Potty Training - Weaverville, NC

Get the book Mommy I have to potty from the library. It is a quick read with lots of great advice, stories, and suggestions.

Well, You're not alone! My son is almost three, and he is still none too interested in the whole potty-training event. Don't worry, tho, by the time they take the keys to the family car for the first time, I'm sure they will leave the diapers behind. I try to remind myself to stay calm and cool, because everyone tells me "when they're ready, they'll get it".

We are making very slow progress, and while I don't know if this can help you, here is what has worked for us so far....We ditched the baby potty. He hated it (we tried three different kinds!!! and all we got was screams and protesting and general craziness) now we focus on the potty Daddy uses, because, hey, DADDY uses it!!! We didn't push him to get on the "big boy" potty, just sort of let him be around it, whilst completely naked, and occassionaly we'd say "oh! hey! what should we do now? Oh? you want to sit on the potty for a second? Well, only for a second!" (The forbidden toilet is the toilet of desire, I always say...).

Now, we are using bribery...sitting on the potty and "trying" gets you a jellybean. "Producing" on the potty gets you three jelly beans and a whole lot of cheers and high-fives.

Ditch the pull-ups. Yep, that's right. My son runs around the house with his lower half as naked as the day he was born. We found that when he wears a pull-up, he is completely unmotivated to go all the way to the fabled potty. But the motivation of potentially creating a puddle on the rug - or, goodness gracious - a POO on the rug, because there is no diaper to catch it, well, he is a neat-freak kinda kid, and that thought really doesn't appeal to him. So, while he is not fully "trained" at least when we are at home (and he's partially naked) he is managing to make it to the potty. And I am going to buy stock in JellyBellies.

Hope something here helps somehow. Don't sweat it too much! I'm sure your baby girl will get the hang of it soon.

Hey girl, I really can't help out much with the girl thing seeing that I have a boy! But I am actually going threw the same thing with him right now! I know his body is ready! He goes all night with out wetting his pullup and everytime he does wet it or anything else for that matter he comes and tells me to change it! But if I say lets go try to use the potty he runs away! Just thought it would be nice to know your not the only one going threw it! So were do u guys live(near Gastonia)?

Wow! I have a good friend whose 2.5 year old girl is doing basically the same thing. Could it be that the potty seat is uncomfortable? My friend says her daughter will sit and read on the potty for long stretches of time--but won't pee on it! So, for her, it's not a comfort issue, I guess. Have you read any of the little potty time books that are out there? Does Dr. Sears have anything on his website? I really don't know what to tell you, but I'm sending happy potty vibes your way! Good luck, mama, and of course, this too shall pass.

K.

I had this trouble with my daughter. We ended up putting her in underwear and pants. We made a very big deal about the "big girl" underwear and let her help us pick them out. When she would pee on her self she didn't like the feeling of getting wet all over and started trying to make it to the potty when she had to go. She also refused a potty set. We had to get a seat that fits on the big tolit and a stool. If you try this just be prepared to wash a lot of laundry and have some pee spots on the floor. Also we ask her every so aften if she needed to pee or would like to try to help her remember.
T.

Does she pee in it? My son refuses to sit to poop, but he'll pee in the toilet. Another thing, maybe try the big potty and see if she responds differently. She sees you guys use it, she might be more apt to try.

My daughter loves going potty like a big girl, and she's not even 2. (She will be on Oct 12). We made it like a game for her at first. We put up a piece of posterboard on the wall and I got a whole bunch of stickers. The rules were, if she went pee pee, then she got a sticker. And if she pooped, then she got two! She caught on fast to the whole deal of the rewards, and I think that's better than rewarding them with foods like m&ms or goldfish. Plus, she learned a whole bunch of new words, liek sticker, monkey, fish, butterfly, and flower all from the stickers we used. Also, she hated using her potty seat. We have the seat part on the regular toilet and the potty is just being used as a stool for her to wash her hands. We have another potty seat on our toilet just for her, and i have a travel one that fits in my diaper bag for when we go out or to grandma's house. Plus, she likes her undies, we made a big fuss over how cute they are and she likes being the center of attention. But I only started potty training her this young because she wanted to. She wasn't too thrilled at first and then kept telling me that she wanted her "diapie" and then on day just started wearing her undies again. Hope this helps you!!

