Potty Training a Girl - Perkins,OK

From my limited experience (we have one girl and one boy), boys like the fun factor of learning how to use the potty, while girls like the clean factor of putting their pee and poop somewhere other than their panties. My daughter was elated to use the potty and virtually potty trained herself. She was able to pee and poop (with help wiping, of course) by about 2 and a couple of months. My son is 2 years, 8 months and has the peeing thing down, but is just starting with pooping in the potty.

I am a firm believer that when your child is ready, and I mean READY, it will happen. We have been trying about once a month with my son over the last 6 months to potty train. Only this last time has it clicked, and there's no looking back. We worry about so many things as parents, but I think this is one thing we just have to wait for. The child has to be ready. My son has been showing interest since he was around 18 months. Big sister was sitting on the potty, so it must be fun. But he was not ready. My mom and MIL kept pushing me, but when they're not ready, it's frustrating for everyone!

Good luck on this journey! Remember, motherhood is a marathon, not a sprint!

Jenn

Ms. vicky,
Well, at first just see in between how many hours do she use the rest room, fro instance she uses the bathrrom at 2pm then four hours latr she goes at six in between those four hours she has ate so it shouldn't take her long to have to use the bathroom, it only takes an hour for the food to digest nso ask her an hour later does she have to go to the bathroom

V., It probably is a little early to expect her to actually go in the potty at 18 months old. Just keep her potty chair available and let her sit on it when she wants but do not work on any formal potty training right now. I also believe that kids will go when they are ready and most children under 2 years old do not even have the muscle control that is necessary for potty training.
Once she begins to show signs she is ready....long periods of dryness, waking up from sleep still dry, an interest in going to the potty,etc., then I would begin. That will probably start happening for you in about 6-8 months. Let her pick out some cute big girl panties and get her a reward/sticker chart to keep track. I have heard of people using M&Ms when they go. Never punish for accidents because you will have plenty of those. Let her go into the restroom when you are using the potty and she will get the general idea of what to do :-) I have three girls and based on comparing notes with my friends who raised and potty trained boys, I personally think it was easier to potty train girls and they are usually ready sooner. It seems like that once each of my children decided that they were ready to use the big potty that it just happened in a matter of days and they almost trained themselves!
I am also a preschool teacher and it seems like the girls in my class are always potty trained before the boys so maybe you have already gone through the toughest of the two situations. Hopefully this will be an easy piece of cake. Good luck!

With my daughter I started taking her into the bathroom with me. I would tell her to listen...when I tee tee'd we would clap for me....same for poop when I showed it to her...gross I know, but that is how I got the point across. We are a very verbal family so I explained to her what I was doing, and when I changed her diaper I would explain that to her as well. She is very into praise so she wanted to be clapped for also. I firmly believe that when they are ready it will happen...I tried and tried with my daughter and when she got ready (two years and two weeks or so) it was easy peasy! I honestly think that THE one thing that helped was that she got a swing set for her birthday...I told her that big girls that play on swing sets don't use diapers. Before going out to play we would try to tee tee, and then put on big girl panties....the moment she tee tee'd in her panties we would come in the house (whether it was 5 mins or an hour). She learned right quick that I meant business, and she wanted to play so she would tell me she needed to go. Good luck!!!

I would recommend at her age to get a potty seat rather than a chair, should help w/ transition later. She will probably get the picture by example...is she dry when she gets up in the morning? Put her on first thing, if she's dry, she'll likely have to go. Also before & after nap, after meals before leaving the house. Even if she only tinkles a little for you, giving her lots of praise will reinforce it, and once you have that mind set, she'll probably adapt to it on her own as you keep putting her on regularly. A lot of people swear by getting rid of pull ups/going naked or switching immediately to panties...I think it depends some on your daughter's personality.