Perils of the Potty

We started potty training a while back so I thought I'd better mention how it was going.
It was a slow start. Joseph was suddenly interested in the toilet and what is done in it so we went out and bought a potty. He sat on it, did a wee and we praised him highly for it.
The following day he decided that he didn't like the potty and wasn't going to sit on it. By the day after, he was terrified of it and the merest mention of the word made him scream. I had to put it up out of the way on the top shelf of his bookcase before he'd calm down.
We gave up. Perhaps it was just "too soon". All the advice is to wait until they are ready, although nobody really quantifies what this means in any real sense. One article said to wait until they are big enough to climb up onto a toilet and sit there. So I'm supposed to wait till he's past six then?
Most mention the child showing an interest and having the ability to pull their trousers up and down. Not a common trait in a less than three year old, believe me.

We gave up for a while until I decided that as he was fast approaching two and a half it was worth giving it another bash. He was scared, he did not want to so I resorted to the standard Mum back-up plan.
Bribery.
If you sit on the potty, you can have a sweet.
In less than 48 hours he was quite happy to sit there.
If you do a wee or a poo you can have a sweet.
It took a couple of days, but he started producing things. Thanks to his relatively predictable bowel movements, we started doing quite well. He wore a nappy most of the time and I sat him down at the times of day I knew he was most likely to produce something. I made him up a chart and he liked getting stars on it and he really, really liked the sweets. Haribo seems to be the way to go.

Such was the status quo for the best part of two months. However, no amount of begging, cajoling, bribery or threats would make him ask to go when it wasn't the set time. I don't know why, he just didn't seem to get the point. Have I mentioned that he's quite lazy?
So, I started taking his nappies away. He didn't like that much and it didn't work at all when I put him in trousers, I think he thought that he was still wearing a nappy.
So, for two weeks we have had a little bare bottom running around at home, which certainly gave the gas man pause for thought when he came to read the meter. At least it's warm.
With not a stitch on his lower half we have only had the one proper accident and he's been fine ever since. I've stopped giving him sweets for small liquid offerings as I think he thought that little and often was the way to squeeze the most out of the process, if you'll forgive the turn of phrase. His chart is choc-a-block with stars.

The problem is that sometimes I like to go out and that means nappies. I'm sure he finds this a little confusing as every time I put him in a nappy it's as if he's been saving up all the wee and it is full to soggy bursting in less than two hours when they used to last four to six.
Today I decided that he needed to learn. No more pink bottoms on display and no more excuses about not being able to manage trousers.
Me - Show me you can pull your trousers down.
Joseph - No. I can't.
Me - Yes you can, just try.
Joseph - Don't want to.
Me - Ok, but you're not watching any more Shaun the Sheep until you can do it.
So he does it. He's a bit slow at first, but soon manages to do what is needed with a pair of jogging bottoms with loose elastic.
Bribery. Works every time.
He had two accidents today, both more to do with him being a bit slow and lazy about it than anything else. I told him that I expected better and he'd only get a reward if it all went in the potty and not half down the sofa, which is at least leather and quite easy to clean.
It sank in. He's used the potty four times today, and has actually asked me for help, although he has been able pull his own trousers down and back up again after. I am expecting a long and slow process, but we do seem to be heading in the right direction at last - or bottoming, which is a bit more accurate.