Two Year Old Potty Training Issues PLEASE HELP!!!

Perhaps put her in clothes that she can't take off herself or with great difficulty: overalls, one-piece sleepers that zip in the back, pants with a belt, etc.

It sounds like she isn't ready to potty train or she's lashing out at something for some reason, and her 'poop sessions' are forcing you to pay attention to her--just a guess.

Maybe you could have planned times everyday, which she can consistently look forward to, where you do things only with her: art activities, reading numerous books together, playing together outside, etc.

Good luck

I would wait until she's a bit older. My second daughter didn't potty train until she was 3 and my oldest daughter potty trained at 2 1/2. I would have expected the opposite. Each child is different and if she's "rebelling" I would give it some time. It will just frustrate you and her. Hang in there! As my aunt told me - "I don't know any 12 year olds who aren't potty trained. It will happen." Good luck.

First of all this is completely normal, part of her development and does not require discipline. (Don't let anyone judge you on this) In fact, disciplining her may actually make matters worse. She does not see it as smelly and disgusting poop, she is being creative! Try putting her diaper on backwards, pajamas on backwards, make it harder for her to get out of the clothes to get to the poop. Other times, give her paints, crayons and other things she is supposed to paint with and let her go wild with those.
I've collected a bunch of articles on the issue and all have some great tips on how to deal with this. The first one is really funny and enjoyable to read. :) I really hope they help and remember, this too shall pass.
http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/282156/how_to_ke...
http://www.drgreene.com/21_1496.html
http://pediatrics.about.com/od/weeklyquestion/a/04_tod_be...
http://www.ehow.com/how_###-###-####_toddler-playing-his-...
http://www.babycenter.com/400_how-do-i-stop-my-toddler-fr...

My son is almost 2 and he was very quick to get into his diaper. I have never clocked it, but as soon as the poop was there in his diaper, he'd grab a handful and march right over to me saying, "poopoo."

The solution for us that works wonders were outfits that button in the back that are all one piece. He cannot get through them. So, now he simply just marches over and announces his poopoo since the clothing part of the issue is solved.

If you only can find one piece outfits that have snaps for easy diaper changing access, you can sew that part closed without too much trouble and then remove the stiches once her habit has been resolved.

My daughter 1st showed interest in potty training when she 2 also, but ended up doing the same thing your daughter is doing. We just took a break and she picked it back up when she was ready...about 3 1/2. As for the playing in poop. As gross as it is I think it's just a curiosity thing for them. My older 2 have gone through it and I'm hoping it skips my 1 yr old. You just need to be firm. When my kids learned to undo their diapers, we put them in pull ups.

Oh yes, the joys of potty training. I am a director of a preschool and this is a question I get a lot.

Well first, let's look at the positives.... she is taking off her diaper and going potty..... that is half the battle.

Location of potty using seems to be the issue..... so make the toilet a fun and rewarding place for her to do her thing.

Couple of suggestions:

Reward her with candy? I used M&M....each time my child would urinate in the toilet, she got 2 M&M..... the other she got 5 m&ms. It teaches her to go to the toilet AND counting!

Another would be to have her sit on the potty regularly, every hour, if she made something in it.. reward her.

Check your toilet too, is it comfortable for her or not, it could be that too. How about a little porta-potty for kids... the great thing about that thing is that I use to take it with me in the car... and instead of having my little ones sit on the public bathrooms, they could use the porta-potty in the back of my van... I would just line it with a simple grocery bag to catch everything, when they were done, tie it up and throw it away!

Hang in there, you are soooooo close!

Hi K.,
I am a behavior analyst who has helped many families with potty training issues, including families who have children with special needs such as autism and developmental delays. I would be happy to talk to you about your daughter. Feel free to e-mail me: ____@____.com
Happy to Help,
K.

Your really going to have to keep her contained in a small area so you can watch her better. a gate is good. If they hide they means they are going. Mine loved to go behind the couch or under the kitchen table. That was my first clue. Some kids go at the same time every day. I would not try training her for now. Leave her alone. Wait a few months and try again. i also got a baby doll that pees and and video to going potty. The library has them. Mine loved to watch it.
The doll is for you to show that the baby has to go and you put her on the potty. Then make a Big Deal of the dolly going potty. Repeat Repeat. Good Luck. Also let her know when she learns to go (have a prize for her) a party or take her somewhere special..
Mine had issues with wiping and i finally told her if she goes poopy six times i will take her to chucky cheese. It took a few starts but she earned it.

