Potty Training - San Antonio,TX

Without reading the other posts yet, I think you're worrying about nothing. 2 1/2 is a little early to be trained. She'll do it when she's ready. She will benefit from seeing the others in her class going potty as well. Don't worry about it. She's perfectly normal.

Don't worry, R.. You are worrying about nothing. Two and a half is actually still quite young. Neither of my kids were fully trained (with few accidents) until nearly 3 and a half. I know lots of people who's kids were 3 as well. Many potty train at 2 but she is by no means behind at 2 and a half. I wouldn't put her back in diapers. You are just going to have to deal with the accidents. She'll eventually get there. My first child didn't potty train until 3, and when he did, he was golden within a few weeks. My youngest started before 2 and a half so I figured she'd be trained young. She's now 3 and still having occasional accidents; she's letting this linger.

Potty training is a developmental thing...happens differently for each child. No need to rush it and the school WILL promote her if she gets to big and is still not trained. When my son was little they tried to potty train him with the rest of the kids but he wanted no part in it! It was so frustrating for all! I went back to diapers and then right before he turned 4 he was ready and we have never gone back since. We also only had maybe 2 accidents after he decided he was ready! Don't worry. She seems to be doing good going poop but peeing...she may just not feel till it is too late.

Hi Romona,

Potty training is more about the body talking to it's self than anything else. I wouldn't start worrying until she's closer to 3.5 years old. It is very common for kids to take a while.

I suggest you continue to encourage going potty and helping her try as often as possible, but don't stress.

R. Magby

Some kids train at 2, most closer to 3 or 3.5. We would all love our kids to be fully potty trained at 2.5, but whatever you do, don't force it, or she will start refusing. My daughter started and stopped several times. She was the opposite, though, she would pee in the potty, but not poop until later. Around 2.5 she got more motivated and by 3 was consistent, but nighttime training we are still working on. Every child is different. Don't fall into the trap of comparing your DD to all the other kids in the class. Go to university of michigan's website and enter "toilet training". I found really good info on there that helped me with any issues we had. I found that rewards every time she used the potty helped. There are also lots of books about "3 day toilet training" that might help you, since she seems ready. Basically, you have to be able to stay at home and do nothing but toilet training. Look up "Dr. Phil" and toilet training - it's the method he recommends, and it did help me for the most part, even though it took us more than 3 days. It really depends on how compliant and motivated your DD is.

My son is 2 1/2 and we haven't even begun. He's really not verbal enough to tell us what he needs to tell us. Our daughter trained in 1 week at 2 1/2, and then decided that using the potty was for the birds and insisted on using diapers again until she was 3. We have a potty seat out for my son if he wants to try, and he's been on it several times, but doesn't really understand what he's supposed to do (he has a speech delay so communication is spotty). We're fine just waiting longer. If I were you, I wouldn't push it. If you are stressed about it, your kids will sense that. It will happen in time. Work with her teachers--they might be able to assess her readiness also, but I'd let her go at her own pace. There are enough battles to fight!

It sounds like your daughter is on the verge of ready, but is probably not quite there yet. Here's one of several sites that gives some great "readiness" checklists: http://www.parentingscience.com/toilet-training-readiness...

There are stories on this site of toddlers trained by 18 months. There are also stories of such young kids regressing once the initial push is relaxed. Most children will train somewhere between 2.5 and 3.5 years, with quite a few finally succeeding even later than that (most of them will be boys).

So your daughter is on the early end of training success. It's probably a mixed blessing that she's the latest in her age group; a sense of failure or frustration tends to prolong the process, but if the emotional aspect is handled well, she may find motivation in the success her classmates have demonstrated.

But basically, a child will be fully trained at whatever age they have reached the degree of physical, emotional and cognitive maturity required; if your daughter reaches that readiness at, say, 29 months, she'll be able to succeed at 29 months, no matter how long she's been "in training." Keep it positive and cheerful, express your confident that she'll figure it out when she's ready, and try to guard against discouragement and frustration (for both you AND your daughter).

Here are some tips with a link for the full article on potty training:
http://blogs.goddardsystems.com/Cedar-Park-TX/2009/09/22/...

That is the question on you and your toddler’s minds. Training your toddler to use the potty may seem like it goes on forever, and that’s because it is a long process. There will be a stage that your little one does great, followed by a time where he won’t sit on the toilet even with your best bribe. Remember that coercing a toddler to do something they don’t want to do (including potty training) results in a power-struggle, and this is one struggle I do not recommend entering. Research shows that a coercive approach over a laize-fairre approach does not speed up the process of potty training.

I wouldn't worry yet. My daughter didn't potty train until she was three. Everybody's different. Yes, it's body cues, but it's also temperament and personality. Looking for ideas on how to encourage her is good, but I wouldn't worry until she's 3.5.

My daughter didn't train until she was nearly 4, and didn't really stop having accidents {pee OR poop} until almost 7, mostly because she was just too busy to be bothered about something she considered so trivial. She's now 12, and I'm pretty sure none of her friends know about any of that. I'm pretty sure my child herself doesn't remember. I wanted to rip my hair out at the time, but looking back, I realize that that is just one of those things that kids do when they are good and ready, and not one second before. It's also one of those things that, in the long run, doesn't REALLY matter. Just keep being consistent, and most importantly, make it fun! She'll get there eventually.

READ Toilet Training in Less Than a Day, it WORKS. The jist of it is that they teach a stuffed animal/doll how to go potty, EACH step, very detailed... praise them for dry undies, not for going. It also is very specific about how to know when they're ready.

I have three boys and am in the middle of potty training the third. My first boy was potty trained at 2.5 yrs and it only took a day. He is very verbal and all boy. I convinced him that he could run faster wearing big boy underwear than if he was wearing a diaper. Of course, he wanted to see if my statement was true. He put on the big boy underwear and ran all over the house. He ran back to me with this big smile on his face and said, "Yes, I can." We never wore diapers after that.

Flash forward to my second son who is all boy but not very verbal. I tried to potty train him around the same time as the first...but he wasn't fully trained until 3.5 yrs old. It was not fun at all...I even had my older son try and help. I put him into daycare at 3 yrs old and I think the peer pressure of seeing everyone else do it finally encouraged him to do it.

Now, I am training my third son who is all boy and very verbal like my first son. He just turned two last month and has pooped in the potty but is hesitant to pee. He is in daycare now and they put him on the potty every two hours. So, the potty training is getting reinforced at school which I believe is a tremendous help. Who knows when he will be fully trained.

The key is to just relax and let your child guide the process. I had one who trained early and the other take forever. It had nothing to do with me and everything to do with my sons being "ready". Don't compare her to the other kids in the class, she is unique and has her own benchmark for every milestone. She may be a late potty trainer but she may be an early reader or an A student.