Help...potty Training - Spring,TX

She is not ready! I wouldn't push it...when she is ready she will make better attempts at trying to truly go to the potty and then not play in it b/c she knows that is not what you do when you potty. It is frustrating for you and her...I would wait until she is ready then it will be much eaiser on both of you.

It doesn't sound like she's ready. You could try just leaving the potty seat out and letting her try before bath time or when she wakes up (in the morning and from naps) if she wants to sit on it, but I wouldn't push it at this point. You could also get a book or a video about potty to see if that helps her to grasp the concept. They have all sorts of them out there. My daughter had 2 potty books...one Dora and another one. If she is playing in it, she either doesn't understand that it is supposed to go in the potty or doesn't care. I'm not sure which it is based on your description, but either way, you may just want to lay off until she's more clearly ready. If she does go on the potty, make a big huge deal about it. Get a sticker chart or some M&Ms or something and reward her. (I would start with stickers and do M&Ms if she doesn't care enough about the stickers as a reward). Give her some time to start getting interested before you put her in underwear.

Hi T.,

It sounds like she is not ready to potty train yet. My son was 3 1/2 when he p/t. It is not an easy thing to do. I would leave it a few more months and try again.
One thing that you can try if you are still keen to try is to sit her on the toilet and make sure she knows she is on the toilet. Give her lots to drink, I mean constant sipping. Best to use water or water based drinks. Make sure she is only waring a t'shirt or little top so it is out of the way. Every few minutes tell her how nicely she is sitting on the toilet and what a good girl she is. In time she will pee. When she does make a huge celebration about it. It needs to be within a couple of seconds of her doing the pee. Wait until she has stopped peeing before you celebrate. Let her have a break from the toilet for maybe half an hour and then do it again. If she has an accident get her to wipe it up. Take her to the toilet and say this is where you do peepee. Then take her back to where she had the accident and say "you don't peepee here", then take her back to the toilet and say again "you peepee here", You repeat this for 3 times. Make sure you don't get mad at her. If it is making her stress give her a break and do something else for a while.
Good luck. This worked great for my son.
W.

This is totally my opinion. Many parents, even I, said oh when they are ready they will go. After potty training two boys, one with autism and one typical I realized it is the parents who are being trained and not the kid! This said my advice is a kitchen timer. Set for short intervals. I started at 15 minutes. When that bell went off, off to the toilet we went, often with bloody screams from such little lungs(remeber Pavlov's dog?)!! It took about a half of an exhaustive day but the kid got it. No matter what, when that bell ran I meant business. I also allowed each child to pick out a toilet prize, one for number 1 and one for number 2. Cheapies, $5 toys from target that they picked out. I hung them over the toilet. I also tried buying them myself with kid no. one and wrapped them but the ones they picked out were much much anticipated. Eventually I adjusted the time to fit our schedule, maybe every two hours. If you have an accident, oh well. Clean it up and say it happens, you are learning. Discuss where everyone on the planet toilets themselves and that this kid will too (cats use litter boxes, sogs use the yard, I use the tiolet, etc). When they do have success throw a major happy dance!! Oh,I gave the toys when they completed one day of being dry or being clean. If they had accidents, this sounds terrible, but the toy went into time out until they could regroup themselves and get to the toilet with my help and cues of course. For kid #2 it tooks two weeks of (my own) torture but we got it done (I endured this torture for preschool enrollment, had no choice!!). Kiddo #1 was a bit older and had autism and there were a ton of issues going on his life but once he figured out what I wanted he never looked back!! Best of luck to you. Remember this is training you not them!! (my opinon, my opinion.) She will not be 18 and in diapers. What's a little pee on the floor (coming from a woman with an incontinent cat). LoL

Don't worry you're not alone in this, my daughter also had problems with potty training about the same age; we started at 20 months (which was too early for our daughter and her personality.) I'm not sure when or how long you have been trying to potty train...but if you just started, it does take time for them to grasp the concept or be developmentaly ready depending on the child. I don't know what temperment your daughter is, but mine was extremly spirited, which made this process more difficult. So we just let it go for awhile when we couldn't get her to cooperate by not mentioning it at all...then she told us she wanted to go potty one day and that was our turning point...m&m's were a big help too, once she got back on the horse, so to speak; she was three. I also found that when I got angry things got worse...so be as patient as you can, be encouraging and understanding (because this was my downfall with her going #2...) but also make her responsible for cleaning up her mess without humiliating her and just remind her where the pee pee goes. I hope this helps.

