I Need Help with Potty Training 2 Year Old Daughter

I wouldn't stress about it too much, it's not a competition. Some children potty train before they're two, some not before they're 3. I would keep up what you're already doing and eventually it will click. It will also be a lot easier to do in the spring and summer, when you're daughter wears shorts or skirts and taking off clothes before going potty takes less time and causes less accidents.

Tell her that the pooh pooh is best friends with the pee pee. So, if she does not go pooh pooh and pee pee in the potty they won't be together and they will be so sad. (They can get more sad as time goes on.)
And if all else fails, maybe it is to early.

good luck

When my daughter was potty training, my mom told her when she went on the toilet like a big girl, she'd buy her big girl underwear. It worked! Show her what big girl underwear look like. Girls are easier to potty train than boys. I have 2 boys, and believe me, girls are easier! Bribery is not a bad thing!

Don't be discouraged but it took me almost till she was four and a half before she really got it. I learned, to try to get HER used to the potty first, small potty works great at first, becarefull if try the big potty. My daughter fell in and set us back. Also try getting her use to the sound of the flush. Take her in the bathroom when you go, have her sit on hers while your on yours. THE great time to do this is about 20 minutes after eating or waking up for nap. Also with her in daycare may help by seeing older kids using the potty. But beware if you got a lot of boys in daycare. I caught her trying to stand up. And other suggestion get rid of the pull up when you can. Put big girl underware on when in your house. Even if she poops in the underware show her where it goes in the small or big potty which ever one your working with at the time. If you can find them they have thick cotton pull ups out there. My daughter hated it when she pee/pee downed her leg. She started to learn when she needed to go this way. If you get peeing down first poop is a breeze. Don't try to worry too much about staying dry over night that will come later. Most kids not till 6 years old. Good luck i hope this helps. J. b.

T.,

Do you still have her wearing diapers or underwear? My daughter (who is now 11) was potty trained at 19-20 months old. She was a breeze to potty train, that is with no accidents at night or during the day! Then came along my son who is three. We brought the potty chair out at about 18 months. He sat in it one day and actually went potty. Well that was it for a while. I waited to try again until he was 20 months and we tried a lot of things. Try an incentive. If she goes potty on the potty and not in her pants then she gets some toy she wants. Tell her that if she doesn't tell you she has to go and then goes in her pants that something will get taken away like her favorite toy. The hardest part is to stick with it. My son was potty trained by 2 years old exactly and with only minor accidents by day and none at night. I don't know your babysitter but that is key to her learning also. The babysitter has to have the same rules at her house as you do so training is consistant. And the babysitter has to ask her do you have to go potty? Just like you do at home. I put the kids in underwear and at night I had these rubber pants that went over them, that way with the underwear they really felt the wet or poopy and didn't like it. Good luck!! She will get it sooner or later. Sometimes they are just stubborn! Stick with it. It's hard but look at the benefits,no cost of diapers!!!!! A. H.

We first started with a sticker chart in the bathroom. Then we got a book that we read ( we bought it at Toys R Us and it has a button on it to press when the story talks about flushing the toilet) There is a really cute and good video out there called Potty Power. My daughter loved it. I'm sure you could check into other reviews on it. We also began using the phrase when she was successful. " Mariel's got potty power!!" Good luck!!

I have twins and when I was potty training them a friend told me the first thing they need to do is recognize that they have to go and not show the diappointment in your face when they go in there diaper. My friend also told me to buy some pull ups and show the girls that is the next step to wearing big girl under wear. I did all that and it still took till they were 3 to get them to be fully trained. give your little one some time. One more little tip my other friend had a potty party where she put her daughter on the potty seat fully dressed gave her a snack and put on her favorite show on the tv so she could get used to the seat. good luck and i hope some of this information can help

I potty trained my 2 1/2 yr old last year in one week end, first of all the pull ups don't work, I put big girl underwear on her of course made a big deal out of them. She wet them and my floor for the first day and we were going up behind her cleaning it up (thank God for hard wood floors) then we started to make her clean it up and she didn't like that so she started to go in the big toilet. It took alot of patience but it worked she is now 3 and has very few accidents. She is also a very smart little girl.

Good Luck
J.

Hello, my daughter is 2 1/2 we are still working on the potty training thing...its been a LONG time going. What really helped us get her to go on the potty was a reward (a gum ball, skittle, M&M,)something to that effect. When she going poop on the poilet she gets something bigger (gummies, foot rool-up, sucker) that has helped us. She gets excited to tell me what she would like as a reward for goign potty. Good luck, it is a long and tough road!

