the waist for the rest of the time we're at home.

He can put more on to leave the house (I'm not cruel!), but upon returning home, he's back to bare biscuits. We figure he's unlikely to pee on himself, and he knows better than to pee on the floor, so the hope is that this will help to motivate him to both keep said clothing dry in the first place, but also listen to his body and remember that a quick break mid-play is way less hassle in the long run. We celebrate dry stretches, we don't humiliate him when nude, and we permit blankets to be used to stay warm if he's sitting down.

So far, we've had three nudie nights. The last few days have gone GREAT, and he's already got three cool stickers on his seven-day fridge tracker... so here's hoping for lasting results!

The only downside so far is that, once over the initial embarrassment of being the only one half-naked in the house, he really, really loves it. I think Rob might want to join him. I think I may have created a monster.