All this seems very right to me. Our daughter is 18 months, and we got her a little step-up attachment to the toilet. We started with basically no expectation that any of this would work, we just made a game out of sitting on the toilet extension. She sees us there (she regularly comes into the bathroom while one of us is taking a crap) and she's at the age where she wants to do everything we're doing. In fact, I think that's the key to the whole thing: she's still at the imitative stage, not quite to the rebellious stage. So it's fun just to sit.
We let her run naked. She basically has no idea when she's going to pee, and yes we have to clean that up. But by this point, in the couple hours of diaper-free time she has in the morning, she heads to the toilet for number two every time. It doesn't always all get in there, there are accidents, but she's already got the idea, and it seems natural to her. I understand that the author of the article is an economist and so is bound to think in terms of incentives, but (as the article illustrates) that can easily backfire, and turn into a game for its own sake. Just make sure the whole thing is fun.
We let her run naked. She basically has no idea when she's going to pee, and yes we have to clean that up. But by this point, in the couple hours of diaper-free time she has in the morning, she heads to the toilet for number two every time. It doesn't always all get in there, there are accidents, but she's already got the idea, and it seems natural to her. I understand that the author of the article is an economist and so is bound to think in terms of incentives, but (as the article illustrates) that can easily backfire, and turn into a game for its own sake. Just make sure the whole thing is fun.
It was an excellently written article, btw.