My three year old daughter has been very stubborn about everything in her life. She is very strong willed and has been difficult to potty train. I have two boys who were potty trained by age 2. Molly turned three in June and still wanted nothing to do with it. When my four year old started preschool a couple weeks ago, she so badly wanted to stay and be apart of the class. I told her she had to wear big girl panties if she wanted to go to school. After dropping him off we came home and she went straight to her dresser and wanted to put them on. As soon as she got them on she wanted me to take her to school:) I had to tell her that she needed to go potty in the potty chair all the time and keep her big girl panites clean first. I bought her a sticker chart and tried that out. She got a holdof the stickers and filled it up before being successful on the potty. To make a long story short, she now uses the potty everyday, and has no accidents. BUT, she hates wearing the big girl panties. She has trouble pulling them up and down and gets upset when she sees any streaks in them. She will run around the house naked and run to her potty whenever she has to go, but when I put her pants on because people are coming over or we are running an errand she cries and throws a temper tantrum. I have given in and put diapers on for long outings, and every time we get home she gets upset again when I take the diaper off. She is so attached to wearing a diaper! I only let her wear one at night for the most part. My question is: How do I ease her into wearing her panties? Do I have to just wait it out, as I know eventually she will get used to it, but she'll take off her clothes to go to the bathroom and when there are people here it gets embarrasing to have a little girl running around naked or screaming when you put her clothes back on. What would you do to help her want to wear them? She has picked out her panites so they have the charaters she likes on them, They are comfortable so I know that it is not because they don't feel good, she gets treats when she goes potty and when she lets me put the panties on..... Any suggestions?
L., have you tried the thicker training underwear? I know Sears and Target has them for sure... They are ultra soft (and more absorbant just in case...). Since they are thicker, they don't fold and bunch up. My kids really loved them and it allowed them to start the underwear process with confidence. They do make cute ones, too.
my three year old still sometimes wears her bigger, softer underwear. they are the big "training" underwear. i think gerber makes them. they are super soft and big, like grandma underwear. i think sometimes, even though she likes her underwear, they ride up her butt and are just too little.
you could try that. or you could just wait it out. we let our girl go without underwear sometimes, too!
I have a stubborn, 3yr old Molly too...She potty trained at 2 and is very good about it...she was a freak about dirty underware and often changed them 2-3 times a day. I told her not to play underware games any more and that seemed to work. Not really a solution to your problem, but dont get embarrased when she comes out of the bathroom naked...mine does it too and always needs helps putting her undies back on. You are not alone...:)
If you're not using them already, try encouraging her to clean up using flushable wipes. They do a better job cleaning and they're easier for the little ones to manage. That might help some.
First of all, that was a super cute story! Kids are so funny. My daughter is two and has been trained since she was 18mos. I think we were extremly lucky, she hated diapers. Anyways she rarely wears clothes, we don't mind a naked child running around. Sometimes she won't wear her undies either. I don't think it is a huge deal, especially when they are so young. I would suggest not using a diaper at all, not even on "long trips". If she is good at telling you when she has to go then just make bathroom breaks. One question-Does she sleep through the night w/o accidents?? If she does then get rid of the bedtime diaper too. We wake my daughter up in the middle of the night, just in case, so she can go use the potty. After we got rid of the bedtime pull-up she got used to not wearing them and even if we tried to put one on she would say "too big" and take it off right away. Your daughter will eventually get used to the feeling and wear big girl panties. Keep giving incentives, it won't take long. Good Luck
Sounds like you have a little girl who wants to be in charge. I too have a strong willed daughter. Not everyone understands that. I feel for you. Stick to your guns though. When you tell her that she needs to wear underwear don't put the diapers on when you go out. If she is going to cry, let her. Soon she will know that you are the boss and she isn't running the show.
