Help with Potty Training - Orange Park,FL

Potty Training is a commitment. A few things that worked for us...

In the beginning, make regular trips to the potty. This is the commitment part. You have to do it regularly for it to become a habit. Go upon waking up, within 10 minutes of having any drink as well as following meals, before and after nap time, before bed time, etc. Try to figure out regular intervals that work for your schedule. Also watch for the pee-pee dance.

DON'T ASK! Just take them and say, "It's time to go to the potty!" Don't act like it is a chore. Be pleasant and patient. Don't make a big fuss over it but do be persistent and insistent, you are the adult, you make the rules....be firm and resolute. Whether they say they have to go or not is irrelavant at this point. Also, it doesn't matter if they go or not what matters is establishing the behavior of going to the potty regularly.

Give praise for success, "Isn't that better than having messy pants?" Always be encouraging, "That's okay, maybe you'll get it next time." And make sure there is a next time. Don't give up, consistency is the key here.

Make them clean up the mess, especially if you believe it was not an accident. This may mean you have to literally hold their hands and help them clean it up but I guarantee after a few cleaning episodes they will think twice about making another mess.

Once they are going potty regularly you can ease up on the "scheduled" intervals. Just be mindful of how much they drink, when the last time they went to the potty was and when the next opportunity to go will be, you should at this point be able to use your judgement. And you still need to watch for the pee-pee dance, shifting from foot to foot, and general twitchieness. Don't start asking them if they need to go until they can reliably tell you that they need to go potty. If you need them to go (say before leaving the house) then they need to go, or at least try, regardless of what they say.

Once they become experienced potty users....
You still need to make them go at certain times to avoid recreational potty trips. On several occasions my 4 year old son has "needed" to go potty, not because he needed to but because he was bored or didn't want to eat his meal. So, I still insist my children go before and after sleeping, before and after meals, and before and after leaving the house. That way I know and can say, "You just went such and such a time ago, eat your food or wailt until I'm done and I (or somebody) will take you, etc."

Potty training is one of the most difficult things I have ever done. The rate of your success is determined by your level of commitment. Stay with it and I promise, as a mother of 3, you will be rewarded!

Your next challenge is but-wiping!!!!

If it is warm outside, maybe you should try letting her run around with no undies on. Most kids don't like the feeling of water or anything else dripping/running down their legs!

My daughter was stubborn about potty training as well and I thought she was going to turn 3 and still not be potty-trained.(She'll be 3 next week). Then on Sept 28 (yes, I celebrate the day), I got her to sit on the potty after waking up dry from overnight and she went. It only took about 10 minutes of coaxing instead of the usual 30 minutes with no results...ever since that day, she was number 1 potty trained in less than 2 weeks and number 2 in about a month. Prior to that she would have nothing to do with it and resisted and even threw fits. I now believe she did it when she wanted to, not when I wanted her to. I just kept presenting the concept and encouraging and she finally got it!

I've tried twice to give advice, but my computer is messing up. Hopefully, these didn't post somewhere where I can't see them. Anyway, last try. I would recommend letting it go for a little while. My first son was doing well at daycare, but not at home. When I finally got tired of trying different methods, I gave up, and told him so. The next week, he turned 3, started going potty on his own and has been wearing big boy underware for the last 11 years. he! he! :)

Well, I used to have a day-care home for little ones, while
mommy worked, and I had one little girl about that age that
was the same prob. to her mom, and of course to me too..she
would stiffen up her whole body when I tried to put her on
the potty, so then decided to not force her, so then tried
getting my little daughter involved in this..she would sit
on a little stool next to that child on the potty, with a little picture book and read to her..well,this distracted
her, and before you knew it, she was peeing, and of course
we both praised her, and that was the end of the problem !
The mother had tried everything to no avail, so then her
mother asked me how did I do it ?

Is there a specific reason you want her to start using the potty at home (i.e., new baby on the way and you don't want to have 2 kids in diapers at once)?

If there isn't a specific reason, I would suggest just leaving her alone about it. My daughter self-trained at 18 months. She was really excited and was perfect, never had accidents, even went #2 right away and wasn't scared of flushing, etc.

Then, at around her 2nd b-day, she just stopped and we put her back in diapers after she had several accidents and refused to go in the potty. I was really bummed because I was pregnant and wanted her trained by the time the baby arrived.

We tried pressuring her about it, getting potty books and videos, etc. Nothing worked. So we went on vacation and didn't mention anything about it for those couple of weeks. When we came home, suddenly she was interested again. She has been going in the potty now for 2 months without any problems.

I think she didn't like the pressure and wasn't truly ready the first time. Maybe if you just leave your daughter alone about it, she'll come around on her own. She is obviously able to do it at daycare but for some reason she won't at home...but she will eventually, you know? Don't worry--she won't go to kindergarten in diapers!

-C. :-)

The first thing that came to mind when I read the ages of your children is that she is the baby of the family. Maybe try doing a special alone time treat with her if she uses the bathroom. She might be enjoying the special attention she is getting from you for potty training.

Hope it helps...Good luck!

A.