Dear T.,

I don't know if this will help or not but this is what I did with my daughter. First of all, we didn't try to force it. Our doctor explained that children can only control two things, eating and going to the bathroom. Because of this, if it is forced, many children will stubbornly refuse to use the bathroom.

When my daughter was 2 1/2 years old she started telling me she had to go and then would go in her diaper. I then made a big deal about her picking out her underwear. I told her that she could pick some out but that they were special and that she shouldn't go potty in them. Later we went to the store and I let her pick out seven pairs. It was a little more expensive to buy them separately but she took more pride in them.

She was so proud of them that she only had two accidents and those happened a couple weeks afterward (she was busy playing with friends).

I hope that this may help.

I am a home child care provider. I have a daycare child that turned two in January and she is potty trained. First, talk to your daycare provider and see what she thinks. I don't use pull-ups. If she is telling you that she went that is a huge sign and if she is undressing. I would have her pick out big girl panties and stickers on a Friday night. Then first thing Saturday when she wakes up take her to the bathroom. Tell her if she goes potty she will get a sticker. Keep taking her to the bathroom every 20 minutes. Keep her in the panties even if she pees in them, so buy quite a few. They do sell plastic pants to go over them to save the carpet. I would encourage you to anytime you need to go to the bathroom, you take her with you. For some kids it does take a while longer, but for a determined child it just takes a couple of days. The biggest issue is that your daycare has to be on the same page as you. You both have to be doing the same thing or it will just not work.

I worked at a day care for years and potty trained a lot of kids, encluding 3 of my own. If you are committed to it, use undies while at home. You can slip on rubber pants, that you use for cloth diapers, over them then take them in about every hour to hour and half. If they go, you can wait longer the next time. Record the times she seems to go and that is probably her natural schedule. Rewards like stickers and candy helps reinforce it as the rest has mentioned. Now days there is a lot of good books, videos and toys that help teach them to use the bathroom. My granddaughter loves Elmo Goes Potty video. She also has the Elmo goes Potty doll. When they are younger, you are actually training yourself to get them in at the times they are likely to go. When they are totally ready, they will train in a short while. My youngest (the father of my granddaughter) was close to 3. I tried to train him at 2 but he refused to have anything to do with it. I put up the potty chair for a couple months and got it back out. I didn't push it with him. I just let him see it and try it out when he wanted, which wasn't often. Then one day he saw it and said "potty" and went on it. Within a week we didn't have anymore accidents. It was the easiest training I ever did... he trained himself.

Good luck and remember not to punish accidents. You want it to be a totally possitive experience.

First of all 2 is not too young. 2nd, get her our of her out of the pull up. Commit to a week of staying home or having the day care work with you or at least start on a Saturday so you can get at least a day in. Put the potty chair in a room you are in all the time so that you don't have to spend so much time sitting on the floor in the bathroom. And then ask her every 15 minutes or so. She will have accidents but that is to be expected. When you feel comfortable to venture out bring a complete change of clothes including shoes and socks, a plastic bag for the wet ones, I used to even bring the toilet ring for the public toliets in a another bag but I didn't do that with my second. BE PATIENT! Good luck.

I'm a mother of nine children and each child was a little different in catching on the "potty" routine. However, one thing I've found helpful is a little reward. We would have a jar of M & M's and the child would get an M & M if
1. They would "try" to use the potty.
2. They would get two M & M's for actually going.

We always made a big production out of it when they were successful. "Woo Hoo!, Great job!, Such a big girl/boy you are!" More praise the better especially at that age.

I don't think your little girl is too young because she is aware of when she is wet etc.

Hope this helps!

Hey T.-Here's a couple things that worked for my girls: 1) I timed...and had them go "try" when the timer went off, then I gave stickers every time they "tried" 2) I let them choose their new "undies" and the stickers they got for "trying" 3) when they eventually did pee (which she will don't worry) I danced and sang "_____ went pee-pee on the potty" over and over again until my neighbors thought I had lost my mind but it made my girls laugh. I also had the other daughters clap (when they were babies) and encourage when they got older. I also used the pull-ups that got cold when they wet and they seemed to work pretty good. I also heard although (I never tried) to put on undies inside the diaper or pull-up so they would get that wet sensation-its worth a try. Above all else...be patient...one day your little girl will just go and it will be awesome!! By the way...I don't think 2 is too little, especially if she's ready. My 1st was 2 and my second was 18 months (she wanted to keep up with her sis). Anways...good luck T....may you have seldom accidents to clean up!! :)

I don't think 2 years old is too young to start potty training. With my daughter, as soon as I got off of work, she ran around the house naked. We would give her juice, set the timer for 20 minutes and have her sit on the potty once it went off. We made a REALLY big deal when she peed. We also went and bought her big girl panties which she LOVED.. My daycare lady also worked with her during the day...

