Need Some Potty Training Advice for My 22 Month Old Little Girl.

Updated on April 02, 2008
T.T. asks from Keller, TX
5 answers

My 22 month old daughter has shown the signs that she is ready to potty train.

*Hides when making a BM
*Wines to let me know that she has made a BM and to change her diaper.
*Takes off her diaper or tries to pull them off when she is dirty or wet.
*Squats when making a BM

She however does not wake up dry from naps or in the morning. She pees a lot!

We have introduced her to the potty training process of sitting on the potty seat in the bathroom and in her potty chair. She has even made a BM in the bathroom and pee pee in the potty seat.

I have purchased potty training books for her to read and Potty time Elmo DVD and book. i give her a lot of praise when she does go to the bathroom. Although it has been a big push to train her until now. She is a large child and she is out growing diapers! She wears a size 6 during the day in the White Cloud brand and she wears 5 - 6 in the Good Night Pull Up Diapers for night time. We are going to have to start putting her in pull ups during the day if she grows anymore!

My question is this...she has a speach delay and doesnt understand what I am saying other than some comands as "No, put it down/let go/drop it"

How do a communicate with a child and explain the potty training process to her if she doesnt understand speech? She has a small vocab and is growing weekly...
Since she doesnt understand speech the whole sticker on the chart thing doesnt really work for us right now. But she does understand PRAISE!!!

I could use any advice out there!

UPDATE: Re the speech delay...yes she is in speech therapy and has been since she was 15 months. We used ECI but it wasnt working for us so we switched to Therapedia which has worked GREAT!

She drinks a lot of fluids through out the day and 10 oz before bed so she tends to pee a lot and wake up wet.

What is the suggestion re when to give her liquids during potty training.

We are not PUSHING the potty training issue but she does seem ready to make her BM's on the potty well enough. Also, she is so large that we will be moving to pull ups for diapers by the time she is 2 years old or so at the rate she is growing. No she is not fat just big boned and has a bubble butt :-)

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M.B.

answers from Abilene on

here is the way that we trained our daughter. we got a timer and set it for every 15 minutes or 20 and when it went off we took her to the potty chair. it really worked for us. hope this will help you.

M.

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B.H.

answers from Dallas on

My daughter is speech delayed and I wondered the same thing. Does she sign? We use the sign for "Potty" -- and even thought I'm normally against food as a reward - she gets 1 M&M for peepee and 2 for BMs. She wasn't interested in stickers, etc. but sure does love the m&ms. I keep them in a pretty jar right on the bathroom counter (with a lid) and she makes the association - If I use the potty, then I get one of those. GOOD LUCK!

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J.L.

answers from Dallas on

Let her come into the bathroom with you EVERY time you go... what they see you do is what they will try to do. Try not to push her too much, if it's not a game to her then she may not want to do it. On her time she will decide when she is ready and then it will feel like it's been overnight that she has figured it out. Maby bribe her with a single piece of candy (ie. 1 M&M) and get her to understand that she will get only one every time she uses the potty.
Good luck!!!

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C.J.

answers from Dallas on

I used the 3 day potty training guide. You put her in big girl panties (no pull ups or training panties). Never leave her side for 3 days. Evertime you see her peeing run her to the potty. Tell her we pee in the potty. Everytime you remember tell her "Don't forget to let me know when you need to go potty". By the second day I was worn out, but by Sunday she was running to the potty to go pee. If you want to give her a reward we used a skittle. Everytime she went I gave her one piece of candy. I don't think the speech delay will have any impact on using this method. She will learn by the repetition of you running her to the potty. It will click. Now BM's were a little harder for us, but if you can tell when she is going catch her in the act and run her to the potty. The book said that you need to start at 22 months old so she is the perfect age.

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L.S.

answers from Dallas on

My advice would be to wait a bit and not push it when you do try. She's still really young (she's not even 2!) and you don't want this to turn into a battle or negative thing for her. Speech and other developmental delays are notorious for set backs in the potty training department so please keep this in mind. Of course, not everyone has the same experience. Also, I assume she's in speech therapy now?

My guess is, you're going to have a struggle until she is able to communicate, and more importantly, understand. Until then, you may be in for quite the battle. Until this happens, I think you are missing a key component of potty training readiness. I think she's showing some signs of readiness, but keep in mind there's much more. Also, if she's still waking up wet she's probably not ready. Some other things to consider as signs of readiness: Is she staying dry at least 2 hours out of the day and waking up dry after naps? Are her bms about the same time every day? Is she able to follow simple instructions? Do a google research for potty readiness signs and you'll find more.

My son was speech delayed as well. Other than buying the books or seat when he turned 2, we really didn't focus on potty training since I assumed (after MUCH research and people telling me) that he wouldn't potty train until after 3. (Many peds say not to really try until after 3 for normal developing kids btw). He did all the things your daughter is doing for at least 6 or 8 months (so I"m not sure if these are really good indicators). Once his speech came in, he potty learned very quickly. He also started to wake up dry about this time too which I think shows he was physically ready as well.

I think the key thing is -- he was interested and he understood. Without those two things, no chart or bribe or "training" would have worked. I had friends whose very verbal and smart kids did not learn how to use the potty despite all sorts of charts and bribes until after my son. They just decided on their own. I think that's pretty much what has to happen for it to work.

Good luck!

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