After washing my 4-year-old's sheets every day for several weeks, I knew I had to think of a strategy to help him stop this habit of wetting the bed. I was certain if I could just get him to use the bathroom right before going to bed, I'd be doing less laundry. I knew he was only wetting the bed out of laziness or a similar flaw - it wasn't a medical condition. He had gone many months of waking up to dry sheets, and then for some unknown reason, had started up wetting the bed. I'd tried pull-ups. He would wet in those, and it was aggravating me becasue I knew he didn't need them. So I confronted him on the issue. "Hunter, why do you pee in the pull ups?" His response, "Because if you put pull ups on me then I will pee in them." To him pull ups are for peeing in. So I did away with the pull ups and it seemed to help. He was definitely having way fewer "accidents."
Well, then we went on a family vacation for almost 2 weeks. We would be staying in guests' beds, and I would be so embarrassed if he wet in someone elses bed. So I took along enough pull-ups to last the trip. Well, it served my purpose well of avoiding any accidents in family members' bedding, but he got back into the habit of his old ways, and I began washing sheets - EVERY DAY when we returned home!
So a little over a month ago, before putting him to bed I asked him to go pee first so he wouldn't wet the bed. Pride or stubbornness prevented him from gladly accepting my request, so in a split second I got the idea to BRIBE him. "If you go pee in the potty before you go to bed, I will give you a NICKEL. And if you wake up with dry sheets, I'll give you another NICKEL." He is always asking for money to purchase ice cream from the ice cream man. I never give him money for this, but our neighbors feel sorry for him and often do.
Anyway, it was worth a nickel to him, so I made him a little box with a slit on the top to collect his nickels. I didn't have to wash sheets for 3 WEEKS strait!!! I gave him nickels morning and night - WAY cheaper than pull-ups. That's the BEST 5 CENTS I've ever spent! What's your best financial investment so far?
1 comment:
That's awesome Jeannie! So glad that's working and I use to LOVE those kinds of money banks when I was little. I'm sure Hunter is thinking he is hot stuff with all of his money right now! Great idea to let him play with the pots and pans too. I should just let Maya do that sometime - just for something different to do.
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