Put tight training underpants on her. Then, she'll not ever pee on the floor again. She'll then pee in her new training underpants, which she'll only try to hold her pee in her new training underpants. With me, if I was going to pee on the floor, I always hold my pee and put on my tight training underpants, which I always peed in my tight training underpants. Then, I only tried too hold my pee in my tight training underpants. I am of autism and profound mental retardation. The same, should go for her.

Hi T.,
I have 3 children grown up and out of the house. Each one was different when it came to potty training. The important thing to keep in mind is does she know and understand the feeling of a full bladder to realize that's why she's sitting on the toilet. I believe that this is one of many things you have to realize to work on when she's ready and not when you think she should be ready for. It takes patience and 'in her own time'.The harder you try the more frustrated you can get and that plays a role too. Relax and be patient. It does help to put her on the pot about 1/2 hour after drinking fluids and after meals. It helps to be aware of how often she wets and time yourself to that and hopefully that helps her realize what it's all about. Good luck. Nan

I got the best advice from this site when I was trying to find out when my daughter was ready for training. Someone told me that if children can draw a circle by themselves they are ready for training. At the time I wanted to train my daughter she could not do this yet, so I waited. When she was able to make a circle(at 2 1/2) she was able to be trained quickly and I wasn't doing all the work.

Of course children can be potty trained at any time if you want to do the work. As my husband used to tell me babies in Africa are trained as infants. Their mothers hold them over pots. I wasn't willing to do that kind of work. I wanted it to be my daughter's accomplishment. I know there is a lot of pressure to have your child potty trained and we are all competitive and want to brag about our children doing things early, but I think it is really better for children to accomplish such things in their own time and according to their body's own maturity.

Hi T.
When I potty trained both of my children we took 3 days of letting them run around in just undrewear (my daughter wore a sun dress no undies) and every 1/2 hour they would sit on the potty. When they went they got a M&M and lots of praise from us. This helps them realize whrn they have full bladder and what it feels like to pee in the potty. Good Luck :) T.

T.,

My daughter also turned 2 Jan. 30th and we are going through the same thing. Sometimes she will go on the potty and others she will tell me now right after she went in her pants. She loves to go in the potty and gets excited but I feel like she goes a lot, she must not empty her bladder all the way. Its every 5-10minutes wet in the potty or her underwear. I let her run around naked with just her pantys on or a dress and pantys. It helps a lot but I can't take her out like this, so she wears pullups when we go out and to daycare. I think this confuses her because she even calls them her diaper even though I stress they are big girl pants. I am going to take one weekend off, home with her and start Friday and work through Sunday with just underwear on and see if that works. I hope everything works out with both of our 2 year olds.

two is not too young. You have to be committed to it yourself. Pitch the pull-ups aside and use underwear. Once you start keep going and don't give up....otherwise they won. (and they know that too) Be patient...it took my daughter two weeks of staying home and working on it...but one day it just clicked....hang in there...its tough!

I am a mother of 5, and my kids - ranging from adults in their 30's to a 12 and 10-year old were all potty trained around the age of 2. They were ready, and it seems your little girl is, too. We used those terry cloth or cotton training pants and they got pretty uncomfortable with a soggy thing hanging around their knees. They still interpret the disposable products as diapers and generally don't care. We used a chart with stars or stickers for each successful venture, reinforced by an M&M. They liked the stars and stickers and then when they filled a row with stickers, they got a small age appropriate gift. It can be messy for a few days, but if you put sweat pants over the training pants, you just have extra laundry and not too many wet floors! They were potty trained within a couple of weeks.
J., old mom!

I had a hard time training my boys. Especially my now four year old. What seemed to work with him was putting red food coloring in the toilet and telling him that if he went potty the water would change colors. He really liked that. Hope this helps.

My daughter was fully trained by the time she was 2 1/2. Pull-ups really never worked, so I took the next step and put her in real underwear covered by rubber pants (just to help with the mess!) She hated the feeling of her pants being wet and within one week, she caught on and has only had a minor accident here and there since. (usually when she's playing and thinks she'll miss out on something if she takes the time to run to the bathroom!) I took her shopping and let her pick out her own underwear (Dora). Then I bought a bunch of cheap underwear that I could throw away. I told her that when she was able to stay dry for one week, she could wear Dora, because she didn't want to ruin her "Dora" pants, did she? I did put her in a pull-up at night because I do think 2 is a little young to understand the concept of getting out of bed to go potty, but I put those away when she was 2 months shy of turning three because she began to remain dry all night for about a month. We've only had two night-time accidents since. Good luck to you!

