Toilet Training - Thiells,NY

I own and operate my daycare/preschool in Pompton Lakes, NJ and I have 3 small childen of my own. I tell parents just put underwear on the child and get rid of the diapers and eventually they will get sick of the pee on their leg and will adjust. I trained a 2 1/2 year old and my school and it only took her a week to be trained.

Good luck!

M.

Both of my boys did similar things. My eldest at a very early age had success in both forms between 18 and 20 months... but I will tell you now...he did not train until 3 years. My little one wanted to do everything the older one did (they are 6 years apart) OTHER than using the potty. He also trained at 3. What I was told is that they will do it when they are ready despite what you do and that it has to do with a control issue. In looking back I think both wanted to prove that they could but that playing was more important at that age and when they were really ready they were both 3 which I heard is rather standard these days. Both didn't totally train until I just had them start using real cotton training pants...those pull-ups etc did nothing - they felt wet for a minute and then it felt dry again and they wanted to continue playing rather than go into the bathroom, try the potty and get changed. If you back off and stop mentioning it she may bring the subject back up and want to show you that she is a "big girl" now! Good luck! Potty training was what I considered the worst phase (until the teens which I am just getting into trouble with now...eldest now 15). As my pediatrician said - don't sweat it - she will not go to Kindergarten in diapers.

Hi S.,
I am the mother of almost 3yr old twin girls. Potty training began late August and was very encouraging. They did very well the first week or so. My sister, a mother of 3 older children laughed and said "they're just messing with you." Sure enough she was right. Although they can change their own pullups, they rarely use the potty. The general advise I get from other mothers is, when they are ready it will happen. Good luck. Don't give up. I'm not.
L.

She is still on the young side and my daughter did the same thing. She showed a lot of interest and then just stopped. then at 38 months she asked for underwear on and that was it. Unless she has to be trained for school, I would just let her guide you.

Good luck.

It sounds like she's not ready. Children can become fascinated with using the potty/bathroom and wearing underwear before they are truly physically and emotionally ready to transition to it full time. It's sort of like a honeymoon or a new job-- or a new diet. Everything is great and fun for awhile and then you realize 'oh- I have to do this EVERY DAY?!'. She is just not ready. I'd let go of it for awhile- she's still young and will be ready soon.

Hi S., I have three children, one boy and two girls. My oldest girl practically trained herself at 2 and my younger daughter was more challenging, but was totally trained by 3 1/2. I think you need to just not mention it to her at all and let her tell you when she is ready, she will!!!

This could be a control issue. I know we all want our children potty trained as quickly as possible but you may have to put it on the back burner a few months and try again. If you chose to continue with it don't react when she tells you she does not want to because she could be looking for the reaction.
Good Luck!

I have two young children - my oldest being almost 4. We had a hard time with toilet training. We started out with having a training potty just in our living room, so she was never "afraid" of it like some children. We went with pull ups for a long time- and then finally we decided to buy her big girl undies- and we made a chart. We just put big girl undies on, and yes- she did have accidents- but she finally got over it. She didn't want to be wet all the time. Now pooping in her pants is another issue. Her birthday is in about a month, and we just got her fully potty trained. You asking her if today is the day is a routine- she knows what answer you want to hear when you ask that. It may be too early...for her personally. don't totally stop it- but back off a little. The less I made a big deal about it- the more mine would run to the bathroom because she knew she had to go. This was the most frustrating situation to me through out this whole toddler thing.

Hi S.,
I just completed potty training with my youngest daughter who will be 3 next month. She too, went through a time period where she seemed very interested and then suddenly backed off. I happened to mention it to the pediatrician and he told me it was a quite common reaction with 2 1/2 yr olds. He said it has more to do with control then with actual potty training. His suggestion was to just back off and let my daughter decide when she was ready. He encouraged me to continue to ask her, but only respond with "Okay, you let me know when you're ready." I honestly thought his advice was going to set us back, but just as suddenly as my daughter expressed disinterest, she was interested again and was fully trained in only a couple of weeks - so...I guess he was right! When she was ready, she let me know!

