Using the Potty

She is doing wonderfully! That is exactly how the learning process for using the potty usually works....they slowly start to put together that the potty is for eliminating, so they ask to go there, then they start to associate a wet or poopy diaper with the bathroom....so they ask to go there, oftern AFTER they realize they have done it...totally normal. Soon she will start to recognize the feeling of needing to eliminate and associate that with getting to the bathroom before it comes out....she is getting there. She is really doing very well for only 2 1/2 and seems to show excitement and interest in learning and starting to take part in going to the potty, so I would do absolutely NOTHING....she is taking each step prefectly!

If you really want to move her along, you could let her go bare bottomed whenever home (and not sleeping) or in a pair of panties, but you may want to wait until she has alerted you at least a few times BEFORE having already gone in her pants so that you know she at least is starting to recognize that 'feeling' and can even understand the concept of getting there and going in the potty. My daughter was regularly alerting me to tinkle in the potty for a couple months before we transitioned to panties and had only periodic accidents.

Don't stress, she is doing awesome.... 2 1/2 is still young and she is doing well. Best wishes!

For me, pottying is one of those great mysteries... what to do? when to do it? how?

With my first what worked really well was to take off all bottoms (no diaper, pants, underwear). If she had anything at all on her bottom, she would pee in her pants. But if her bum was bare, she would use the potty. I had to clean up a few wet spots, but not many and at 2.5 your daughter is probably old enough that she'll catch on v. quickly.

I know "they" don't recommend this, but I also rewarded using mini m and ms. For my sweet-toothed kid who never gets candy otherwise, this was a powerful incentive. Eventually when it became old hat, we replaced the candy with just praise (ran out of them one day and said, oh, they're all gone). If you're not comfortable with candy, you could try a sticker chart.

Good luck!

She is comfortable in her diaper, my daughter is 4 now and was fully potty trained by 3 and she was also comfortable in her pull-ups, we started to let her run around the house without any diapers or underwear and she started using the toilet on her own. Give her a small treat just for seating in the potty ( we gave our daughter a Hershey kiss,one m&m or a sticker. All children are different be patient and try new things and always cheer and clap when she does go she will LOVE the attention. Good luck.

be patient because all your doing is driving yourself crazy wondering what to do...wanna know a secret...they'll be potty "trained" when their ready!

In this area I say let the child lead! My son was almost 3 1/2 before he got his body signals and because we waited until HE was ready we had maybe 3 accidents. That was because he was super involved in something and couldn't tear himself away. He could hold it longer because his bladder was bigger and because he truly recognized his cues for going both pee and poo he started doing both on the potty at the same time!

I let him run around the house naked for a day and had the portable potty out and he started using it all on his own! That day I took him out of diapers and carried extra clothes with us and I carried the porta potty with us and as we would get in and out of the van I would remind him he wasn't wearing a diaper and ask him if he needed to go. He turned 4 the end of July and now I hardly ever ask him if he needs to go, he knows! :)

I expected potty training to be a total nightmare and having to stop every 10 minutes because he thought he had to go, but because we waited for him to tell us when he was ready it was a breeze!

Some people have to train early because of pre-school or day care, you do what you have to do! But if you can wait, I say wait! :)

Good luck to you!

I will pass on the wisdom someone else gave me: Don't worry about pottie training. The more you stress the longer it takes them! They will go when they are ready, in the mean time, if she comes to you put her on the pottie let her and praise her for wanting to try. Everything else will fall into place.

You said she is still in diapers? Diapers and pullups dont work very well for potty training. You should let her pick out some "big girl panties". She will be so excited she won't want to mess them up. She may have some "accidents" but will dislike the feeling and work harder to get to the potty when she wants to go. It sounds like she is doing good though!! some kids aren't potty trained until 3 or 4 years old so dont feel discouraged.

I JUST went through this with my 2 1/2 year-old. I would ask and ask and she would tell me AFTER she had already gone. One day, I just got fed up with it. I knew she was trying and understood the concept, she just wasnt's catching it fast enough. I stuck her in a pair of big girl panties and I put on a timer for 20 minutes (a timer that beeps for a long time, not just one that dings once and it's over) and every 20 minutes, we ran to the potty. Eventually, I increased the timer to 1 hour. Now I don't even need a timer. Our accidents are few and far between and she even sleep through the night in panties after only a few weeks of training. If you've got the time and patience, cold turkey her out of diapers, put on a timer, and make it exciting for her. My daughter got rewards for going pee or poo on the potty. The goal is to get them to the point where they stop asking for the surprise just because they went. She now runs to the potty on her own and sometimes even wakes up at night because she has to pee. I'd much prefer being woken up at 3am to her wetting the bed.

Good luck. This worked for me within the past month, I'd say give it a shot if you can.

I have three children. I think that she is not ready and you need to keep doing what you are doing and one day she will get it. It seems that she is trying to understand, but she doesn't understand why her body is not getting it. Good luck.

Hi B.,

I am in a similar situation with my 31 month old daughter. What my next step to help her get this whole potty training in full swing is to literally ground us to the house for at least a few days. I will be keeping her bare-bottomed throughout the day with the exception of nap and bedtime. I'll be setting a timer to remind me to put her on the potty every 20 minutes or so for at least 10 minutes each time. To keep her comfortable there, I often read to her, polish her nails, sing songs, practice with flash cards and so on. My hope is that eventually, she will be so relaxed that she will finally "go" while on the toilet! We also have a couple potty DVD's like, Once Upon a Potty and one with Elmo that we play for her and sometimes we'll even put it on our portable DVD player and play it in the bathroom while she sits on the toilet! lol I have also purchased some cute panties with Minnie Mouse and Hello Kitty as an incentive to her once she starts using the toilet. With my son, we did this whole "Pee-Pee in the Potty" song and dance whenever he would go, and we'd have a mini potty-party for him with a special treat/reward for him. We'll do the same for my daughter when she gets to that point. In fact, she knows that's in store when she's ready. That's one thing I can say for sure...it's important for us to be patient and supportive and not too pushy or we could hinder any progress our little ones might be making. It's really all about consistency with everything we do with our children! Good Luck and please keep me posted on how things are going and if you have any helpful hints I could use!!

Hi, my son was just about 4yrs old before he would potty!! He knew how to do it for over a year but was just "too busy" to stop what he was doing to go. I started using my timer in the kitchen setting it for every hour. That worked!! It reminded me and him to stop and try! Within 2 weeks totally trained! Now when he hears my timer go off he says, "but I already went potty!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!consistency is key! Hope this helps! noelle

Hi B. I am a mom of four and have worked in child care centers..Maybe try taking her every 30 mins(if you have the time!) That is what we did to start the younger ones, Does she have favorite character panties that she would'nt want to get wet? At one center, the twos teacher had a "potty pirate" treasure box that the kids could pick from afterwards...