My daughter is about to turn 22mos. old and we would really like to start potty training. There was a week or so when she was about 18mos. that she peepee'd on the potty for about a week. Then all of the sudden, she regressed and would throw a fit if you tried to take her in the bathroom. Now she gets upset if you try and get her to go at all. I.e. if you ask her if she wants to go peepee, she'll start whining and say "no." If we do get her in there, she begins to cry if you try and take off her pants. We've tried bribery, treats, etc. and nothing seems to make her want to do it again. Any new ideas would be GREAT!
I absolutely agree w/ Jennifer, don't R. her. She will do it when she's ready.
J.,
Our daughter did the same thing at 18 months. We though we would be diaper free by spring. After two weeks of peeing on the little potty she started refusing to use it and cried when we tried to take her into the bathroom. So we quit for a month and did not ask her to sit on it at all. We continued to ask if she wanted to use the potty off and on until she said yes. About a month ago she picked out a padded Dora potty seat and started asking to go potty.
She is now 29 months old and is fairly consistant about doing something everytime she sits on the toilet. At day care she is staying dry most of the day. She still wets at night and has trouble recognising when she needs to have a BM, but by next spring when she turns three we may have this stuff figured out.
Have patients this is all normal.
J.
My twins did they exact same thing! At about 18 months they started out great and then would throw a fit anytime we would have them even sit on the potty. We put them back in their diapers and would just take them when they wanted to. At 2 1/2 we decided to actively try again and they were completely trained day and night in under 2 weeks. They are now 4.
During that year, we did leave their potty chair sitting in the bathroom so that if they wanted to go they could. That might help some.
It sounds to me like your daughter is giving you a clear sign (the whining, crying, and fit where the potty is involved) that she is not ready. Please do not R. it--children show signs many times before they are truly ready. The physical ability to "hold it" usually develops between the ages of 3 and 4. In my experience, potty training when a child is really young (which in my opinion would be before 30 months of age) leads to lots of accidents, frustration and, sometimes, inappropriate discipline. When you wait until a child is older, it is (usually- no guarantees!) a quick and easy process. Are you in parents as teachers? If so, they have some great handouts on potty training and are generally a great source of information on any parenting topic. It's a free program that is in every school district in Missouri. Ultimately, you cannot ever *make* a child go potty--they have total control so it is best to avoid making it a battle of wills!
