Troubles Potty Training My Soon to Be 4Yr Old Daughter.

I am on the same road as you are right now, but have been through this twice already. This may sound harsh, but read with an open mind. My sister has put her daughter in panties, and when her daughter has wet her pance, she leaves her in it, not for more than a few minutes, just so she knows how it feels to be wet and not like it. She also use to leave panties off her and let her run around bare from the waist down. This helped her to... well to help her feel the feeling that she needed to go to the bathroom. and when she didn't it would trickle down her leg and she didn't like that. So that's some ideas for you. Hope it helps in someway.

S. O'Rourke

My daughter just turned 5 but she wasn't potty trained until last April (2006). Anyway I also tried everything, rewards, special pull-ups, even the panties. We eventually got her about 75% good on peeing but pooping was a whole other story. And as you know, cleaning up 4 year old poop is gross. Someone suggested that we make her clean herself, which ended up with more poo all over the place than anything. Once I had convinced myself that she would start school without being potty trained, one of my cousins came over to visit and he had a step-daughter that was maybe 10 months older. Anyway 4 hours of playing and going to the potty with her, and the next day she was trained. All I can say is hang in there. It will happen.

I heard about the Dr. Phil potty train in a day and you have to buy a baby doll that potty's and have your child and you take the baby to the bathroom and have a party (make a big deal about it)when the baby goes potty. You child will see how fun it is for the baby to go potty and all the praise it got and want to go on there own so they can have a party also. Hope this can help
Candice

Hi M.- I know exactly what you are going through because I am in that situation too! My daughter has some good days but most of the time she prefers to go in her pull up. Like you I have tried EVERYTHING! I have read books, visited websites, taken advice from other moms. She actually tells me that she likes her pull up more than her big girl underwear. I wish I had some good advice for you! If you find something that works for you, do you mind posting it under "tell everyone what happened" in case it is something that I haven't tried?! Thanks and good luck!

When I was potty training my son I had the same problem. He knew where the potty was and what is was for, but just refussed to go. I have a couple of ideas that might help. I am not sure if you have a special little potty just for her, but they have this new one out that plays music when they sit down to go. Some kids seem to really like this. Another might be to tell her that if she messes her "big girl panties" that you are just going to throw them away, and make sure that she sees you do this. Make sure that they have her favorite character on them, if possiable, for the most impact. This is the one that worked for me. I let my son run around the house completely naked, and told him that he had two choices, he could be a big boy and go in the potty, or go on the floor and have to clean up his messes (with my help of coarse.) This ones requires a bit of bravery. I hope that my ideas are able to help you and good luck!!!

have you tried letting her go without any bottoms at all? My daughter was the same way and that's what I ended up doing with her. Good luck.

Hi M.,

What worked with my son was just letting him wet himself in regular underwear and a sticker chart. Yes, I had to change 10 to 15 times a day for about a month. #2 still took several more months, he was finally day time trained at 4yrs 2mnths, and he is still wearing pullups at night. Don't believe all these stories about how their kids were totally trained by 2yrs. Don't change her right away, take her to the park or outside when then weather is warmer and let her stay wet for awhile, let her be uncomfortable, let her get embarassed. Maybe start a potty chart with sticker. Tell her if she can stay dry, she gets a sticker and after so many stickers she can get a new toy, book or a trip somewhere, (movie,McD's). Another thing is to give her a reward like m&m's or gummy bears (or whatever she likes,3 to 5, not a whole pack) each time she does go potty. I also made my son (I helped) rinse the #2 in the toilet, take the soiled underwear to the washer, and go get the clean on out of his drawer to put on, thats how I got him #2 trained.

My son refused to potty train and dirty pants didn't seem to bother him either. A few mom's recommended the Dr. Phil method of potty training in one day and to my disbelief it actually worked. I spent $35 on an anatomically correct baby boy doll that would pee on demand and it was worth every penny. He did take a while to come around to pooping on the potty (when I noticed he was needing to poop, I just took everything off and he just figured the only place to go was the potty but if I left him in underwear he'd always make a mess). Anyway, I highly recommend Dr. Phil's method.
http://www.drphil.com/articles/article/264

here's some helpful steps to get your child potty trained.

STATE YOUR EXPECTATIONS: Explain to your child that it's time to put her pee pee and poop in the potty. Tell her that when she feels the need to go she should hold it in just long enough to walk to the potty, sit down and let it go.

SCHEDULE TOILET TIMES: Have your child sit on the potty for five minutes several times a day without pants or a diaper on. Schedule these sittings close to times your child usually has a bowel movement or urination, such as just after a meal, snack or nap. If unsuccessful, have your child run around for 10 minutes and then come back for five more minutes of potty time. Record the times your child has a bowel movement or urination and adjust the scheduled times to take into account any patterns that may develop. If your child is irregular, then randomly choose three to four times spread throughout the day, such as early morning, after lunch, late afternoon and early evening. Make the scheduled potty times as pleasant as possible by reading a toilet-training book or giving your child a game or toy to play with

REWARD SUCCESSES: Initially, give small treats such as cookies or stickers for sitting on the potty for five minutes. Give an extra treat for successful use of the potty. Once successes start to come regularly, give a treat only for potty successes, not for sitting. Pair the concrete treat with verbal praise such as "Nice work. You're using the potty just like big girls do." Don't get overly excited about successes because your child may feel you'll be very disappointed when an accident occurs. Once your child regularly uses the potty, buy her a "big" present to reinforce this achievement.

TRAINING DOLL: Ask your child to help you toilet train a doll that wets. Show how to give a bottle while holding the doll horizontally. Then hold the doll upright over the potty. Use brown clay or crayon to simulate a bowel movement. Praise the doll for going on the potty.

CHART PROGRESS: As soon as your child starts to have some potty successes, make a chart with the days of the week on it to display progress. Put a smiling face on the chart for every time your child succeeds on the potty. Within a week or two after starting training, your child should begin to have some successes (assuming she is ready).