Too Much Sugar

I hit this wall the other day where I freaked out because I thought Cole was eating too much sugar. He's been getting treats for going potty since May. They say to give them the treats till they forget to ask for them and just go potty without asking for one, so I just kept doing it. I mean, not huge treats, just M&Ms or Skittles, whatever. (Not to mention bribery treats, special outings, etc., but we'll save that issue for another post.)

I didn't really know what to do about it, but I knew it was time for a change when I caught Cole in his room during naptime, treat box in hand, wrappers all over the floor, candy all over Jesse's crib and dribbling out of Jesse's mouth. "What's going on in here?" I said quietly and politely (aka yelled with huge disapproval in my voice).

So at this point I had to do something. Their teeth could be rotting this very minute. My husband and I brainstormed on other options for potty treats: stickers (no, the fun of those would wear off after 1 day), money, little toys. But later that day when Cole went pee I didn't have any substitute treats ready yet, so I just said, "There aren't any more treats for going pee. But you can have a treat whenever you go poo."

"Ok," Cole said, "no treats for pee pee, just for poo poo." My jaw dropped. He understood and was totally ok with it. You've got to be kidding me. It was that easy? Yes, amazingly it was. He must've known he had been milking the system for a while.

So I'm happy to say that was one of the easiest resolutions to a motherhood problem yet for me. I just wish I hadn't waited so long to fix it. Instead of fretting about it every time he asked for a treat, I should've just taken action sooner.

Lesson learned. And glad that challenge is over.