Potty Training Advice Needed - Santa Cruz,CA

We used the same 3 day method with our daughter at 25 months. It was an exremely messy process, but it worked! The night time took much longer to "click" and she woke up with accidents After a month, I gave up on night time and switched to pull-ups. When she woke up with dry pull-ups consecutive mornings, we had a talk about keeping her underwear dry at night and switched to underwear. It worked!

Good luck!!! I tried all sorts of methods and it wasn't until one day something clicked with my daughter that she just decided no more diapers/pull ups. She went nighttime and nap time with no diaper either...but it wasn't until she decided. She sounds like your daughter...able just reluctant.

What we learned after having two very different kids is that they will train when they are ready. We did the potty parties, potty dolls, you name it with our first. A total disaster, although as more experienced parents now we get a good laugh at the whole thing! ("Can you believe what we did?") The point about switching to panties is a very good one and will encourage training; however, most kids night and nap train much later than daytime, so I disagree about moving to panties at the same time.

Second child, we just waited until she said she was ready at 2 1/2 and went from there. No parties, no craziness, just took her to the potty when she needed to go. Lots of praise, but nothing crazy like we did first time around. She trained much faster than her brother.

Yes, she is showing a lot of positive signs that she is mostly ready.....just remember that the "3 day" method" isn't always 3 days. We did that and it was about 3-4 weeks before our 3yo son stopped screaming every time he used the potty. Yes, he'd even sit in his dirty underwear. I think we went through every pair of underwear he had everyday for the 1st week or so even with him sitting on the potty with lots of positive reinforcement. We did used night time underpants (pull up) to save us from laundering his sheets every night. (on a comical note...our washing machine broke the day after we started training...LOL)

Not to say that your girl will be this difficult, but don't assume that it will be as easy as they make it seem. If it is, then great! If it's not, just be patient knowing it won't last forever.

This method works. I did it with my son when he was almost 3 and a half. Just be firm and as non-emotional as possible. Don't let her see your frustration. It took us 4-5 days. And we did have a couple of night time accidents after that training period. However, it wasn't a big deal. We just changed the sheets and made sure he went to the potty before going to bed at night.

We woke our daughter up for awhile before we went to bed (10:00-11:00 ish) to go potty, and stopped when we found she didn't need this and could stay dry all night.

I didn't read any of the other responses, but I do NOT recommend not using a diaper/pull-up at night!!!! Kids her age may have the muscle control for daytime, but most don't have it while they're sleeping. Some might, but it's not the norm. My 3yo son just potty trained 5 days ago, but I'm not having any expectations for nighttime, so he still wears an overnight diaper and will until he's ready to try without one. He goes all day great, and even woke up from a 2hr nap dry, but he still wakes up wet after sleeping 12 hours.

I did not read your other responses so sorry if I repeat, but my daughter did it in a day when she was ready-I use to always ask her and tell her lets go potty w/no avail and pow one day she did it and never looked back w/one accident. And did I mention she was 3 1/2 when she did it-so don't sweat it and do not force it-she will do it when she wants. And no mess no stress for MOM- :) L.

It works!!! My daughter also woke up with soaking wet diapers before we started and I followed the method to a T. I bought tons of these pads

http://www.target.com/Jumbo-Waterproof-Pads-4-pk/dp/B000G...

and placed them under her sheet and one on top that she layed on....just to help with clean up. I would cut her off fluids for the most part right after dinner and make sure she used the potty before bed. She woke up wet for a while, but I never used a pull up.

Good Luck!!!

I used the 3-day method w/our second son as well. I think it worked well except I modified it a bit for our son. You may need to do that as well. I am also a very firm non-beleiver in pull-ups. Didn't use them w/our first son either. I feel they are a crutch for both parents & kids & if you're gonna ditch the diapers then just do it all together. That said, some kids' bladders (boys & girls a like) do take longer to mature which results in night time accidents so pull-ups at bed times are a personal choice. Our son stopped napping by the time I started potty training him so we only had to worry about the night. We cut off all liquids about an hour before bed time, took him potty before we went to bed & occassionally, I'd take him if I got up to go myself during the night. I bought this mattress cover from One Step Ahead that goes around the mattress & you have your kid sleep on top of so that helped w/any accidents. I also put a plastic fitted sheet over his mattress. I was worrried about the noise of it when he moved but it's absolutley noise-less. Both of them were about $14-$20 each. You may want to purchase both of them as well as stopping liquids & the trips to the potty like we did. Like I said, I had to modify the method for my son but what I really took to heart was putting him in contorl. I got soooo tired of saying, 'tell Mommy when you gotta go peepee.' One of the modifications I made was to make him use the potty any time b4 we left the house & if there was one available where ever we were but otherwise, the putting the kids in control made it not a control struggle between the 2 of us. Good luck!

