Another Potty Question

I had a similar problem when I trained my now 5 year old daughter. My advice is to stop and put it all away.... the undies, the little potty.... everything related to training. Wait until she shows some interest in it and take it all out and start over again. My pediatricians advice at the time was that you can either spend the next 6 months training or wait until she is almost three and do it in a week...... the advice worked for me and hopefully will for you too. Good luck!

Absolutely. Don't push it or you will be like me who has spent 2 years chasing my daughter and doing A LOT of laundry! Back off, she'll be ready when she is ready.

2.5 is really very early, even for girls. She is clearly not ready. Don't worry about the stories you hear from people whose kids trained at 12 months or 24 months or whatever. Every kid does things at a different age. If yours isn't potty training, her brain and body development are in another area. It all evens out by the time they are 5, 6, 7! My child was very late to potty train, talk, and give up napping. However, he was extremely early in creativity and gross motor skills like walking & running.

Pushing it too early will turn into a lot of nagging, cleaning up, frustration, and anger, and may cause resistance later. Put her back in diapers, put a little potty in the bathroom so she can see it, and just wait. YOu can get some books on the subject, but just read them on occasion and very non-judgmentally, saying, "when you're older, you'll do this." Same as "when you're older, you can go to school."

Concentrate on all the things she IS doing well, and just enjoy her childhood. Other than the expense of diapers, what's the rush? It's nice to get them out of diapers in some ways, but then you will be glued to store bathrooms and constant rushes to find a potty when she needs one! Don't worry - everything has an up side and a down side.

Hi Stacey, I did the potty training in 3 days with my daughter. There is a book. Basically you take everything off from the waist down. Show her the potty and explain that she will use the potty when she has to go. Have cleaning products on hand. Don't leave the house for 3 days. You have to be positive and encouraging. Reward is helpful, but not each time. Lots of praise, and never punish, just say oops clean it up. She will become aware of her bodies signals in a way she hasn't had to, and see the results. My girl was two and two months with a new 2month old sister. You have to be fully committed and can't go back. None of my 5 friends with children the same age were successful, but non of them did it the way you are supposed to. IT WAS SO WORTH IT!!!
don't be surprised if you find poop issues, but you may not. Just lots of fiber, rasins...
Pull ups are ok for night only, just explain it is just for bed time.
When you do it just say: OK honey, we are going to start using the potty. Don't ask her, she needs to know you are in charge and this is normal. People confuse 2 year olds by giving them too many choices, they need us to show them what is expected.

My daughter wasn't ready at 2.5 either, but we sure were! I finally just started saying "you're going to wear underwear every day when you're three." We talked about it, and then the day after her third birthday we switched her into underwear and haven't looked back. We did have some accidents in the beginning, of course, but nothing beyond the expected. She just needed a while to adjust to the idea (she's a slow-to-adjust kind of kid anyway. She likes to really _process_ things). You could try doing something similar. Good luck!

I am sorry and I feel bad that, socially, people almost frown on you if your child is not potty trained by age 3. She is not ready and you need to be ok with that. Do not let society make you feel like you have to do something you do not feel comfortable doing and just listen to your heart and your gut.
We never pushed our little girl, but she was trained fully by 22 months and through the night before age 3. But, she was only modeling a little girl, 6 months older and her very best friend,who was being trained at her small in-home daycare. She wanted to be like this little girl and the daycare provider told me one day she just went in and did it. From that day on she experimented was with pee, then poo and that was it. She was ready because curiosity had sparked an interest in her. It will happen with your little one too. May I suggest just sitting a little potty in each bathroom of the house and wait for her to investigate and experiment. And of course, praise all successes, and comfort through the messes!! Good luck!

Save yourself the stress and try again later.... Believe it or not the first time my youngest showed any interest was in a very busy airport bathroom right before the plane was to leave! I guess she saw everyone else doing it.... you could try a mall (gross as it is)!

I'm not quite sure what to do... but i just wanted to let you know that i am having the same problem with my 2.5 year old. Everyone is telling me that she needs to be potty trained by the time she hits three... but at this rate she will be going in her diaper until she is 10!! It is SO frustrating!

Just wanted to let you know you are not alone in this frustration!

My daughter is 3.5 and is just now almost potty trained, but she wasn't actively trying until about 2 months ago. I had tried everything, and unfortunately until they decide for themselves that they want to go, they won't go. I would just go back to the diapers and try again every few months. Finally what worked for me was to do as you did....I put underwear on her everyday and for 2 weeks she had accidents everyday, finally she started going throughout the day without any pee accidents, but she pooped in her pants everyday for an additional 2 weeks. She now for the most part goes throughout everyday with no accidents!!! But it was up to her. So give it time and it will come.

