It is official. My little one is no longer little. 🙁 He no longer sleeps in a crib and is no longer wearing diapers.  He isn’t actually sleeping in a big boy bed yet even though we took his crib away two months ago. He prefers sleeping on the ground right next to the door instead of his bed. I keep telling myself this is not a big deal, but I am secretly wishing that someday soon he will discover that a bed is really more comfortable than the ground.

Potty training with Elmo went surprisingly well the first five days, then we regressed. This is when I discovered the power of a bribe with a two year old deprived (at least in the eyes of my family) of sweets. We started with a “special treat” aka yogurt covered raisins, for just sitting on his potty and another for using it. This worked so well, that on day two we just gave them for using the potty. We are two weeks into potty training and have very few accidents. Yay for small blessings! (Who am I kidding, in a mommy’s eyes BIG blessings!) Since we are still giving special treats for using the potty I am wondering how long the pantry will need to be stocked with yogurt covered raisins?!?

As a dietitian I gotta tell you, I feel super guilty about bribing/rewarding my kid with food. All the experts and books advice against it including me (most of the time.) Usually stickers are recommended in its place. Then I tell myself it isn’t that bad because at least it is a relatively healthy food. This makes me feel a little better. Giving my child a yogurt covered raisin versus cleaning pee off the floor is definitely an easy decision for me! They say that rewarding behavior with food might work in the short run, but doesn’t pay off in the long run. So we will see if I regret it, but as for now, I’m going against my own advice! Bring on the yogurt covered raisins!!!