How to Get My 26 Month Old to Want to Sit on the Potty?

I think she's way too young for the delayed gratification involved in a sticker chart. 26 month olds just don't get the idea of "potty today and every day in the hopes of a toy next week."

Frankly, I think the 17 month interest was a true fluke, and now you're in the regular trenches with everyone else who is sick of diapers but has a 2 year old just nowhere near ready to potty train! You're in a power struggle you're not going to win. She's not ready. Wait until she's closer to 3 or until she shows incredible interest without you ever bringing it up.

Knowing AFTER you've peed or pooped is an entirely different thing than knowing BEFORE you do it. I think you're expending too much energy on something she's not interested in.

She wasn't really trained at 17 months. She was using the potty because you put her there before it was time to go.

This is all about you instead of all about her. Children can ONLY control 2 things in their little lives - eating and toileting. If you try to push her to sit on the potty before she is ready, you will lose. It will be nothing but a struggle, and you will just prolong it all.

Stop trying. Wait for her to be really ready.

Let it go until she is older.

Added: after thinking and remembering the process for my grandaughter, I need to change her time line. Around 2, her mom took her to the bathroom with her. She practiced sitting on the little potty. She was probably around 2 1/2 when they bought the Elmo potty.
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I suggest you treat sitting on and using the potty as no big deal. When you bribe her, she gets something extra. It's to her advantage to not sit on the potty because she gets something when you bribe her. And she'a in control.

Eating and pooping are the only things she has control over. At 2, she is trying to find ways to affect her world. Perhaps by ignoring potty issues and encouraging her to make other choices would help. Let her choose between 2 outfits. Have her choose the book for bedtime stories. Give her more power in other parts of her life. And never insist that she has to sit on the potty. Continue to encourage her to use the potty. When she won't sit on it, walk away with no further comment.

Don't immediately change her diapers. Let her be uncomfortable in them. When she asks to be changed, be too busy to do it now or just not do it.

One of my granddaughter's didn't want to sit on the big potty or her little one. Her parents took her to Target to choose another potty. She chose an Elmo potty that had a back and could be "flushed" by pushing a handle to make a flushing sound. Most of the time, she would use it for urine. If she didn't want to use it, no big deal. They took her to the bathroom at irregular intervals asking her to sit for a few minutes. They also put her in training panties. To be wet was uncomfortable. She wore pull ups when they left the house.

She was around 2. In a few weeks, she was willing to sit long enough for success. She turned 3 in August and i realized she had been using both the big potty and her own potty on her own, without reminders for 3 or so months.

There are some things that, as a parent, you can make your kid do. But...
You can't make a kid eat.
You can't make a kid sleep.
You can't make a kid potty train.

Take a break, then try again. My kids both got it when they decided they were ready, not when I thought they were ready (one at 2.5 year old, one at 3). I know it's frustrating when you are in the middle of it, but she will get it on her own when she's ready.

My son was the same way. He used the potty for a couple of months, I thought he was trained. He soon stopped using the potty. Don't force the potty, give it up but let her see its availablr. One day my son woke up, took off his diaper and peed on the potty. It will click for her when shes ready.

Well, unless she was completely in underwear the whole day without a single accident she wasn't potty trained. If she was then you might want to consider that she is still pretty young. Most kids don't even start until they're a full 2 years old and even then most aren't good at it until they're closer to age 3. I didn't even have a bathroom in my toddler classroom. Just a changing table. Then in my 2 year old classroom we had a toilet and sink only bathroom but it was more for the teachers to go because they didn't even really start them in that classroom.

If she's still in diapers and asked to be changed, she's not potty trained.

She needs to experience panties and having an accident. DO NOT SHAME her for accidents. She is now 2 years old. That is the average time for children to use the toilet themselves.

Stop catering to her. Take the diapers off and let her choose her panties. As long as she's wearing diapers, she will not want to use the toilet.

this is the easiest fix ever.
stop bribing your toddler.
wait until she is 27 months old and try again.
no?
at 28 months give 'er another whirl.
within a short few months, this will no longer be an issue.
khairete
S.

Honestly, I do not believe the majority of kids are ready to be potty trained before 3. She's too young. She's demonstrating that by not wanting to sit on the potty and still going in her diapers.

Kids are developmentally ready to potty train around 3. Sometimes it's a few months before, or a few after, but she's barely two. Give her a break and revisit it 7 months.

You've entered into 'power struggle' territory.
I'm not sure what you can do to make going potty more fun and desirable than messing up in her pants.
Is there a toy she wants that she can earn though staying dry for a week?
Maybe a sticker chart?
You might just have to ignore it and just change her quietly so she doesn't get a lot of attention while being changed.
If she uses the potty - make a big deal out of it - celebrate every time.

Give her some choices: where does she want the potty to go (give her a couple of choices there cause you don't want it in the living room!), does she want a sticker after she uses the potty or an M & M?. Another option, which might tie into this: Take her to Target (or wherever) and let her chose the underwear she wants to wear when she is ready to use the potty again. Leave the pretty underwear where she can see them to remind her that she gets to wear the underwear she chose.

I am a big believer in nothing below the waist when it's potty training time. No diapers, no pull ups, no pants, no shorts, no PJ pants. Skirts might be OK. If she is ready it will be done quickly this way. Go ahead and bribe her. Tell her she can have panties she picks out when she is successfully trained. My daughter was trained before 2 and so was my son.