I am looking to potty train my 2 year old. She knows what she's supposed to do in the potty and does it sometimes but has absolutely no interest in it. We are spending way too much on diapers seeing as how we have another baby in diapers as well and we're really hoping to get her trained to save some money. I have tried using a timer and sitting her on the potty every hour. She knows when the timer goes off it's time to sit on the potty. She loves sitting on the potty because we read to her there. If I ask her if she has to go potty she'll say yes just so she can sit there and read. I don't mind that except I don't have the time to sit with her while my son is awake.
I have tried pull-ups on her, the kind with cool-alert but those don't do anything for her either. My next step was going to be just putting her in underwear and plastic pants to cover them but I'm so afraid of how messy that will be and that it won't work either. Has anyone tried this approach? Can you share your success and non-success stories just so I know what may be ahead if I choose to go through with this?
***UPDATE***
OK, so I went out and bought a few pairs of the Gerber training pants, some Gerber vinyl pants, and some maxi pads (they're close enough to PODS). I put the training pants with maxi pads on first. She peed, it soaked it up, no reaction from her. Then I changed to training pants with vinyl pants. She peed, the pants soaked it up and she was all wet... still no reaction. I understand that children potty train at different ages but is this normal for her to not even react if she is soaking wet??? Again, any advice on this front would be greatly appreciated.
aahhhh the joys of potty training! my son is almost 3 and we started potty training about 4 months ago. he got it right away but then he started regressing alot and having constant accidents. so i just took the pullups away completly. it was scary and a little messy but its dong the trick. i only use a diaper at night. so now if he has to go he has no choice but to use the potty. accidents have cut down dramactly.
Get some cotton training underpants- they are the thickness of cloth diapers so she will feel the wetness but most of it will be contained. You have to be consistent so once you decide to get rid of the diapers, that's it. Don't get upset when she has an accident. Pullups don't teach kids to potty train- they actually prolong the process. Personally I think they are just a marketing ploy from the diaper companies to get moms to spend more money.
Dear M.,
Don't bother with the pull ups they are a waste of money. I think you need to pick one thing and stick to it. if you keep switching around it will confuse her even further. I suggest just training underwear. There are going to be accidents just be prepared and relaxed with her and she will get it. I think you just have to be consistent do not go back and forth trying different things each day and positively do not go back in forth with the diapers. if you can stay home for a few days and just leave her in the training underwear. Don't be afraid of the mess it comes with the process just change her if she wets and remind her to tell mommy next time she has to go potty. I know this is going to sound crazy but my mom said when she was training me (49) years ago ha! ha! she said she would put me on the potty and run the water in the sink and the sound of running water would sometimes give me the urge to go. As far as your daughter reacting she is obviously not bothered by being wet which some kids are not. Stick to it you will succeed!!!
I heard of a way to potty train and I don't know if it'll work, but maybe you can try it. Let them run arund with no pants on (obviously this is for when you are at home) and when they wet, they'll wet on the floor. You make them clean up their own mess. They will get real tired of having to clean up after themself eventually and go on the potty instead. Not sure if this works, but it's worht a shot! :-)
Hi M.
I am a mom of 3 children 2 boys ages 5 and 28mths and my dtr age 14mths+ my 2nd and 3rd are 15mths apart so it has been a long hall for me and yes i hear ya w/ diapers baby food etc it is expensive I just trained my son who is 28mths within a months time he has showed interest since the summer but the timing wasnt right since my dtr was such a handful but when my older son went to kindergarden in september i started and he did great he even goes to bed now w/ just undies on i never did the pull up thing w/ him i did with my first son but they are expensive and basically a waste of money too my first son couldnt care that he was wet so w/ jake my 2nd son I just put his diaper on the first few weeks and kept taking it off for him to go dont get me wrong he has had a few accidents during the day or has just gone in his undies and could care less but now he even runs to the broom on his own to go so it is great!! I give him another month and it should be really good What i rewarded him with was candy and lucky charms this worked for us I wouldnt stress tooo much over it if she is not going now i would wait another month or 2 she is still young
hope this helps
Hi M.:
I too am training my daughter. Boy its hard work. I started my daughter when I was on maternity leave 5 months ago. She'll be two in November. My daughter likes to take off her diaper so that was an indication to me that she was ready. At times I do put on training vinyl pants and she doesn't like the feeling of being wet and she starts to cry and doesn't move. What's been working for me is to keep her without any diapers or underwears. Of course they'll be accidents but she let her know next time do it on the potty. She is getting better sometimes she even tells me that she has to go potty when she has to do # 2 and that with her diaper on. Every child is different. I get different videos from the library on potty training and that helps too espceially elmo. My friend tells me that children go every two hours, and every two hours she would take her two kids and put them on the potty, it worked for her. I think I would lay off the timer since she already associates the timer with sitting on potty to read. Also have you tried when you go?? That works for me also. Since she's always following me everywhere I go and then while she is in ther with me I ask her does she have to do peepee or # 2, see mommy is using the potty. She goes potty, I wanna potty. So I guess you know your child better than anyone plus consistancy is very important. As far as getting a reaction I would just consult with the pediatrician and see what they say about that. Or look on Webmd and see if there is something on that topic. As I said I'm still training myself and since I'm back at work I am not as consistant as I should be. Only on weekends and since she likes to take her diapers off depending on the outfit she's wearing, then I'll leave her without it. And just bring the potty out in the living room and constantly remind her peepee on potty etc. All the best.