I would take smaller steps regarding the night time expectation. Some kids are super deep sleepers and don't wake up when they have to pee, and some kids at this age lack the muscle and bladder control to be night trained.

I would not switch from diapers to pullups for anything other than nap or night. And at naptime I would wait until she's consistently dry to switch to panties only.

There's a lot of pressure for kids to potty train and some are ready sooner than others. Listen to your daughter and make sure she's ready or it will be frustrating for everyone.

good luck!

Be careful....my inlaws did this method with their daughter and while she was potty trained in the end it really messed with her nights. I'm guessing she was so afraid of wetting herself that she wouldn't sleep, kept getting up, became a real nightmare...At this point I think that was almost a year ago and I think the still have issues with her staying in her bed.

We did a real no pressure training with our boys. Watched videos about potty, had an open door policy, talked about how big boys use the potty. Our oldest was trained by 3 1/2...Our youngest was pushing 4 when he was finally comfortable to not wear pull ups but he was using the potty without incident 6 months before that.

I'm not a fan of the 3 day method...but good luck in whatever you choose, potty training isn't the most fun :)

My DD woke up at 37 mo's and announced no more diapers, and never had an accident. She did it. I didn't 'tell' her she was ready, she told me. It's what worked for me as I'm not into accidents, cleaning messes, cleaning carpets, cleaning sheets, etc. GL on your decision!

One thing I have learned from other moms and my own experience is you can't force them to be potty trained. If they have a bad experience or are not ready, and you will know immediately if that's the case, the process will be frustrating and difficult for both of you. However, as you start the process it may be a great experience and go very easy. Every child is different. Flexibility and patience are the key ingredients. Be careful not do get discouraged if you daughter doesn't follow the book step by step. And if she has some really great days and then regresses that's may also part of the process for her.
Going potty is the only thing a child feels they can control and they decide when and where. My son started potty training when he was two at preschool/daycare because that's what the other kids were doing and he was really interested but he wasn't really consistent untill he was around three. It still took a while but when he was ready it seemed to happen overnight. He'll be four in July and he still wears a pull-up for nap time and at night because he is a sound sleeper. He wakes up with a dry diaper 70% of the time in the morning and after a nap. Wearing a pull-up at nap time and at night until they have some real control and their bodies and bladders are ready is perfectly fine. Don't worry she won't be 30 years old wearing a pull-up to bed because she wasn't completely potty trained in three days :)

Hello there,
1 phrase which is often used in our house is, "do you want to run or walk to the potty?" My daughter, although she was ready and said no more diapers would refuse to go. I started telling her, "do you want to run or walk to the potty?" "Gallop or jump?" different ways to make it easier.
I also went down to a party supply store and bought $20 worth of little junk toys (lots of bracelets since she likes them so much) and when she would go potty she would get to reach into the "surprise bag." We also called grandma A LOT with the exciting news of going peepee in the potty... 5-10 times a day! :O)
I set the timer and set her on the potty every 20 minutes for the first few days then moved it out to an hour. I still have to ask her to go and take her often and that was before Christmas.
Best of luck to you and I hope my info helps!

I guess the question is whether or not you have the patience to deal with having to change sheets if she soaks through at night/nap time.

I personally didn't use a particular method to potty-train our son. Our pediatrician has 3 young boys and advised that boys and girls have different abilities to recognize bladder fullness and the need to go to the bathroom.

In our case, the things most people recommend weren't enticing to our son. He didn't want stickers or candy. But, he did want praise and Cars figures. So we set goals and adjusted them as he hit milestones, and it worked.

Good luck. We'll be doing the same with our daughter in the next few months.

I personally would wait until she is naturally holding her pee overnight because she is going to get the sense that she is doing something wrong (peeing in bed). It isn't wrong, she's just young.

That being said, I used the 3 day potty training thing and I LOVED it. Make sure you make use of the question blog feature. Maybe you could contact them before starting and ask their advice. Definitely up the fiber, and be on the watch for constipation. I made the mistake of giving her candy as a reward and it turned out that candy makes my girl constipated! Who knew?!

My thought is that she is on track, but that you are jumping the gun and may actually interfere with her natural process. People end up having e=unexpected issues when they force the child too young..

Good luck!