Sounds like you need some extra hands and eyes. LOL
My babies never did that so when i hear it i am amazed at the stories i am told.
Anyway...
Try blocking off part of your home and only allow her to be were you are. That way you can keep an eye on her a lot better. Set your timer and take her potty every half hour. Give her a reward for sitting on the potty and going. Make sure you tell her that it's potty time. don't just ask her if she has to go. after you tell her it is potty time ask her if she has to go poo poo pr pee pee. Or what ever you want to call it. if she makes a mess like you said then dissiplin her for her actions. Not for going poop.
You have to remember we have taught our children to go pee and poop in thier diapers and that has been ok up untill this point. now you have to teach her a whole new thing. So it is a matter of teaching her to use the bathroom in the toilet. Do not get upset and frustrated that will just upset and frustrate her too. I know it is hard but we can control our feelings. littles one cannot.
I started late in potty training my son, but i just went about it as a teaching thing. Just like i would teach him how to throw a ball or ride a bike, with lots of patience.
I hope this helps
Good luck in your adventure. It is a hard one, but you will get through it. (you have one thing to look forward too.. even when you do get her potty trained she wont pee all over the walls. LOL my son does this cuz he can)
Take care
B.

K.-

My sister had the smae problem when she tried to potty train her twins last year. She did so much researh on the subject that she could easily write a book. In the end it took the twins about two months to be fully potty trained at 22 months.
One of the thing most parents do not realize when potty training is you are not only training your kids to go to the bathroom, you are training your kids to follow a routine when they start to feel the pressure to release waste. Therefore the routine is more important than anything else in the potty training adventure.
At two years of age the routine should be going potty every half hour or so. Never ASK if they need to go potty as this does not encourage them to learn the routine. During potty time you need to stay in the bathroom. My sister used to clean the counter top and sink every time her twins were in the bathroom. The first few times she had to remind them to go potty on the potty seats instead of watching her, but after that it became part of the routine and they were able to focus more on their bodies and the task at hand. Any time the twins pooped and peed in their potty chairs she would tell them how proud she was and allow them to flush the toilet. She told them the sound of a flush was the toilets way of saying it was proud of them too.
When the twins did not poop or pee in the potty chairs she would say thank you for being patient while I cleaned the sink (usually about 3-4 minutes)and left it at that. As long as they were following the routine of sitting on the potty while she cleaned the sink.
Research has shown it takes at least 21 days to break any habit no matter how trivial. Breaking the diaper habit has got to be one of the harder habits to break considering we spend the first years of our lives wearing them.

I hope this helps.
H. Stanley
Mother of four and Auntie of 18.

K.,
If I may be bold... why are you concerned about potty training at 2? I know that most children show interest at this age, but actually aren't physically ready to be trained until about 3.
Grab a diaper and a cup of coffee. I know changing diapers isn't always fun, but it sure beats the stress of potty training too early. Take a break (both you and your daughter.) Revisit the idea when she is three or waking up with dry diaper.
Best of luck.
P.
Mom of four - ages four and under.

When she potties in the pot praise her. Or get some stickers and tell her everytime she potties she gets to put a sticker on the paper, and have it above her pottie chair. Or get some candy like m and ms of sugar free candy that taste good and give her a piece when ever she goes but make sure you praise her also when she goes like she has really done something special. Marilyn

Hi K.,
I have 3 kids and they all went through a curious/discovery time around 2. With the first 2 I took it as a sign that they were ready to be potty trained. After months of frustration they lost intrest and all I had was a lot of extra laundry.My third child, we just let him ask questions and discover the process but we didn't potty train until he declared he was big and wanted to go to school. I told him in order to go to school he had to be potty trained. He said okay. That first week we had 4-6 accidents a day with one dry day. We are now on week 3 and we have had only 1 accident this and 2 dry nights. My advice to you would explain that we need to keep a diaper on or we will have a time-out for taking it off. Then just let her follow you into the bathroom and ask questions. Then wait until she is really ready. Waiting helped my son immensely it took no time at all instead of months and months. Good luck~A.

