I just started my attempt to train our 2.5 yr old girl this week. Not going so well. I can feel my stomach tighten when I tell her it's time to sit on the potty. I wonder if she can sense my fear and nerves when I tell her it's "potty time". I fear my persistence will only frustrate her and she'll fuss. Today she wants nothing to do with it and starts to fuss when I mention "potty time". So I back off and wait til later. She's only sat on the potty twice this week but with no results.
I guess I'm just afraid I'll screw up and she won't want to train at all. I've seen the signs that she's ready (sitting on potty, wiping herself), but I've heard that if they start to fuss you should stop training immediately and wait a few weeks or months!
It doesn't help that she doesn't mind playing in wet and dirty diapers. Never bothered her so I think she's finding this to be an inconvenience into her play time. The idea of getting her to the potty every 2 hours or less seems impossible.
How do I get her more involved? What tactics should I use? I'm tempted to just let her run around the house in the girl briefs I bought and see what happens. I have her in Pull-Ups all the time. Maybe having accidents will teach her more than Pull-Ups will??
Months ago I bought her potty seat so she could get familiar with it. She had more interest in it then so now I feel like I should have started months ago. I wanted to wait til the weather became warmer but now that it has, so much activity is going on. I can't seem to plan anything since I want to start training.
How can I incorporate her training into everything else? Do I really need to set aside a week or two with nothing going on? I guess I just need to know how to get started and stick with the plan. Or when the stop the plan and wait.
I'm grateful for any suggestions. Please help...
Just one thing to share, don't give up, and remember every child will learn to use the potty...eventually.
Hi Mommy T,
The best way to potty train is to just leave them in their underwear. Yes!!!! They will definitely not like the sensation of being wet or dirty and they will start considering to go potty. It will only take you about 1-2 weeks at the most but it will definitely be much better than spending money on pull ups. I have lived it and seen it, believe me…much better!
We just started training our 2.5 year old son. I think the pull ups are garbage because he goes potty in them just like a diaper and doesn't tell me has to go. Since it's warm, I have just been letting him go around the house with a shirt and naked from the waist down. We have hardwood floors, so it's not a problem if he has an accident. He actually has not peed on the floors at all using this method. He always tells me he has to go pee and he always makes it to the potty in time. Pooping is another matter. He poops on the floor everyday. He can't seem to realize before he poops that he has to go until some of it comes out. Then he stops himself until we get to the toilet and he lets the rest out. We haven't ventured out in public without a pull up yet, because I'm afraid he will go in his underwear and I will have a big mess to clean up in public. Also, we started training him about a month ago with his potty chair. We made him sit on the chair for 15-20 minutes while he watched a t.v. program. As soon as he went pee he could get up, but if he didn't he had to wait until the end of the show. The first couple of times he cried for a minute because he did not want to sit still or stop what he was doing. But I told him he needed to sit, and I sat down next to him. We gave him 3 M&M's when he peed in the potty and 5 when he pooped. He loved this treat and ran over to the cabinet after he peed. Then one day he pooped in his diaper and I took him in the bathroom and dumped the poop in the toilet. I told him that we don't poop in our diaper we poop in the potty and then he got to flush it down. After that, he wanted to sit on the big potty and he pooped and peed. He doesn't want anything to do with his potty chair anymore. He doesn't even care if he gets candy anymore either. So, it's been about 6 weeks since we started and that is where we are at right now. Potty training is hard work. Friends of ours took a whole year to potty train their daughter (using pull-ups), and a couple of days after her 3rd birthday, she suddenly "got it" and goes to the bathroom all by herself without even asking her if she has to go. Now that you've started, I wouldn't recommend stopping. I think it would be confusing. Try putting her in her underwear around the house. We told our son that we don't pee pee or poo poo in our big boy underwear. We made a big deal about how mommy and daddy wear underwear and now he does too. He is very proud of himself. Although he did poop his underwear yesterday. One step forward and two back. Oh well. Accidents will happen. Good luck to us both!
I trained my twin girls when they were just past 3. It was summer, and I decided since we were around the house on the weekend, they went with no underwear and sundresses. They trained in 2 days.