Stacey,

She is not ready and you should try again later. When children are ready to use the potty, they do,and the whole process is very simple and quick. Save yourself and your girl a lot of frustration by waiting a little longer ! L. S.

Check with your library for a movie called Potty Power. My 2 children really took to it. It had a cute story and they liked the songs. They both trained within a week of seeing the movie. My son about a month before he turned 3 and my daughter at 2 1/2. Good luck.

I'ld let her do it on her own. If you force it it becomes a power struggle. My son is delayed inseveral areas so he' s older than your daughter but when I try to force the potty issue he just pees as soon as he gets off the potty but on the days he has the diaper on he'll stay dry and go potty, but pee in the underwear. I know it's aggrevating to still have kids in diapers and I think when we were growing up moms just got kids potty trained earlier. Don't worry about it when she's ready she'll do it. The reward system that I tried for my son backfired on me. I used to give him m&m's to go potty when he was but theneverytime we told him to do something or punished him he would ask to go potty and he'ld go and then he'ld get the m&m's. Good luck as a good friend told me "no child gets married still sleeping in his parents bed or wearing daipers"

stop.. don't force her or it will be a battle.. when she's ready, she'll do it.. ease off a bit and try in a few months.

Do not force her it sounds like she is not ready. It never hurts to ask if she has to go "potty", but she will show interest when she is ready. Trying to make her use it before she is ready is not good because she will think she is letting you down.Some kids don't get the hang of it until they are 3 or so. Remember EACH child is different and have their own pace

Hi Stacey,

I have 2 girls the same age also and we're having the same issue. Every so often she'll go potty - she did 2x yesterday, but will then go for days without interest. It's very sporadic. She has friends younger than her that are training. It helps to have her friends around, it encourages her to sit on the potty even if nothing happens. We make a big deal about it. My friend's daughter has pretty much trained herself in a matter of weeks. Of course there will be accidents, but it can happen pretty quickly. I'm frustrated too, but I have faith that she will do this when she's ready. All the advice is don't push it, etc. So I'm just being positive about it and encouraging it any way I can! We borrowed a few DVDs about potty time and hopefully they'll help too.

Good luck!!!
B.

My now 4 year old daughter was the same way. The pedi told me that it wouldn't be considered a real issue until she was 5, so not to worry. We also did not want to force her--it is something that she has control over, and will exercise that control if she feels like it. So we gently would ask her if she wanted to--sometimes it was yes, others, no. She picked out underpants. Everything. We tried everything. Finally, at age 3 1/2, I stripped her down naked for a week in our kitchen with her potty. It was a rough road, but we got through it with silly songs, chocolate kisses, stickers. She thought that it was fun to play in her pee when she did it on the floor. Looking back, it doesn't seem too bad, but while we went through it, it seemed like it was taking forever. She really resisted throughout the entire process because she couldn't be bothered. She had one bad accident after training and never looked back.

So, what I'm basically trying to say, is not to worry. Your daughter will not be the only 30 year old in the world who isn't potty trained. ;-)

I would say shes just not ready. My daughter turned 3 last August, & she didnt start going on the potty until Christmas eve. We called it the christmas miracle! LOL But.... she was ready. I put her in underwear & once she went in them she didnt like it. If you have a few days to devote to it, put her on the potty every 1/2 hr or so. She may not be ready until after the 3 yr mark. They're all different. Best of luck!!

Purchase a cartoon video or book about this subject and don't force it. There was a story about a girl named Prudence .. I remember using that for my daugther, I am not sure what is available. My son is the same age and he is doing it all on his on but really she will get there, don't be disappointed our kids all work at their own pace and are all so different. As my pedi always says they won't go to Kindergarten in diapers!

it sounds like she isn't ready so just let it go for now because eventually she will tell you she is ready and then it will take no time at all for her to be potty trained.

Whatever you do, keep it positive. Kids are ready at all different ages and times. She'll go when she is ready, it's the last thing she can control in life. I think you make it as appealing as possible (new big girl undies of her own choosing, dora, pooh etc). Just encourage her and when she goes, celebrate it with a call to her grandma or santa bragging. Good luck!

Hi Stacey! Yes, I would just try again later. It is okay to keep bringing it up and asking her if she wants to go, but forcing does not work. I tried to make my older daughter go that way and it just did not work. She just made up her mind one day to do it and now it is not an issue anymore. Just leave it up to them with a little help from you. K.:)