Getting My 2 Year Old to Say She Has to Go Potty

Hi J.:
I concur with William. Your daughter is doing great thus far.She still is quite young,and it takes time for toddlers to establish muscle control. They eventually learn,that they can control their bodily functions.They will recognize,that urgent feeling,and put it together.I realize, your anxious,for her to progress and that it can get frustrating,however you've already learned,that pushing her,only causes relapses.J.,You never....ever....punish a child for things they have no control over! Imagine yourself being punished for having a twitch. There's no difference.You've already discovered, little secrets,that get your daughter interested in learning. You know by now,that praise and reinforcement,are the key to her successes,mental well being,and self confidence. Keep up the good work, have patience, practice understanding and she will get there before you know it.As always ,I wish you and your darlin daughter the best.J. M

I trained my daughter during the summer months. Initially, I just left her naked all day. It only took one or two accidents of peeing on the floor. We do have laminate (wood) floors so it made clean up easy. She didn't like having the accidents and began to ask to go on her potty. Once she was fully potty-trained at home, we tackled the out in public training. We brought back up outfits. All it took was one accident at the store and she never had one again. The only thing is, we had back up panties, pants and a shirt, but never thought to bring an extra pair of shoes or socks. Well, she peed all over her feet and we had to buy new shoes and socks. (Good thing we were at the store) Not fun, but like I said, it never happened again after that. Don't worry too much, your daughter is still young. She'll get the hang of it.

Although your daughter seems to be moving forward with some aspects of potty training she may still need time to learn to tell you when she has to go. She is still very young and she is ahead of the curve in her current efforts. Although some potty training books will imply that children can be trained very early, children at her age are still gaining muscle control and learning to make connections to the feelings they get with the need to expel. It is not uncommon for children to have difficulty with muscle control through kindergarten. The efforts that you are making at repetition help her to make connections to the muscle control she has at this time. It seems like you have found a way to engage her and make it fun.
When she has accidents it is best to remember that the muscle connection is still forming and it does not always work the way she or you would like. Simply help her clean up and have her try and let out a little more on the potty. Then praise her for sitting on the potty and trying.
To increase the positive experience you may want to introduce a sticker chart where she receives a sticker every time she sits on the potty and tries to go. If she asks to go to the potty you can praise her and acknowledge how great it is that she is asking to go potty without mommy asking.
It seems like you are already doing very well at building in the potty routine and the rest will take time. Your daughter will be good at "trying" to go with some positive reinforcement. She just might need some time to gain muscle control, know when she has to go, and then communicate it. It will come with time, patience and consistency.
I know this stage can be challenging. My daughter seemed to time her accidents right after she was all dressed, we were already running late, and headed out the door. I wish you the best!

W. Youngblood
http://www.williamyoungbloodmft.com

In due time...keep up the great work.

Hi J., What I did with my kids was i kept a jar of M&M'S top of the wall unit, and every time they used the potty the got a couple of M&M'S, if the pooped in the Potty I gave them like 4 or 5, but I also used discipline, I only had to discipline my first one once, and he was completly trained by 20 months. Also sweetie once i took my tots out of diapers that was it never put them back on. Pulls ups are just like a diaper with out tape, and it confusses kids when they are in underwear during the day, and pull ups at night, also she needs to be able to get up during the night to go potty, I never closed my baby's tots doors, this is what worked in my home. J. L.

Don't stress. Take a breather and don't pressure her as she is still young. She'll come around eventually. Sometimes they just have to do it on their timetable.