My daughter turned 3 on August 9th and we are potty training too. I went out and let her pick out 3 packs of panties, a "treat" and Huggies Cool feel pull-ups (they get cold when they tinkle in them. Her treat was a box of small pack fruit snacks..hers were Dora...she had to sit on the potty to get the snacks. Pretty soon she was doing it on her own with no snacks and I kept gummy bears in a jar in the kitchen and she could have one gummy bear every time she went to the potty. It's been about 3 weeks and she is doing great with very few accidents. I put on a pll up at night and when we go in the car just in case.
She really feels good about being a big girl, and we have really stress how proud we are and say nothing when she has accidents. I also found that "Potty Time" books helped a lot at the beginning. Good Luck!!!

Hi K.,

Don't worry your sweetie will be going before you know it. I went through the same challanges trying to potty train my son, and although it's not over, it's definitely better for both of us. I'm not sure what you have already tried but here are some tips that I've been given. Since she is a girl you may want to get her a doll that can quirt out of her bottom. Begin by encouraging her to change the doll's diaper and then after a week or so tell her doll is growing up and needs to learn how to potty. You can hold the doll over the potty and tell your daughter that since her doll doesn't know how to potty that she needs to show her by example, just like mommy showed her. With my son, since he didn't want to do it at all. I then started to tell him that he doesn't have to go potty but simply sit on the toilet naked and "practice" going potty by making the sound effects. I keep him on by reading a book that he loves or telling him that he can hop off once he has counted to ten. This took the stress off performing and let him actually go, after he did it the first time I made a very big deal about it and even called relatives to let him tell them about his great acheivement. He loved telling everyone. Then I did the underwear thing and told him not to pee on Diego (or whatever he loved on his undies). He now tell me 70% of the time when he has to go so slowly but surely this be behind us. The important thing is not to show her your concern or frustration with it. However you can, make it fun. Remember she will be potty trained before going to kindergarden so no worries. Every child is different and as long as your patient and don't have a time frame - it will happen before you know it. Good luck and God Bless.

K.,

please, please do not push your daughter to use the potty.

I have three children and really pushed my first daughter to be potty trained. Mainly because the preschool would not move her into the next room until she was potty trained and most of my friends kids were using the potty by age 3.

What a dumb mistake! She clearly was not ready to use the potty at 3. She cried and shouted "NO!" everytime I put her on the big potty. She fought me the whole 3 months!!! I tried everthing: Bribing, videos, books, forcing, rewards, scheduling potty time, punishment....etc.

She still has accidents today! She holds "it" instead of going to the bathroom. She had/has horrible constipation for years!

I never even tried potty training with my second daughter! She decided on her own that she wanted to be a big girl and go on the potty. She is my stubborn "one" but has never, ever had an accident to this day....she is 6 years old.

I regret pushing my first child. I wish I could go back in time and do it over.

Ask yourself, 'why are you so concerned about getting her potty trained now?' Is it because "society" says that it's time for her to get out of diapers or pull-ups? or "you are tired of buying diapers?" or "your friends/neighbors will secretly comment or critisize you for keeping your child in diapers this long?".

Don't push.....she will do it when she is ready.....and clearly, she is telling you that she is not ready....even if you are!

Pam

It is definitely a control thing too.My little girl was difficult too. You really just have to keep trying different things until something works or clicks. It took about 3 weeks before we could leave the house. I did not go anywhere. It was tough as I had to do all lmy errands at night while daddy stayed home. One thing she did not like the potty on the floor. It grossed her out. that might be the yuck from your little one. I bought one of the small potty seats on the big toliet and she liked that a lot better. One thing that sort of worked, was a "prize". I went to the dollar store and let her pick out a bunch of stuff. Poops got a dollar store item, wee wees Chocolate. (one of the little mini bites) That actually worked pretty well. Still a few accidents but that is going to happen for awhile anyway. I had to wean her off the chocolate but did that in about a month. One bright spot, once she did get day trained, she night trained in about 2 months whereas other folks whose little ones trained quickly took longer to night train (6 months or more).

I know this may sound strange, but it works.
I have 2 daughters and both were trained in less than 2 weeks.
have your daughter wear dresses with nothing on underneath.
No panties, diapers, pullups... May be a little messy at first, but well worth it.
My youngest refused a potty seat and only used the toilet.