Hi S.:

I went through the same exact thing last summer when my daughter was almost three. She had been consistently using the toilet and was even out of diapers. Then all of a sudden she refused to do No. 2 on the potty. I don't know what happened. It was so bad that she would hold it in for days and of course that made it even more difficult. Then when she did have to go she would scream and cry and literally hold her tush so it wouldn't come out. It was absolutely horrible. Like you, I tried everything from bribing to stickers to icecream, etc. I called the doctor's office and their advice to me: DO NOTHING - DO NOT MENTION IT - When she has to go simply bring her a diaper and let her do it. I thought this would be reverting, especially since I was about 8 months pregnant with my son. They told me that I should revisit it in three months. Well to my surprise about a month or so later, she said "mommy I'm going to make poopy on the potty." I said "ok" - I cleaned her up when she was done. There was absolutely no fan fare, no cheering no clapping no rewards of any sort. She said to me "mommy, diapers are for babies" and that was it. She has been fine with it ever since. It sounds so simple and I have to honestly say, it really was. The hardest part was during the month or so that she was using the diaper to refrain from commenting on using the toilet. (I would only put the diaper on her when she was ready to poop - otherwise she wanted to wear underwear). It was also hard to convince all those who criticized that this was what was best for her. I hope this helps!!! Good luck!!

My daughter Gia (my screen name, I know :) )went through the same thing during her potty training. I too felt spent and even called my mom in desperate tears. But just as sudden as this phase started it stopped. Now Gia is almost 27 mnths and still uses a pull-up at night and naps. We are working on that. But what I did was go back to the every hr putting her on the potty. If she wasn't wet when I put her on and she didn't go after a while I would let her go play but tell her we have to try again in a 1/2 hr. Then eventually like I said 1. she was going on the potty not in her pants and 2. she started telling me when she had to go again. We too used stickers in the beggining with a rewards board and I think that and "My Potty Book for Girls" were some of our tools for sucess! Good luck.

maybe she's afraid of not being your baby anymore? Most kids just have to be ready or they won't do it. Maybe she is afraid to be too big of a girl, are you expecting another? Is she aware of this?

for my daughter's 2nd bday i got her a potty chair, she used it constantly for about a month. the doctor told me at her 2 year check up not to be surprised if she stopped, and she did. it was like a new toy, she was all excited but when the newness wore off she was over it. just this past month she started using the toilet. she never "trained" we just waited until she was ready, and it happened to be a year after i thought it would be! that said, we went from diapers to panties in a day, with only 2 or 3 accidents since.

My baby is 13 months old and i have been potty training with her and it is going well.

when my husband bought the toilet seat for my baby, I didn't let her use it right way i let her use it as a nomal chair and let her play with it first. Couple of days later, I put the toilet seat on the top of adult toilet and make her sit on it and she loved it, and she had her #1 in the adult toilet seat for the very first time and it really went well.
Also when she is on the toilet i have to make the sound, so kinda stimulate her you know what i mean? I would say xhuuuuuuu for the number one and for the number #2 i would make sound like: ennnnnnnnnnn

I know this is a tough way but it worked like a charm with my son at about 26 mos, and pretty much anyone I have talked to who has done it swears by it. I will be doing it in another month with my second:
Let the child run around the house naked for a weekend. There will be accidents so this method is only for those ok with handling them, but after the second accident they "get it" and want to switch to the potty. Then halfway through day two, let them wear big boy/ girl underpants. They will again have some accidents but figure it out pretty quickly. On day 3, venture out on a short errand with the child in regular clothes & underpants. By day 4-5 they are done! They may have intermittent accidents over the next week but my first was dry by day 3.
This cold turkey method requires a weekend or a few days when you are willing/ able to intensely supervise and stay home with the child one on one. But it works!

I responded to this exact question a few days ago. My daughter did the same thing. She was fully potty trained in 4 days and then 2 months later she was having accidents daily. Finally after agonizing over it with her (she became very stubborn and tuned me out), I asked her if she wanted to wear diapers or big girl underwear. She chose diapers. I told her that when she's ready again for big girl underwear, that she cannot go back to diapers - ever. I would leave her in her soiled diaper for little while longer so it would be uncomfortable for her wear it. After about 3 weeks she asked for her underwear. I learned later that it is not unusual for children to stop going on the potty after they've been potty trained. Good luck!

