I'm not sure what to do. My daughter will be starting preschool next month and though they take kids in diapers, they want you to be working on potty training at home (they help train at school too). I have had a potty seat and stool on the toilet since this summer, and my daughter loves to sit on it, wipe with TP, and flush, but she's not actually doing any business in the toilet. I haven't pushed it b/c I didn't think she was ready: she tells me when she's pooping (sometimes), but is perfectly happy in a very wet or dirty diaper. If she tells me she's pooping, I ask if she wants to do it on the potty, and she says no. I tried putting her on the potty one time when she said she was pooping, but she didn't poop then, she just held it until later. I also tried Potty Patty training panties for two days, but she peed and pooped in them quite happily without wanting a change.
So, do I try to do more at home to get her potty trained, or wait until she seems more ready? What do I try now?
Thanks for your help!
J.
I would recommend the three day potty training method at www.3daypottytraining.com. I used it when my son was 3 years old and it worked great!
Good luck!
Sounds like you're doing what you can at home. i wouldn't push it. The school will likely have some suggestions and you can follow them if you want. Being around other kids who are potty training and/or already trained will make a huge difference.
My son started using the potty right after he turned 2 (his choice not mine, he said he was a big boy and didn't need diapers). Turns out his friends at school (all 3-6 months older) were using the potty and he didn't want to stand and have a diaper change like the kids his age and younger. Anyway, we threw out the diapers and stayed home for a weekend practicing. Come Monday, he was in big boy undies for school.
When he started wearing undies to school every time he went potty his friends would gather around and say "good job Alden!" and when I picked him up they'd run over and tell me "he stayed dry all day!" It was super cute and made way more difference than anything I think I could have done at home.
I would just continue to do what you are doing right now. I would bet ya that when she gets to school and sees the other kids going potty she is going to want to do it too, and be motivated to do so. I wouldn't push too hard. My experience is that the earlier they potty train the more accidents that they have. Someone once told me that a good sign that your child is ready to be potty trained is if they have a dry diaper through their naps and over night....is this happening with your daughter? Both of my older kids potty trained pretty early on before they were dry at night, and it took til' they were about 5 or 6 before they quit wetting the bed at night, I don't know if it is true about the bed wetting thing if you potty train them too early, but that is what I was told.....my Dr. said it was just that they were sleeping so hard that they didn't wake up when they had to go??? It may be a little bit of both, who knows....LOL Good Luck - I think each child is different and does it in their own timing. Honestly, it gets really hard when they are potty training and shortly after to go anywhere because if you are at Target or Wal-Mart and they have to use the bathroom, you HAVE to take them, they don't know how to hold it, and I always hated taking my daughter in to use the public restroom....just a thought for you. Again, Good Luck~ Janine
She's still young. The average kid is potty trained around the age of 3. Keep introducing the potty but don't push it. When she is ready she'll use it.
My so started preschool at about 28 months. We had bought him a potty at 2 yrs old and he didn't show any interest in using it until he went to school and saw all of the other kids using it. He used it on and off for about 5 months and then all of a sudden he only wanted to use the potty and not wear diapers anymore. It has taken about 3 months of jusy wearing big boy underwear for him to be fully potty trained. But school made a big difference in making that happen. His teachers also kept telling me that he was ready because he would wake up with a dry diaper after his naps. The one downside of potty training is always making sure to have them try to go before you go somewhere and to always make sure you know there is a public potty where you are going. But it is all worth it in the end. Good luck. She will do it when she is ready.
Been there done that! A little after my 1st dd turned two I started the potty training and would put he in panties and she be fine wet and dirty. This was even though she was showing all sorts of interst in the potty, using it on occasion, etc. So I figured she wasn't ready And gave her a couple months.
Litterally the day before I was going to approach the subject, she said she wanted to wear her underwear and she did great from that point on! They are the ones that have to be totally ready or it will just be an exercise in frustration.
You have started. You've shown her the potty and explained what it's for. Now let her set the pace. Most likely the potty at school will be very appealing and make a difference.
Wait until she is more ready.Seeing her peers use the toilet at school may help, but maybe not. Most important is to keep
calm, don't engage in a power struggle - she will win. Good luck.
A little about me : Child psychiatrist. Married 21 years,two kids 21 and 12.
