Potty Training - Birmingham,AL

Updated on April 07, 2009
J.C. asks from Lehigh Acres, FL
18 answers

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my daughter is 3 and 1/2 years old and she is still not potty trained. I put her in pull ups and she just uses them like diapers. I take her to the potty every 30 to 45 minutes, i let her sit on the potty for 5 minutes or longer and she never does anything. Eventually she wets or soils herself. I have even bought those plastic outter pants that keep clothes diapered babies clothe dry if the wet. She just continues to wet herself. Has anyone got any good advice i can try. With me being out of work these pull ups and diapers are getting tiresome . Please help me if you can. Thank you to all that respond i really am at my wits end.

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K.C.

answers from New Orleans on

I'm thinking put her in real underwear and let her actually wet herself. She won't like it. The pull-ups are as comfortable as diapers. The real consequences are when it gets cold by the time it reaches the feet. I hope you have tile floors :-)

Good Luck!

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A.W.

answers from Mobile on

There is a potty training method that I've been reading on BabyCenter.com website on how to potty train in 3 days.
Well, it's working for us.
My son is 3 and we've tried on and off for the past 6+ months...now this method seems to be working for us.

Basically,
1. Put 3 full days aside to get started....a long holiday weekend or something.

2. Naked from the waste down at home all day.

3. Be ready with cleaning supplies...accidents will happen.

4. No pull-ups or training pants.

Well, there's sooo much more to explain...I think I'll just refer you to the website's link to the article.

http://www.babycenter.com/0_potty-training-in-three-days-...

If you have any trouble opening the link, message me and I'll copy and paste the article to you.

Good luck!

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K.S.

answers from Fayetteville on

My daughter was 3 and still hadn't potty trained yet.
My mistake was using the pull ups. It pulls the moisture away so fast that she didn't tie the muscle release to the wetting.
I bought a house right when she turned 3 and out of necessity, I'm a single mom, I put her in cotton underwear.
She wet them one time and never even wet the bed again.
Good luck.

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J.H.

answers from Little Rock on

If you are at home with her, have you tried letting her go around the house without underwear/pullup/diaper on? If you have nice furniture then you can put towels down, but being airy down there might help her realize the urge to go and help her get to the potty? Also if you can borrow some potty chairs and have a few throughout the house in the rooms your daughter is usually in, it might be encouraging.

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A.M.

answers from New Orleans on

What you want is for her to stay dry so, reward her for having dry pants. Every ten minutes check her underwear, if they are dry give her an m & m candie. I read this in "Potty training in less than 24 hrs" by Foxx and Azrin. While it took longer than 24 hours, it worked in about a week. I strongly advise to read the entire book. When she has an accident, the books says to practice. Say to her, "you're playing legos and you feel pee-pee about to come out...what are you going to do?" Then shout together, "run to the potty." You go through all the motions of going to the bathroom, pull pants down, sit for a second, pull pants up, fake wash hands. Then do it again, "You're reading a book, you feel like you have to go to the potty...what are you going to do?" Do the whole thing again. Think of situations she often wets her pants. I think you practice about 10 times, I never go past 5 because the kids get over it. The book is great, written in the 70s so they refer to keeping treats in your apron. But there is some very sound advice. I've potty trained 6 kids very quickly doing this method of rewarding for dry pants including twins. Best of Luck.

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J.S.

answers from Little Rock on

i would get rid of the pullups and only used panties that she picks out and hopefully gets excited about. it'll be a mess for a while, but surely she'll not like the way it feels and get past it. if she can communicate well, she should be able to tell you when she needs to go. try only positive reinforcement, maybe a sticker chart at the end she picks out a prize and try not to make it a big deal or bring negative attention when she has an accident. although it's negative, she is still getting attention, so try to ignore the accidents and praise her when she does well. only pullups for bedtime. good luck.

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M.B.

answers from New Orleans on

We just went through this with our 4yr old son! He has refused since he was 3 to even try to potty train! Luckily our 9yr old plays baseball, we told the 4yr old only big kids play baseball and go to school, which kids HAVE to be potty trained to go to school. He DID IT in a weekend!! My first child was done by age 2. I feel your pain. Find something she enjoys,tell her only big kids get to do it, and set up an ultimatum. By 3 1/2 kids are too smart to fall for the techniques used earlier on. I promise it will happen just be creative and encourage her.

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M.S.

answers from Oklahoma City on

I went through the same thing with my daughter. She is five now but at 3 1/2 she was not pottied trained. She knew how to use a toliet because she did it a few times here and there. Pull ups throw them away, they will not work. I asked her doctor what I should do because I was getting frustrated. He told me stop the pull ups put regular panties on her and get her dressed. He said ever time she goes to the bathroom in them, make her take them to a sink and wash them out. EVERYTIME!!! She got tired of doing this over and over. She finally decided using the toliet was easier. I feel your pain, I was there at one time. Hang in there. She will start going.

