3 1/2 Year Old Procrastinating on Going to the Restroom

I have had the same issue w/ my almost 4 year old daughter, she was potty trained at around 2 but come the 3's she started to do the potty dance, and like your daughter she would say no she didn't have to go, know for me it was extremely important that she didn't hold, she was born with only one kidney and this could lead to infections if she held it, at first it was no big deal but then it became a habit, I tried having her clean it up, no big deal for her, she just cleaned it up, most of the time she made it to the bathroom just not onto the toilet. I was staring to get worried about the amount of times she was holding it, I finally sat down with her one day while she was on the potty and just explained, as well as I could to a 3 year old, just how bad it is for girls to hold back there potty and not go when thier bodies are warning them that they need to go, she knows she only has one kidney but becuase she is healthy it doesn't really have an impact with her, so I explained that when we hold back the pee it sits in our bodies and that our pee and poop is a way for our bodies to get rid of all the bad stuff and that if we hold it the bad stuff stays in our bodies and can make us sick. I did have to repeat this over a few days but I think it did set in her brain because the only tiome we have an accident is when she just can't get to the bathroom on time, and once in a blue moon at night, maybe this will work with your daughter, I had to get creative becuase it was nesaccary, hope I helped even a little.

LOL I have a 3 1/2 year old daughter and she does the potty dance too! I finally started using timeouts when she pees in her panties. I know when she has to go by the "dance" but she will also tell me no. So if she ends up wetting in them she getsa a timeout. Its helped. OTherwise when i see teh dance i make her sit on the potty until she goes. I also explain how its soo much easier to just go instead of trying to hold it in because she gets to play more and spend less time trying to hold the pee in.

This sounds to me like the classic "I'm too busy playing to go potty even though it almost hurts to hold it in so long" syndrome. Do you have a child-sized potty chair? What I have found works very well for many mommies is take the potty to the child instead of insisting that the child go to the potty. Let's face it, toddlers are just simply too busy! They've got a whole world to discover and figure out! Who has time to go pee in a world that busy? If she has access to the potty with as little interruption to her playing as possible, it's very likely that she won't protest using it. HTH, Crys

My 3 year old son has just been through the same thing. I think he just didn't want to take the time out that it takes to go to the bathroom. I could tell when he had to go...he would wiggle or run around in circles. I would try to force him to go and constantly remind him, but he hated it! So, I started asking him if he was still dry, and praising him for it, and every time he had a success, I would get really excited. It seemed to have worked, he has been accident free for about a week now. My advice would be to be patient and constantly praise the good!!!

Go get the book What to Expect the Toddler Years it told me everything and more there is no quick fix their internal clock tells them when they are ready for anything until then Is the potty dirty my lil girl wont go until i flush the toilet she says get rid of the koodies first mommy then i can go ask her why maybe its something so important to her to have done before she starts Who knows all i'm saying is the book helped us and it may help you too Good Luck H....

sounds like a normal 3 year old to me,,lol
my son does the same thing. he will be 4 in a few days.
i'll ask him once if he has to go. or not at all. and let him figure it out. if he wets himself,,i have him help me clean it up. and remind him that when he feels the feeling he has to go potty he needs to get to the potty right when he starts to feel it and not to ignore it or else he will have accidents. he doesn't like having accidents so that is a deterant for him.
maybe find something for her as a reward when she does make it in time. stickers or m&ms'.. or what ever her little thing is. do the reverse of what we really want to do(punish) and try to reward her for when she does get it right.
most the time kids are just playing so much and don't want to miss anything. OR they don't know their bodies as well as us adults do and know just how long we can wait till it's way too late. i remind my son sometimes that he won't miss anything and that we can go in and go potty and come right back out and resume playing with the same thing same spot.. it helps to remind them.. lol lol
good luck