love you. Good night.” This way, you’ve acknowledged that you’ve
heard him and that you believe him (even if you don’t), but you laid
down some boundaries and you’re sticking to them. This, my friend,
is good parenting.
And you don’t have to be concerned if he does pee in his diaper;
it’s not going to screw with the process. It’s a minor behavioral speed
bump. Deal with the stall game first, then tackle the nighttime potty
training.
Of course, this all gets much trickier without a nighttime diaper,
because you have the very real fear that your kid will pee in the bed.
You never want to lead with fear! The best thing to do is to leave the
potty chair in his room, and after the bedtime routine, say, “Good
night. I love you. If you need to pee, your potty is right there.” If your
child senses you are fearful and unsure, I can guarantee this will
become a game for him.
I’ve found that for the bedtime routine in general, just be sure to
leave room for all the antics. Playfully ask her as part of the routine,
“Did you have your last glass of water? What shall the last story be?
Go for your last pee. Brush your last tooth. Thank you.” The one
thing that never, ever, ever helps is getting angry or annoyed. This
will rile up both you and your child, and you’ll accomplish nothing
other than to keep the kid awake.
Power Struggles
There’s another huge issue involved in potty training troubles: the
power struggle. Power struggles can make things a little crazy in your