Potty Training - Walton, KY

We live in a less populated area. I always kept an extra potty chair in my garage that we pulled out to remember to use.

Hi K., that's exactly where my 3yr-old girl is right now as far as potty-training! My older daughter was the same way. Pees on potty at certain times, but when busy playing...just goes and pees in her pull-up.

Some advice I've heard is to put real underwear inside the pull-up/diaper, that way she'll really feel the mess.

It's normal for them to take longer w/ going poop on the potty. What FINALLY convinced my 1st girl was that her poop was getting too big to fit in her pull-up! One day she finally agreed and that was that.

I'm trying to still be patient, BUT my girl will be officially 3 1/2 on July 24 AND has a twin BROTHER who seems to only pee on his potty at bathtime, I'm ready to start saving money from pull-ups and wipes already!!

Best of luck!

K., Ohio

put regular panties on her. The feeling she will get when she messes her pants may help her along. What I did with my kids, now 17 and 13 yrs was when they pooped their panties I made them clean it out... of course I threw them in the tub afterwards. They don't have to touch the poop before all you mothers out there turn me into children services, she took off her panties as I stood and watched and she dumped it in the toilet. Good Luck,

I, too, can only offer support as I'm going through the same thing with my 3-year-old daughter. She has really come a long way with peeing on the potty (I thought she'd never do it!), but she, too, will often have peed in her pull-up even when she goes on the potty. I finally started offering her a reward for when she stays dry and goes on the potty. We also do a "dancy-dance" when she goes on the toilet and doing that seemed to get her more inclined to pee on the potty and get some consistency. However, the poop things is a whole other thing. I don't know that she's afraid, but she just is a bit freaked about letting it go...I'm still trying to figure out what the real issue is...she will often not tell me when she's pooped (I have to smell it and ask her). When I tried going to underwear, she would poop constantly in them---it was like she was telling me she wasn't ready for the underwear and would get so upset when she messed them up. So, we went back to pull-ups and I've tried just completely backing off and gently asking if she wants to try. When she says no, I say that's fine and just nonchalantly change her when it's needed. It's frustrating because I know I've gotten pressure, or comments, from others when they find out she's 3 and not potty trained. I just hope she is able to master it before she's 4!! I wish you well and just know you're not alone!

One thing is for sure, each child has a different personality and responds differently to rewards etc. Our youngest son turned 3 at the beginning of May and he was in no big hurry to be completely potty trained. He did finally figure it out completely 2 weeks ago...hooray! I don't think I have ever pressured or pushed any of our children when it comes to potty training and they have all mastered it eventually. Jacob just seemed to want to take his time. Poop was the hardest...he too would either go in a diaper or underwear. Because we are always home, he most of the time either runs around with just underwear on or naked, so honestly I think that has helped. I was giving him (and his brothers of course) a piece of small candy every time he went pee on the potty, and we were going through quite a bit and still no poop. Along with encouraging him to be a big boy like Daddy and his brothers, I finally told him that the day he goes poop on the toilet, I would go right out and buy him a candy bar. It didn't happen that day, but it did happen.
Good luck!

My daughter just turned 4 in May, so I have recently been through this. She was "afraid of poop" and wouldn't poop in the potty, only peed. She was 3 and a half, so we tried not letting her wear a diaper anymore and insisted on her pooping in the potty. She held it in for 4 days, at which point I spoke to a nurse. The nurse said that holding it in is not healthy and can lead to a trip to the emergency room, and that this fear of poop is quite common. She said it was fine to allow her to poop in a diaper, so when she told us she needed to poop, we put a diaper on her. We reassured her that she would be able to poop in the potty like Mommy and Daddy some day, didn't shame her, and let her know we understood her fear and that it was okay to poop in a diaper for now. We offered her the potty regularly, and sometimes she would sit on it for awhile and then still want to poop in the diaper. Eventually she was ready and decided on her own to poop in the potty, and now she is very independent about the whole process. We used no rewards or punishments, only patience, and it worked! Kids also do often have accidents because they are playing and wait too long to go. This is normal, so just remind her often to try to use the potty. Good luck!!

K., I wish I could tell you what to do, but unfortunately all I can offer is support and tell you that I'm going through the same thing. My 2 1/2 yr old has been potty trained for a few months now, and knows when he has to go poop, but instead decides to hide in a corner and poop in his undies. Sometimes I find him grunting quietly in a corner, sometimes it is too late he he'll happily come waddling toward me with a present in his behind! It drives me insane and all I want to do is scream, but I know I have to be patient. When you find the miracle cure let me know too! haha

OH YES! The joys of potty training! My children are all grown (4 of them) and I am now a grandmother. I had all of the children potty trained by 2 1/2 years old because I found this "magical" book that we only could read on the potty! There are a boys and a girls version and it is titled "Once Upon a Potty" by Alona Frankel. You can get it at Amazon or your favorite bookstore and I have even seen it in Target. This book is FABULOUS and truly makes potty training much easier! All of my children (2 girls and 2 boys) remember the book fondly and they each got their own copy when it was time and I saved them to give to them when they moved out! Don't fret about the accidents though. This is a way she can control her environment and as she finds other ways to do this, she will give up that control.