Potty Training - Valdosta,GA

I am a mother and grandmother who has potty trained 8 children. You can buy cotton training pants. They are a little thicker in the area they need to be. When they wear them they will feel it when they potty in them. This sends a signal to the childs brain that oops this doesn't feel too good. This does require some time and most young parents today don't seem to have the time to devote to it. I guarantee in two days they will be trained. These days with paper diapers the child doesn't feel wet so consequently does not pick up on the potty training.this is why some children 6 years old are still not trained. Ridiculous in my opinion. Years ago when we didn't have paper diapers parents were ready to get the children potty trained as soon as possilbe. They got tired of washing out dirty diapers in the commode and then washing and hanging them on the line. So all children were trained very early!

Good luck! I know you can do it!

Good morning K.,

I am a mother of two beautiful daughters.....17 and 10! I have to tell you my first child was the hardest to potty train. They are so smart at this age already....they know when they have to go. I refused to buy Pull Ups. I took them shopping to pick out their big girl underwear. I will admit that I did sit my child on the little potty even in front of the tv. I had to potties in the house. One upstairs and one downstairs. Every time I had to go I would take her with me and sit her on her potty as I would be doing the same. Eventually she just went on her own. I know some parent would bribe their children to go on the potty and buy them presents. And believe me its tempting but don't start that. Instead, i promised my girls a story after they went potty or a new story book. Always read, read, read.......and they are Honor Students in school. They will thank you some day.!

Carole S.
Florida

It seems that all children take the first step and then take two steps back in the begining! However, I can tell you what worked for me both times.

Go buy and egg timer. Crack out the paints and let her paint it and decorate it however she wants to. Then tell her that this is the "potty bell" - "pee pee bell" - what ever you want to call it. Explain to her that it is a game and that every time it rings (show her how it sounds)it is time to run to the potty and see how quickly we can go. At first, I would set it for every 45 minutes. Every time it goes off, no matter what you are doing, get up and act excited and run with her to the bathroom. After she has gotten the hang of it and she is doing well with holding it for the entire 45 minutes with very few accidents, then go to an hour.

Your next step is to start an incentive program. If she makes it all morning or all afternoon, then all day, etc. Once you make it a few days, then offer her some big girl panties with characters she likes (dora, princesses, etc.). You can also use the statements like..."Dora doesn't want you to potty on her so if you have to go potty before the bell goes off, then you should go."

This program worked for both of my boys. I think they got more of a kick out of me jumping up and making a fool out of myself than anything, but it worked. It aslo worked at the same age you are working on - 2.

Good luck and happy holidays!

Good job so far not letting things turn into a battle of wills. You will lose.

You might consider incentivizing the potty usage. Sticker charts work well for some families. Our family used candy. Yes, candy. I simply bought a bag of those individually wrapped lifesavers candies in fruit flavors (lots of pretty colors) and emptied it into a clear ziploc bag and let it stay on the kitchen counter. Each successful potty trip earned a choice of one lifesaver. Fear not, they do NOT go into sugar overload, and over the potty training experience they eventually stop even asking for the candy, but DO continue using the potty. :) No woes with the dentist, either. I used this method with our son and daughter both. Son was trained by about 30 months, daughter by her 2nd birthday. Neither has ever had a cavity, lol. When I felt like they were solid independent pottiers, I just stopped buying new bags of replacement lifesavers, as there is always one flavor that each child wouldn't care for.. and that is all that would be left in the bag. I would offer it to them, they would say "no thanks". I know other people who used M&M's.
No negativity.. no pushing... let her WANT to do it... and encourage and party when she does. So far so good mama!

P.S. I did use the pull-ups the first week or two (and then only at night for awhile with our son, as he had nighttime problems - slept SOOO heavy he never woke up to go, this continued on occasion until he was about 10 yrs old - NOT a training issue.. a bladder/deep sleep issue) and then as part of the rewards process, when they were "getting it" took them and bought the thick training underpants. My daughter was SO PROUD to be wearing them. Then, when they had it all "down pat" we bought "big girl" or "big boy" panties or underwear (tighty whiteys, lol)...

Hi K.,

I would suggest you get rid of the pull ups and put her in regular underpants. The day that my son showed interest in using the potty I took him out of diapers during the day. I just got into the habit of carrying a 2nd pair of clothes wherever we went and I brought the potty in the van with us. I think that pull ups or any kind of day time diaper can confuse kids when they are potty training. Jmho! I wish you much success! :)

N.

Oh, and as an after thought, I think that we just have to accept that they are going to have accidents. It helps them learn. So just bring wipes and a change of clothes and you're good to go, no worries! :)

I completely agreee that underwear is the way to go when she's ready (you can get the thick ones at Target in with the baby undershirts and stuff), but I'm not sure she's ready.

My daughter got so excited about the potty at almost exactly the same age--a month past two--but then lost interest. We tried again at 2 1/2 and it was so clear that she was really ready then. We had a day or two of constant accidents, but then she really got it.

Hope it helps!

My downstairs is all tile ... so I skipped the pullups during the day. I bought like a million (cause you might be changing when wet alot) panties in all different characters. I did a pullup at night but she didnt like to not only feel wet in her big girl panties but pee on elmo or nemoduring the day. Maybe try that and see how it goes. I wish you luck!