Hi Sidney,
This is totally normal. They like to try new things and then decide its not worth their effort. My three year old did the same thing. They have to decide when they are ready, their is nothing we can do to change their timing. Some people advise spanking but I am so personally opposed to that. Potty training should not be traumatic. Tow of my girls just decided to potty train at 18 months and at 2. My last was three in August and she has only been successfully trained for 2 months. I know its frustrating and expensive but really its easier to drop the issue and let her do it in her own time. My pediatrician gave me this advice and about a week after I dropped the whole issue she started wanting to use the potty. Hang in there and good luck

S., when my son was 2 years old he went to the bathroom on his own while my girlfriend was visiting with her twins at the time they were 4 yrs old a boy and a girl. The boy went to the bathroom and my son followed him and used the toilet right after he was fininshed, I was shocked and ever since that day he uses has used the toilet by himself, so he potty train himself. Whenever u are home u need to put your daughter in those thick training pants for girls they are like cloth underwear and take her yourself to the bathroom when she needs to go, even if she tells u that she dosen't want to go still put her on the toilet for a little while, and do this a couple of times and see what happens. Don't fall into the trap of making yourself feel like u are a bad mom for they would make u feel that way and very guilty too. I used the same method on my son when I was home with him I'll put him in boys underwear and a few times he'll wet them but eventually he went by himself which was geat.

Good luck and let me know what happens.

R. M.

My son was peepee trained by 18 months and using the big potty without problem, then little by little started refusing to go....until I discovered that he was actually afraid of the big potty...so I brought back the potty chair and he was happy using it until he felt comfortable again to transition back to the big one -and was fully potty trained by age 2.4

L.

I had the same experience with my daughter and came to the conclusion that she was too young during her first stint on the potty. Her doc said at her early stage of potty training she was
merely mimicking us but did not yet have the ability to always know when she had to go and probably was also not ready to "hold it" when she did know she had to go but was too far from a toilet. I suggest taking it back a step. Don't ask her if she is ready, just continue to talk about using the potty and inviting her into the bathroom with you. We did that and at 2 and a half my daughter one day announced "I have to make a peepee." We kept her in trains pants for one more week while she consistently used the potty then asked her if she wanted to switch to big girl panties. She said yes and we've never looked back!
Good luck!

My daughter pooped on the potty at 23 months - she went for about 1 week maybe less and then she wanted nothing to do with it. I couldn't understand it but I let her go. She really just didn't want to. When she was three - she went on the potty. Since then she is dry every morning and there have been NO accidents. Don't push her - she probably wanted to try it but doesn't anymore - I wouldn't analyze it or worry about it - she'll do it.....Good Luck.....TRISH

Hi S.,

I had a similar situation. I think I heard every trick, piece of advise, bribe that there is. When my daughter was 3 3/4 she decided she would go on the potty. There was not a thing I could do to convince her to go sooner. When your daughter is ready she will go. Don't stress too much about it. Believe me, she won't be going to kindergarten in diapers :) Good luck!

D.

my three year old did the same thing, she was two and going pretty often, then stopped and refused. i left her alone, until she was 3 and a few months. then we just put her in underwear for 3 days. 3 days of cleaning up messes, but by the end of the last day, she was done. she never even had accidents after that. i think your girl might just not be ready. give it time.

HAve you tried getting her some really fa\ncy underwear, maybe with Barbies or Dora or whatever she likes and tell her that they will drown if she wets them, only kidding. Maybe you and she sould go shopping for fancy undies and let her know that you don't wet yours and if she's a big girl now she shouldn't wet hers. It worked with my daughter who is now 45. I used the sa\me reasoning with my son and it also worked. Fancy undies make everyone feel special, try it.

L. S.

My daughter will be 3 month and is doing the exact same thing! If you find the answer, let me know!