I have a 2 year old daughter too. She pees in the potty no problem but poop is another story. I'm not sure why. If she does poop in her pull-up or underware we flush it down the toilet together just to reinforce - this is where poop goes. One thing I did with my son (he's 4 now) is have "drills" from the site of where an accident happened to the bathroom & back. Just to get used to physically getting into the bathroom on time. I remember I thought - will we ever get this? Then one day he just sort of decided for himself. They have to go at their own pace he was 3 yrs old before he was totally potty trained! My daughter seems to be picking it up quickly. She's the same way with clothes too. They seem to love running around naked!

Hi T.,
My daughter did the same thing at two and I kept trying and trying to get her to sit on the potty etc b/c I thought "well, of course she must be ready. She's telling me when she's going." But after weeks of struggling and pushing her to do it, I decided to just back off and let her do her own thing. She turned three in November and potty trained herself in 3 days about a month ago. So, even though your daughter may be acting interested, she's still figuring everything out. It felt like everyone's kids were potty trained early, except mine, but in actuality the majority of kids are not fully potty trained at 5 (day and night in underwear) so don't fret!!! She will get it :) Hang in there! Good luck
H.

We went through the exact same thing with our daughter last year. She understood what it was all about (or seemed to) but we just couldn't get it to stick. Looking back, she really wasn't ready... as when she was ready, all it took was her to sit on the potty and when she went, we gave her an ice-cream cone and made a big deal out of it (literally sang a song and danced around for her :) Than each time she went on the potty, she'd get off and ask for an ice-cream cone (we would give her light whipped cream in the cone instead so she didn't get all sugar high from all the ice-cream cone's on the first few days of training). She's been trained ever since! That was at about 32 months, so she was almost 3 when it all fell into place. A lot of my friends and family told me that she was only 2 at the time also, and I felt like she was ready, but I realize now how right they were :) Don't rush it and just let her lead the way -- it is so much easier on them and you!

She's probably not ready yet. I'd wait a few months and try again. Then, if she's not ready, wait another month or so and try again. When they're ready - it just seems to happen :-) My son wasn't trained until 3 1/2 years, my daughter at 2 1/2 years. They both pretty much just decided on their own that they were ready. With my first one, I tried all kinds of "tricks." I think it just came down to him being ready. When he was ready, I did let him run around naked and he did learn quickly - but before he was ready and I tried it - he DID pee on our floor! Don't worry - she'll show more signs of being ready to be a big girl.

Every kid is different. You will know if she is ready if she starts to tell you she's wet or dirty. Encouraging her through sticker charts and such can help the process too. Like if she's dry through nap, reminder her to go right when she gets up-then if she goes-sticker! Also, start having her try to go like every 2 hours..etc. Keep it up for a long time. If you are at home and able to work lots with her-it is a god-sent to have her potty trained before daycare, or early on. Thank you for starting to work with her!!!! Hope that helps. I work with kids 1.5-13yrs so I get it all. Good luck.

If you think she's ready go for it, but be ready to give up for a while or try new tricks if she starts rejecting it. My son turned 2 on Feb. 12th and I am potty training him. You need to figure out how often she is going and put her on the potty at regular intervals and emphasize on the need to stay dry. Be relaxed and keep it fun so she continues to want to do it! Some things to maybe try if you run into a hard spot and need to introduce something new: (high 5, potty dance, reward(m&m, jelly bean, sticker chart, book in the bathroom, batrhroom buddy, etc. Keep you thinking cap on! If she starts to fight it just give it up and start again in a week or two.
Currently with my two year old, I haven't started strict training yet. Whenever I change his diaper, bathtime, and before we leave the house I ask him and he says yes and runs to the potty. He pees every time and is excited about it. My problem is that he just piddles, and doesn't always completely empty his bladder. I don't think he's physically ready so I'm waiting a couple months before I start the interval training to stay dry. You decide what's best for you. I'm just considering what I'm doing now "practice". LOL. :) My first son was a stinker and was completely trained around his 3rd birthday. It was a long hard struggle and I don't want to repeat that!

My experience with my son was that he was interested and even went on the potty for a little while then stopped again. When he was really ready he let me know and things went great from then on out. Your daughter has to be ready and she will let you know. Sometimes pressuring a child is the worst thing to do.

I have a good friend with a 2 1/2 year-old and she gives her a little incentive. Whenever she uses the potty appropriately she gets a couple of the little smartie candies, it seems to be working for her and her daughter is really excited about it. When I was over the other day we had a big celebration when she used the potty, it brought back a lot of memories of when my son was at that stage.

Good luck and be patient, all things come with time and each child is unique.