Lisa says: Toilet woes

We took Peyton for her 15-month checkup a week ago. She's doing great — Dr. C was thrilled with her developmental progress and with her chubby baby weight. When he asked if I had any questions for him, I nodded and pointed to Addy. 

I'm all talk and no action when it comes to Addy's toilet habits (or lack thereof). I'm quick to complain about Addy not peeing and pooing on the potty but, if I'm being honest, I haven't (we haven't) been doing nearly enough to entice her to do her business where it belongs. I told Dr. C we've been lax about it so I can't really blame Addy.

Clearly I forgot that toilet training involves, duh, training. And it's our job to train the kid. Dr. C had a couple of suggestions. First, to chill. Yeah, I tried to train her 17 months ago before her sister was born (when I was sure I could do it in a few weeks and have only one baby in diapers by the time my newborn arrived) and she peed on the potty once, but I blame my crazy pregnancy hormones for trying in the first place (what on earth was I thinking?) and for not following through. His second piece of advice was to do one of two things — either actively try to get her to go on the potty or shelf the whole issue for a month and not bring it up at all with the hopes that the pressure will be off and she'll tell us she wants to use the toilet. (Ideal situation.)

I don't think we've actually decided which way we're planning on going yet. The kid is smart — she knows where she's supposed to go (in fact, yesterday she went into our downstairs bathroom, shut the door, pooed next to the toilet, then came out and announced she needed a "bum change") but, like most kids, she's not interested. I've been telling her that she won't be able to go to school or go to soccer or dance class if she's in diapers. I'm hoping that will intrigue her to visit the porcelain throne. 

So how did you finally get your kid to do it? I'm open to any tips ...as long as they work.