Nervous Without a Diaper; Any Hope for Potty Training Out the Window?

I'd say she's not ready yet. Our daughter will be 2 next weekend - she just started wanting to sit on the toilet. She's yet to go to the bathroom. When we ask if she'd like to start wearing big girl underwear and stop wearing diapers, we get a very quick, "No!".

Our son was past 3 when he was ready to be potty-trained. Our pediatrician has told us to expect our daughter to be ready earlier. Everyone we know, though, whose child was an early potty-trained kid has regressed at some point or had lots of accidents. So far, we've been lucky to have had few with our son.

Good luck.

Do she show any signs that she is ready to go on the potty? Does she want to sit on it? Does she use words for pee and poop? Does she tell you or indicate when she is wet? If so, I think it's about time to start potty training!

My daughter 1st showed interest around 18/19 months so we bought a potty and had it available in the bathroom. She would use it roughly 1-2x a day (maybe before bath and when I used it). When she was a little over 2 and I was home on maternity leave, I tried to see if we could get further because she was acting ready, but she never got any better about not peeing in her panties - so after a few weeks of trying that, I just stopped. She's now 2.5 years old and potty trained during the day. About a month ago, we started again going on the potty every 30 minutes. Then every 45 minutes. When she started being dry all day at daycare (about a week ago), I knew that she was getting more of the hang of it.

I still take her every hour (I set the timer too. for some reason, she's not resistant to the timer but if I ask her to go, she says she doesn't have to). Pooping is getting better and she's gone a few times on the potty but that definitely came AFTER mastering peeing!

She may just not be used to the feeling of airing out. Maybe she was still wet and was scrunching her legs together to prevent the pee from dripping down her leg? She may just be walking/acting funny - she is almost 2 after all.

Good luck!!

I'd make a big deal of her going and picking out big girl underwear and have her try them on. She may just not be used to being naked and the diaper is the only thing she knows. My son signed for going to the bathroom from 18 months on. We got him a potty chair and he'd use it to pee on. Then pooped on it twice and lost all interest. Then at 26 months he would tell me when he pooped and we took a week and he was fully potty trained. We got lots of books from the library and spent hours on the potty. He'd go when I was washing my hands or not paying too much attention to him. I wrapped up small junk from my SIL's toybox and he got to open them for SITTING on the potty because he knows how to do that! The going on command is a skill he was working on. I'd say start her on the chair with no expectations or pressure. This is a huge accomplishment and if you can be relaxed and happy about it, it will feel like she really did learn a new skill and is a big girl. One thing that worked for us was a Potty Party the day before we started that one week training. We ran errands and he sat on the toilets at Target, Giant, the Library and a few other places we frequent. Only sat, no pressure to go, so it wouldn't be frightening when he was trained. ALSO, bring stickers with you to put over the auto eyes in public bathrooms. Sometimes they go off when the child is on the toilet and can be a problem. Sometimes the loud flush won't bother them and then one day it might. So be prepared with stickers in your purse. Heads up that I do NOT believe in pushing children into potty training, but that in many countries kids train at 18 months and our diaper industry here doesn't want us to know that. It can be done before three or four, just keep it positive. When my son would pee on the carpet, I'd say "run to the potty!" and we would. After about day three HE said it while peeing on the carpet, and a light switched on for him and it went much better after that. Also, once trained, I learned to say "let's empty your bladder" NOT "do you have to go" because if he wasn't bursting he thought he didn't have to go and would have an accident 10 minutes later. Learning to empty on command is a learned skill, just be sensitive to your young lady.

i agree she doesn't sound ready yet, but remember that readiness doesn't just occur in one fell swoop. i think it's a great idea to let her air out, and then diaper her when she asks. you're letting her acclimate to diaperlessness at her own rate, not pushing her, not ignoring her. a mom as tuned in to her child as you will do just fine with reading the signs.
khairete
S.

My son did the same thing. Im a stay at home mom so I am with him all day. What I did (which might work for you) is to get yourself a little cooking timmer (from target, walmart, etc) and set it for every 15 minutes. When it goes off, regardless what they are doing, have them go SIT on the toliet. Of course keep the diapers off and put them away. If she wants to put one on, tell her that there is no more and has to use the potty. Once she gets the hang of it, set the timmer longer (lets say 30 mins) and repeat the steps. This helped me a lot. My son is doing good with the potty training but I still havent figured out the nights. I put a pamper on him to go to bed. When I notice he isnt peeing much in his diaper, then I know he will be ready in that part of the potty training. but not yet. Good Luck. Try the timmer!!