You need to read the No Cry Potty Training Solution by Elizabeth Pantley. Everyone has there own method and recommendations but this book to me is the best. It will first assess if you and your daughter are even ready and if so, then the steps to take. Patience is KEY. What you are experiencing right now, although frustrating, can be prevented. I spent a good week with my son - ALL day, this meant, when he was playing in his room, I wasn't off doing laundry or anything unless he had just pottied, I was sitting in his room with him, watching for cues of needing to go. If your daughter has time to poop and then play with it, she is being left alone for too long. I would take a break from potty training for 2-3 months and then give it another try. For now, though, you pretty much know when she poops, so just make sure to change her diaper asap.

I'm adding the following after doing some thinking: the reason I think potty learning for my son and I have actually been fun these past few weeks is because he was more than ready. In the past when I have tried and began to get frustrated, I backed off for months at a time. He is three and to some that might be old, but he and I were both more than ready this time and I believe that is why it was such a success. I don't believe in rushing things like this, it's old school to get a child out of diapers by a certain age. Back in the good ol' days, all babies were in cloth and households didn't have washing machines, it WAS truly a lot of work to wash diapers back then, so Mom's were in a hurry to train their kids. We are lucky now, we can take our time, watch our kids cues and guide them in to underwear when they are ready. It is not a sign of intelligence to be out of diapers early, it doesn't mean you are a great parent if your child is out of diapers by 2, none of this will matter in 5-10 years. However, if rushed, disciplined, punished, made to feel shamed, etc.. while being trained too early, a child can have issues later in life. Like another poster said, it's not like they'll be in diapers in highschool. So sit back, relax and enjoy the ride.

M.

Hi K.!
She probably just needs more direction, and a bit of motivation. It requires paying a lot of attention, but YOU CAN DO IT!
I used the tip on gomommygo.com, and it really worked for my 7 kids!
The best part is that you never have to get upset with this method - when they make a mistake you just have to say, "I'm sorry, honey, I can't give you a sticker this time - but next time you can get one, when you do it in the potty!"
The chart and instructions are here:
http://www.gomommygo.com/pottytraining.html
Congratulations for caring! I'm sure she'll be potty trained in no time!
Best,
R.

Put a strong onesie on her that snaps between the legs so she can't get the diaper off, and hang up the potty training for a couple of monthes. Give yourself a break!
(And make a real man out of that wonderful boyfriend of yours and get married!;-) )

First of all, the poop thing- I know it's gross, but it's a totally normal developmental thing for kids this age to do. Doesn't make it okay, I know, but it makes you feel a little bit better about it. I would totally drop potty training for now and put onesies on her every day so she can't take her diapers off. This will pass. My daughter is only passively thinking about potty training, but she went through the whole taking the diaper off/playing with poop/pooping on the floor/digging in her diaper stage. I made sure she could never take her diaper off (onesies or pants, and she can't get her own pants off yet). And at first I told her "no, yucky!" every time she dug in her diaper, but it had little affect. So one day, when she came to me saying "fingers" and it turned out she had poop on her fingers, I told her "no more warnings" and from that moment on she went straight to timeout any time she dug in her diaper, no warnings. It stopped within days. Be firm with her about not taking her diaper off or playing in poop, and give her some time with the potty training thing- the average age for girls to potty train is 2 1/2, so she's still got some time, and if you battle with her over this you're only going to drag it out unnecessarily and possibly make her much more resistant to ever going on the potty.

EDITED TO ADD: If you do think she's really ready and really want her to be potty trained, go to this website and read the article/watch the video http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/25057503/?GT1=43001
This lady knows what she's talking about! Pay special attention to the language she uses- focusing on the behavior, not the child, emphasizing the child's responsibility, avoiding excessive praise, and not insulting their intelligence. All of this is spot on with what the child development community believes and teaches for behavior in general, and it works!

Our son was extremely stubborn. We took a really hard road--one day my husband packed ALL of his toys and stuffed animals away (in a back closet) and he only could color and read books until he was potty trained. 48 hours later--amazing! He's toy-mad, so that was our best collateral we had!! Good luck!

Your daughter is telling you that she's not ready to be potty trained. Back off until she's ready. She's still a baby, so let her act like one and still use diapers. Trust me, she won't go to high school in diapers.

Two is awfully young to start potty training. I would put her back in diapers for a couple of months and try again when she's a little older. :)

This is not a discipline issue at all. She is two. She just isn't ready to potty train. Try again in 6 months. When kids are ready there is no training involved. If you wait until she is ready, it will be a breeze for everyone involved.