Potty Training - Round Rock,TX

To help my daughter potty train at 3, I made a chart. Each time that she went potty, she would get to put a star on the chart (1 for pee pee and 2 for poo poo). When she would get to 10 stars she would get a treat. Luckily when I was training her it was around Easter I think, and so I just took her to W-M and let her pick out a bag of candy that she wanted. I made her understand that she would ONLY get the treat if she didn't the potty and everything. She had started younger and was doing good, until she got scared b/c of the automatic flush on a toilet somewhere.
Good Luck and hope it goes good.

Hi B.,

I have a GREAT new book called "The Potty Train"! You can see it on my website at www.cindystoybox.com. It is fabulous and daycare providers are loving it! Let me know if I can help. It takes patience as you know since you've done it before and they are all different.

Good luck!
C.

My daughter will be 4 in February. She was acting just like your daughter. She wanted her diaper on. I knew she was ready to be potty trained because she was staying dry all night. I tried everything to get her potty trained. I tried telling her she would get a surprise if she went to the potty. Her response to me was, "I don't want a surprise." Finally I gave up. I figured it had become more of a power struggle between her and I. About three months after I gave up and quit asking her if she wanted to use the potty and quit trying to bribe her, she came to me one day and said, I need to go potty and she did. She started wearing panties that day and has not once had an accident. This happened about six weeks ago. My other daughter who is 12 was very easy to potty train and was trained by the time she was 2. I think each child is different. My advice to you is not to push her and let her decide on her own when she wants to use the potty.

Lisa

My girls LOVE the castle cake at Kroger. You could take her to see the cake and offer to buy her the cake if she uses the potty (including poop!) every single time for a week. Every time she does it she gets a sticker on her chart and the end of the week she gets the cake. IF she has an accident then the 7 days starts over at the next potty trip.

Now, my oldest daughter was potty trained at about 4 years 2 months, my second is 4 1/2 and isn't potty trained yet (not dry at night, but does try somewhat during the day if she is naked- no pullups or panties.) My third is 3 1/2 and also not dry at night and not consistently using the potty during the day.

Every child is different and some are not emotionally mature enough to be potty trained. Others have sensory problems related to potty training ( I think that's what our problem is.) Yes, it's been hard having 3 children in diapers at the same time but eventually my older girls will be potty trained. I am pregnant with #5 so I'm hoping to get #2 and #3 trained before he/she is born so I have only 2 and not 4 in diapers!!

B.
I have had the same problem with my grandson who is now 4 yrs old and cries and throws a fit when I try to get him to go on the potty. He does fine urinating but not the BM. I read that sometimes when children were babies they experienced pain when they were contispated and they remember that and therefore they don't want to go because of fear of the pain. I don't know how true this is, but I know when I used to visit my grandson, I would tell my daughter-in-law this little boy is contispated and when he would go his BM would be like little marbles. I think it was his baby formula and I tried to explain this to her. I raised 8 children and I am 70 yrs old so I think from experience I know something about it. All my children were potty trained completely by age 2-3 yrs old. If I were you I would ask your doctor about it and get some advice before she gets any older. The longer it goes on the longer the more difficult it will be for her.
good luck
Rachel

Take away the panties and tell her they are only for big girls. This may be the hardest part for you but let it go. She is not ready. I am convinced that kids will essentially train themselves when they are ready. I had two trained at 2 but the middle child was 3.5. I don't know if it was because of the attention she gets while you are changing her and she has all of your attention or what the cause is. Do reward her for any small steps with a sticker or marshmallow and talk periodically about having a potty party with cupcakes or a cake with her favorite character. My son talked all of the time about a "winnie the pooh" potty party. In actuality he forgot about the whole thing once he was trained but it was his incentive. Good luck and let her tell you when SHE is ready.

B.,

If your daughter is into princesses or pink, you may want to get her the pink Disney princess potty seat from Target/Walmart if you don't already have it. I already had a seat that my daughter wasn't interested in sitting on. I bought the princess one and I couldn't get her off of it! I also believe in candy when they go potty. I open a roll of smarties in the morning and I give her one when she pees and two if she poops. By the end of the day, she usually still has some left so she isn't getting too much candy/sugar from it. My daughter calls her poop a poo poo snake. She thinks it is so funny and tries to see how long she can make it. When she showed my 3 year old nephew (who wasn't potty trained), he was so excited. He went home that night and made a poo poo snake too. I know it's gross, but anything that works!

Good luck!
T.

Hi B., I feel your pain! My daughter was extremely difficult to potty train. We tried everything, charts, treats, panties, punishment...you name it. NONE of it worked. What finally did work was daddy telling her in a very strong and demanding voice that "she is not allowed to potty on herself anymore. That she is a big girl and knows when she has to go potty and that she will pee and poop on the potty, PERIOD!" However, our daughter was almost 5 (horrifying huh!) before we tried and succeeded with this. Also, we would only put her pullup on when she was actually getting into bed (we were putting on after bath but then she would poop in it). It really is a control issue for most kids and if you continue to push her it will only take longer. Goodluck!

She's not ready. I would back off and let it happen in HER time. If she's crying and throwing fits, she obviously does NOT want to do it. I know it is not fun to keep buying diapers, but she doesn't sound ready to me.

Read her potty books that focus on positivity (the one my son and I loved was A Potty For Me by Karen Katz. It's very positive and makes it ok not to go, and celebrates when they do. The child in the book is also very gender neutral, so it can be a boy or a girl. Then just praise when she does go. continue to watch her and offer, but if she doesn't, don't despair. Also, don't ridicule. A few people in our family would say things like, "Aren't diapers for babies?" to my son, and I quickly put an end to that. Diapers are for whoever needs them. **ETA I just read some other responses, and noticed a lady trying to sell The Potty Train. This is a Discovery Toys book and it is very cute and very positive. Though I don't believe in offering to sell instead of giving advice, it might be one more tool in your arsenal!

My son potty learned at 3. We took our time, had many a naked day at home, I used training pants (undies that were easy to put on and take off for him, with a bit of absorbency in the crotch to keep the carpet dry while still allowing him to feel wet), and just asked asked asked. The only time he wears diapers is overnight. I never used Pull Ups (we use cloth diapers here, so I used cloth training undies too), but I've heard they are little more than a diaper and not a good idea.

My son did not respond that well to his special undies. He thought they were neat, but he couldn't pull them up and down as well. That's when the training pants came in. He loved wearing the undies until it came time to pull them down to potty. Then he would tell me he wanted a diaper. I just waited and let it happen naturally. To me this is the best way. It may take a little longer, but there is no stress, no headaches for any involved. Now he has no issues with the potty, and has no accidents (though accidents are completely normal and to be expected).

A lot of people use rewards/bribes. This has not worked for any child I know personally, but it does work for some. For the ones in my family (smart, stubborn, independent little ones!) they just had to be emotionally ready to go. And it had to be on THEIR terms, not on ours (my sisters, best friends, and I).

All that said, I really do think you need to not push the issue. She may be 3, but for some that is just when potty learning begins! She is different than your other two. I would say if she is "difficult" to train, back off and let her learn at her pace.

My son turned three Sept. 8th and won't even try either. Our pediatrician confirmed what I was already doing, which is just wait until he's ready. It's so hard to continue with diapers! I've been changing diapers on one kid or another non-stop for 7 years now (not my three year old's fault of course!) but I'm really "over" it!
I have found him in the bathroom by himself on the potty, so hoping he'll just train himself one of these days, as he does not want my help. Maybe we'll both get lucky like that. Hang in there and know you are not alone. Guess that's why they make diapers up to size 5. sigh.

P. (three boys 7,5,3)