I would say put her in regular little girls panties, with her favorite character on them, like Scooby Doo and tell her you cant pee pee on scooby when you have to pee pee you go in your potty and youll make scooby very happy and see if that works but the pull ups were just like diapers to my boys they thought it was ok to use them just like a diaper

She'll come back around. We had the same problem and instead of wasting all those pull ups we just put her in big girl panties during the day and a diaper at night. We asked her every 1.5 to 2 hours and she still said NO but we took her anyways and she'd always end up going. At first she couldn't so we started offering her privacy, standing outside the door listening and then when we heard tinkles we came in and said, "see!!! you did have to go and what a big girl job!!"

I say try that - those pull ups are hard to get on and off and are so much like a diaper she doesn't feel like there is a change.

Maybe a diaper/pull up for a long car trip....

But we always ask her - always take her before leaving - as soon as we get home and she adapted very quickly. Let her pick out big girl panties.

Good luck - she is still young. Don't expect miracles until 3 but it's good you are starting - she may just do it!!

Throw the pull ups away and save your money. Your child is smart enough to know that if she wets the pull ups nothing happens(just like a diaper). Buy some training pants or pretty panties that she wouldn't want to soil. At first it may be hard on you but in the long run she will get with the program much quicker and you'll be saving some money and better yet saving a little piece of the enviroment.

skip the pullups,they absorb too much and remain comfortable. go to big girl panties during the day. teach her to "read" while on the potty. let her join you for "library time". reading down, I see they all say skip the pullups. One note of advice when buying pretty panties. I bought my daughter her FAVORITES thinking this would work. after all, it worked for my son when he "Peed on Thomas the Tank Engine(printed underwear). He cried and swore to Thomas he would never pee on him again... well when my daughter peed in her new pretty prints, I said oh honey, you peed all over your favorite character, and she looked at me as though I was a silly child and with the serious voice and wisdom of the sages, she said, Mami...Nemo LIKES to be WET. He's a FISH.LOL
My daughter finally trained her self on a 6 hour cross country flight. She liked the airplane bathroom, 17 times in 6 hours. and we followed that with a 2 week camping trip in an RV. She loved the little potty in the RV, so she used it and never went back to diapers. Funny now, but I will never look at airline bathrooms the same way again.

Pull Ups are just glorified diapers. She sees no difference from the things she used as a baby. Go shopping for some real girl panties, pref. some with cartoon characters, the days of the week, or pretty prints. These will make her feel that she's growing up and using what grown girls use. There may be some accidents, but preety soon you'll have sayd goodbye to the awful diaper. Good luck

K.,
You need to get rid of the pull ups. Only use those away from home..She needs cute adorable little girl panties. Pull ups are like diapers. She thinks she is okay to potty in them.

Very sincerely,
L.
I potty trained both of my grandkids...8-)

You can still get regular training pants, cloth. And once she pees herself see what happens. This does not work for every kid. My daughter did not care.

She just turned 3 on Sunday. she is now being more consistent. she still gets pull-ups when she sleeps. & potty training for pooping will be difficult for her.

I have had several set backs with my daughter since she was 18 months. At first she liked the training potty, not she like the big potty with the kids' seat.

It helps if you can find an motivating factor for her, treats, stickers, certain toys she gets to play with longer, TV- especially if you limit what she watches.

Each child is different. Try some of the advice on here.

Just be aware what works for one doesn't work for another.

Did you ask her?
best, k

Wait another 6 months and reintroduce it. The pull ups are like diapers. Panties are better.

From what my daughters doctors have told me you are doing the right things by asking several times a day. They want me to make sure that I dont push it. A lot of times children can change their minds and then go right back to wanting to use the potty a few weeks later. Just keep trying and remember when she is ready she will do it. My daughter is almost 2 and still show absolutely no interest in the potty. I have done all the recommended tricks and she just isnt interested. So I have decided to let her do it in her own time. Good luck with your daughter. Let us know how things go.

Using pull-ups during the day was the worst thing I did when trying to potty trin my boys. They are just like diapers and my boys treated them like diapers. If your daughter was using the potty consistantly, put underwear on her when you are at home. I would only put pull-ups on my boys when we left the house because no on wants to deal with accidents when they are out shopping, and at night. If they have an accident in underwear, there is nothing to soak it up and it's not a comfortable feeling and it should make her want to use the potty. Good Luck!

My preschool teacher was totally opposed to Pull Ups. I never used them and my daughter was potty trained very quickly. Let her wear panties during the day so she can go pee pee on herself -- if she has to. She'll figure out she doesn't like that sensation and will tell you she has to go. Before you know it, she'll get the hang of it. Just use Pull Ups at night in case she wets herself during sleep.

Get rid of the pull ups. Either make the switch to the potty or stay in diapers. It was much easier w/ both of my girls to just do it!! Only a couple of accidents early on and then never again - no bed wetting or anything. Lasted about a week - big girl underpants of their choice helps - they do not want to ruin them - and I threw them away if they had an accident (#2 - I was not cleaning that!!!). Good luck!

Our son turned 2 in August, and he was interested in it at first, but quickly lost interest, even though he, too, knows what to do. I think he's just not ready yet, and it probably is the same with your daughter. Some of the things are day care says to assess their interest: are they asking you to change them as soon as they go? Are they able to pull their pants down on their own? (and along with that, be sure you have them in clothes that they can get down themselves, no snaps, etc). Give her a few months and try again. Just keep sitting her on the potty to keep her used to it. And when you do decide to really try, ditch the pullups like the other posters have suggested.