Potty - Melbourne,FL

Hi K. -

My daughter was adopted from a third world country and had muscle tone and balance issues, nummerous delays that set her back on these things. Potty training was difficult,but I'll tell you about something that worked for me. At Babies or Us, I found a potty chair that worked and got her started well on her way to using the toilet. The Potty chair was "once upon a potty" and came with a little book and video. The potty chair is shaped like a saddle, in that the child has to "straddle" it. It isn't uncomfortable and it makes them have to spread their legs, so the release of fluid is easier and the body or mind seems to make more sense of it. It seemed to help her keep from holding back and maybe seemed more natural. I'd tried several other "regular" shaped potty chairs prior, but this just seemed to trigger something physically and psychologically with her -- maybe the positioning was more natural for elimination. Too bad I hadn't started it sooner, it worked very quickly.

Hi K., what really worked for us is using a timer that beeps every 45 minutes. It didn't take long for my daughter to understand that when the timer went off it was time to sit on the potty and try to go. You will probably have to do it a few times yourself so she can what happens when the timer goes off. You really have to keep at it. My daughter is not quite 2 and she is 99% potty trained. We also ask her between timer beeps or if we're out if she fells pee-pee coming. Praise her really enthusiastically when she goes in the potty! We clap and laugh. We never used rewards or food and we're fine. We still have some poo-poo accidents but those are getting to be less and less. She liked the Once Upon a Potty Video/Book and general Potty Books too. Lastly, we have a dolly potty that her best friend Bunny pees in too. :-) Good Luck! It'll come.

Hi K.--She is probably not able to tell because she can not sense the wetness so much (because she is in diapers). If you switch her to underwear it will be easier for her to understand when she has to go because she will not like the feeling afterwards. Yes, it will be a little difficult at first, but, she should be potty trained in no time. Make it a big event when you go to pick out the underwear, she will be so proud to wear them like a big girl. Good luck! E.

She's still very young, and sounds like she isn't quite ready. Just wait a while. Look for signs like stripping her diaper off, trying to sit on the potty, giving signals that she has to go or already went, saying pee poo or potty, or trying to go potty with you.

I usually bring my two year old in while I go, I ask if he wants to go and put him on the porta potty if he wants. Even if he doesn't go it gives him the experience of getting use to the potty, and when he does go he gets a "What a good job you did going potty in the toilet! I am so proud of you, being such a big boy! Thank you very much for using the potty." Even so, I waited until he started stripping of his diaper on his own before I started putting him on the potty.