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K.H.

answers from Oklahoma City on

My son is going to be 2-1/2 this month and we (his father and I) were able to get him potty trained by skipping the pullups. The PA at his doctor's office said that they were too much like diapers that he wouldn't notice the difference. We bought training underwear, which is thicker than regular underwear. He definitely noticed the difference when he wet in the first time. We also let him pick out his potty chair at the store and made a huge stcker chart for him. We made a huge deal out of each time he used the potty (dance and song). It took about 2 weeks for him to urinate in the toilet consistently and a about a month for regular bowl movements. Oh, his PA also said we would know when he was ready when he woke up with a dry diaper 3-4 mornings in a row.

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D.H.

answers from Little Rock on

Put her in Big Girl panties - let her pick some out at the store. Also buy some plain white ones. Explain to her she is a big girl now so no more diapers or pull ups. Also let her know she gets to wear the panties she picked put but if she wets or soils them she is going to wear the plain white ones the rest of the day. Then TAKE her to the bathroom every 15 minutes and have her sit for 5 minutes. The next day make it 20 minutes between trips and add 5 minutes every day. I have used this with both girls and boys at age 18-20 months and within a week they are dry 99% of the day and night.

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S.P.

answers from Huntsville on

I would try having her wear absolutely nothing under her pants. It will be messy at first but she won't like having wet pants one bit and may help her along. It's part of the 3-day potty training method. However, the method supposedly works best for kids up to 28 months. Plus, the kids are supposed to go bare-bottomed from the waste down while indoors for three months. I haven't tried this method but intend to soon for my 16 month old. I read the article on Babycenter.com and it doesn't seem difficult just demanding for a while. Good luck!

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A.S.

answers from Dothan on

Just my opinion, but I don't think punishment has any place in potty training. Pull ups probably do delay potty training, but when a child is ready, they will go. My daughter was barely 2, my son was 4. By waiting until they were ready, it was SO EASY for all of us. IF they had an accident, I cleaned it up, though.

A. :)

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S.M.

answers from Texarkana on

theres no easy way to potty train,but my kids , were hardto train, i tried the pull up with my daughter,it didnt work,so i bought her some big girl underware, with her favorite, cartoon,or what they pick out.i also did the bribe thing,it failed also.this may sound funny, but we did the pee pee dance when she did her thing on the potty,i found one of her fav songs an we only got to hearit when she pottied,an as it played we danced around the house ,alsoi read a book toher while she sat on the potty, that gave her a chance to poop if she needs to,its ok to reward them, hope this helps S.

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M.P.

answers from Texarkana on

Let me say this first: the best indicator of successful potty training is the child's readiness. Now for my advice: put her in regular panties. No plastic protector over them. She will not like to feel the wetness and will start using the potty. I think the worst thing ever invented were pull-ups. All they are are diapers that go up and down. Yes, it takes work washing all her wet clothes, but give it a week and I guarantee you she will potty train herself. Good luck!

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C.R.

answers from New Orleans on

Arrghhh!!! I am feeling you, sister! My daughter will be three in May and she has zero interest in going "pee-pee potty". She is dead set against it and I am having a hard time getting her to even try. I have no advice (obviously) but I wanted to let you know that I'm going through the same thing. They will get it! Feel free to email and vent to me....it might just make my day...! Good luck!

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D.R.

answers from Huntsville on

The best advice i can give you is when the weather warms up and she is outside, leave her to wet herself with just underwear or clothing and maybe that will be unpleasant enough to change her mind! As for the pull ups, if you're making no progress, i would go back to diapers as they are cheaper and hold more. I have a boy and he starting peeing in the potty early and there were never any problems, but i didn't think he would ever start pooping in it!! Lots of people adviced me to let him stay dirty, which was hard for me to do, but with a heavy diaper full of urine, maybe she'll find that uncomfortable as well!! Best of luck!!
Have a fabulous day and god bless!!

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S.B.

answers from Oklahoma City on

Hi J.,
I am a mother of four boys 13, 9, and twins that are 2 1/2. I have had a little experience in the potty training business.My older two boys were about 3 when they were completely potty trained.My twins on the other hand have been completely trained since they were 27 months old. The difference that I seen between training them and training my other two is this... get rid of the pullups. I never used pullups 1 day with my twins so they have no confusion what so ever. I think that pullups are to much like diapers to little ones when they are getting trained. It confuses them because they still can't feel what they are doing when they have an accident in their pants. I know it is a little messy going straight to underwear but your little girl is definitely old enough to understand that she needs to be using the potty. Perhaps if she had to see what is was like to be wet and uncomfortable she wouldn't be okay to potty in her pants. Just some thoughts I wanted to share with you. Check out Cafemom there is a potty training support group on there for mammas. Good luck!

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J.P.

answers from Oklahoma City on

With my daughter it was a control issue. She could use the toilet, but didn't want to. I told her we would not be buying any more pull ups and then put her in panties. She wet herself twice in one day and was made to sit in the tub with her wet clothes on for the few minutes it took me to clean up the mess. She hated it and started using the toilet immediately. We have had a few accidents since then, but nothing deliberate. Several people I know have tried this approach with great success. Good luck.

J.

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