As others said, she might not be ready. My almost 2 YO understands the concept, but hasn't eliminated in the potty yet despite her many efforts. Her almost 3 YO cousin has pottied only a handful of times, and the rest of the time she pees in the floor.

Now, my older children:
Oldest potty trained after her fourth birthday,
second is nearly 5 and still having accidents
third is not anywhere close and almost 4

So, some kids just have a harder time with it.

Hi T.,
It looks like you already have a lot of good advice, but I just wanted to tell you about my experience. When my oldest was the same age as your daughter, I was 7 months pregnant with daughter #2. Everyone told me to get my oldest potty trained b/c I didn't want to have 2 in diapers. We worked and worked at it but it just didn't seem to 'click' for her. We were both finally so frustrated that I gave up just before baby #2 was born. I literally didn't mention it again. When my 2nd daughter was 6 weeks old, my oldest stood up one night in the living room where we were all hanging out after dinner, said 'I need to go potty!' and marched off to the bathroom. I got the baby arranged in her bouncy seat and went to monitor the bathroom situation...she was sitting and peeing on the toilet (not the potty chair--she never seemed to like that too much). Her dad and I made a fuss over her and that was it...she never wore a pull-up or a diaper again (except at night) and was in panties from then on. She was 2 years, 9 months. What a difference 4 months made! My advice is not to push it...if your daughter is otherwise developing normally, she will let you know when she is ready. Leave the potty out and talk to her about how exciting it will be for her when she is able to wear big girl panties all the time. But make it positive and don't push her. She will do it in her own time. Good luck!

Hi T.,
For some children 2 1/2 is still young. I would just wait awhile and try again later, maybe give it a few weeks or another month. For me, it seemed like of all the parenting tasks needed for a toddler that potty training was one of the most difficult to figure out. When my daughter was ready it was easier to accomplish-it seemed like all of a sudden she just "got it." You may find that your little girl will come up to you soon and tell you she has to go and simply does it correctly. I hope this helps a little.

First of all, your daughter is still VERY young. Do NOT feel discouraged but your daughter may not be ready yet. IS she waking up dry from her naps/sleep?? If so, here is an idea that my cousin (who had 6 children) encouraged me to try....
This is going to sound really crazy and it really is only practical on a warm day...but here goes. Take away her bottoms!! Take her outside and allow your daughter to run around outside without panties on. (I would put her in a dress). Have a potty seat nearby so that when she feels the urge she can run and sit on it. If she has an accident, at least she is outside, and she will eventually make the association... If not, put her back into pull ups (or whatever) and wait a little while longer and try again. She might not yet be ready. Many children are not trained until they are three(or a bit older)...don't push it. I PROMISE you that she will not go to kindergarden in diapers! I have potty trained four children...when she is really ready, it will be easy. Good luck!!

Hi T.,
I have a 2 years and 5 months daughter. That is doing the same thing at my house. She pees on the floor and plays with it to. I sat with her and talked her about it and I told her that she can't potty on the floor. So every time I have to go to the bathroom I take her in with me and sits on her potty and sometimes she will go and sometimes not. The other day I took her to walmart and asked her do you want try big girl panies like mommy and she yes. I took her to little girl panies and she picked some out. We went home and we put them on her and I told if you have to potty go sit on your potty and that big girls don't potty in there panies. She has peed in them but she is really trying to make it to the potty. She very happy about her new panies. Everytime she uses the potty everyone tells her good job and now she is get much better. It takes alot of time. It's happening. I just put her in her panies when are at home for a few hours. Good Luck!

I hear your pain. I went through issues with my daughter with potty training. She would pee most of the time but wouldn't poop at all on the potty. I spoke to a professional and she said something about turning 31 months that it all clicks mentally. Sure enough 3 days after she turned 31 months she went to the potty by herself and pooped and been doing it ever since. Your daughter may not be emotionally ready.My daughter will be 3 next month. If your nerves can't take it anymore then put her in pull ups and wait a few weeks and try it again. Good luck!

She doesn't sound ready. Wait until she indicates she is. It could be relatively soon, since she already likes the big girl pants. If you don't make it an issue now, it will be easier once she's fully ready to potty train.

wait until she shows more signs of being ready. she does not sound ready to me at all. just wait, and it will be easy once she's really truly ready.