Potty Problems with My 22 Month Old

Don't lose your "window of opportunity," I can't stress that enough. (My guy's was 19-21 months, I saw it but our laid back pediatrician said to set a potty out would cause him stress, so when we started training at 22 months he wanted no part of it.)

Let her go without diapers except for naps and bedtime, keep the potty in the room she's spending most of her time, and sit her at set times each day until you discover her schedule. Start every 20 minutes and gradually increase the time once you know how often she'll need to go. Keep your eyes and ears pealed to know when she's about to go and get her there so she can associate the feelings with going to the potty. Also let her see you using the toilet so she learns what to do from pulling her pants down to sitting to wiping to washing her hands.

You can not do potty training 1/2 way. You do all or nothing. I am not a believer in "letting her run around naked". It is disgusting. You need to commit to training her or just go back to diapers. I think you should give it a go and see what happens. Put her on the potty every 10-15 minutes assuming you have given her a lot of water or liquid an hour beforehand. If not drinking heavily, you can go a bit longer. Give her a small edible reward each time she goes on the potty. Keep her in pullups otherwise. No more diapers. When you go out, go pee before you leave and then right when you get home. Also, only go places that have accesible bathrooms. Keep this up for 3-5 days. If you do not see improvements then stop and start again in a few months. She needs to be ready psychologically and physically.

If you want to do naked all the time, you need to tell her that pee and poop go in the toilet and take her frequently - whenever she wakes up, after she eats and whenever you notice she hasn't gone in a couple of hours. I would not ask her if she needs to go (my son NEVER wanted to stop playing to go), just take her. No punishment, no rewards, just a realistic expectation that that is the correct place for pee and poop. I personally think pull ups are a complete waste of time and money. Kids treat them just like diapers - they are for pee and poop. If you want to use something at nap time or overnight, just use diapers.

I did not do naked all the time with my son. I just switched completely to underwear one day - he was 25 months old. I would have started at about 22 months but we had several months where we were travelling frequently (like every other weekend) and didn't want to be inconsistent.

My son had zero signs of 'potty readiness' (I honestly had never even heard the term until joining Mamapedia) and was 95% trained in 3-4 days then a couple of pee accidents over the following 2 weeks - then done.

Also - naked all the time is no more disgusting than CHANGING TODDLER DIAPERS.

Give her another 4-6 months, then try it again. This time let her know YOU expect it to be successful. Periodically remind her of the date she will be expected to be permanently potty trained. Put the pull-ups back on her and wait it out. She was not ready this time.

This is exactly what worked for my son, and he responded perfectly because he was ready physically, and prepared mentally.

Yes start the training and let her know it is not appropriate to go "anywhere" but she needs to know to go in the potty.

N.