Potty Training 2 1/2 Year Old Girl - Ashville, OH

I don't know that she is TOTALLY ready to be potty trained. My daughter was going number 2 on the potty by the time she was 3 but she wouldn't go number one until she was 4. One day she just decided she wanted to wear underwear and go on the potty for everything. She liked underwear before but she knew she couldn't wear just underwear because she wasn't going on the potty. Big thing is, I didn't push her or make her sit on the potty. I would just casually mention it to her every once in awhile and see what she said. We did stickers for awhile when she would go number 2 and when she went number 1 and 2 on the potty she got a tootsie roll. That worked really well so you could try the m&m's and see if it works but I just wouldn't push her because that might make her regress and refuse to go. My daughter is stubborn too and if it isn't her way, it is no way!! So that is why I just left it up to her.
Good Luck!

My girls were potty trained at about 2.5 yrs old. We bought a kitchen timer and put it in the living room. We started the timer at 30 minutes, and when the time rang, we said "its potty time" and sat the girls on the potty. They didn't always go, but we spent plenty of time sitting on the potty. Once done, we restarted the potty clock. We did this every 30 minutes for about 2.5 weeks and then they were potty trained. We also bought the huggies clean team soap where the hippos head lights up for the lenthg of time they should wash - and they were only allowed to use if they peed or went poop. We also bought the kiddie flushable wipes that have neat designes (walmart - baby aisle by the wipes & bath stuff) and the girls are only allowed to use if they go poop on the potty - that was incentive for them becuase they LOVE new stuff. Good luck. My girls turned three in February, and they can even get on the big potty (with no insert seat) all by themselves....what a releif.

My daughter is 26 mos. and we've been working on the potty as well. 2 is such a hard time, because everything is a struggle. They want to be autonomous, but they don't have the mental capacity to make good decisions yet. Some days she does great and goes all day with no accidents, some days she doesn't want anything to do with the potty. I use plastic training pants, they are cloth on the inside, so she feels wet and plastic on the outside, so everything else doesn't. Usually at home she wears nothing, so she can get to the potty easily. It's hard for them to navigate all the clothing in time. We also keep the potty chair where we do most of our living, not upstairs in the bathroom. yes, it looks funny having a potty in the middle of the kitchen. But most visitors to the house know that we have a 2 yr old and they think its cute. I don't use candy as a reward, we use rubber stamps. I took her to Hobby Lobby and let her pick out a couple of stamps. We have an Elmo stamp and a Monkey stamp. When she goes, she gets a stamp where ever she wants it. Usually her hand and her belly. On a good day she looks like one huge tattooed baby! When her daddy walks through the door at night, he can immediately tell if she's had a good day and he praises her for it. Stamps are easy to take with me, I put them in a zip loc and throw them in my purse whenever we leave. Potty training is a huge life change for them, and we can't expect that they will learn it in a day or even a week. It does have to be their decision or it will turn into a power struggle. Ultimately she does control her own body, so that is a struggle the parent will always lose. I kind of let her decided what she's going to do each day, and she is doing great so far. Good luck.

Your post sounds EXACTLY what I just went through!! My babysitter told me she was beyond ready, so to bring underwear and clothes. I didnt really think she was, b/c I was having the same struggle as you. She would sit for a couple of seconds and be done. She has 6 accidents at the sitters, then the next day, I was off work and wasnt planning to go anywhere. So I just put a nightgown on her, (she calls it a dress!) and didnt really mention anything to her about the potty. She went all day, by herself, without me telling her. She just had to do it on her own, not with me telling her. She is also very stubborn, and everything has to be done her way. I just let her be the one to make the choice to do it and didnt push. I have learned that pushing her to do what "I" want sometimes doesn't work! Also, she will be 3 in 2 weeks, so we did wait a little longer than 2 1/2. I know it doesnt seem like that much difference, but it is! Hope that helps.

S., I can totally relate.
My 2-year old really responded to getting stars on her chart from a book called "Big Girls Use the Potty". We also read books to her while she sits on the potty so there's not so much pressure to go at a certain time. We also made it a BIG deal when she went by herself (shouting "Hooray" and giving big hugs).

I hope that helps a little.

I wonder how long at daycare they are making her sit on a potty, that may be why she doesn't want to sit on the one at home.
I also have a 2 1/2 yr old girl. She won't sit on it more than 2 or 3 seconds literally. My older daughter was easy to potty train. She was big enough so mostly we just used the regular toilet which she liked better.
5 min. is plenty to make them sit, if you can make them sit.
If she loves the underwear, then that is your strong point. Tell her she can pick out new underwear (Dora/Petshop etc.) if she sits on the potty at home instead of peeing in her pants etc...
Hope it happens soon. I know I would love to have my 2 1/2 yr. old out of diapers!!!!!!!!!!!

M&M's and charts with smiley faces meant nothing to my little miss independant. She was happiest when praised. She was ready at 2 1/2, but it took consistent coaching on our part but after about a week, she did great.

Pull-ups were useless, they were too much like diapers. Even the cool-touch ones didn't phase her. I spend about two days letting her run around the house naked from the waist down, and another couple of days with "big girl" panties on till she finally went a day accident free. I'd give her a favorite drink and watch the clock, asking every 20-30 minutes or so if she needed to go potty. When she changed what she was paying attention to (playing) to thinking about the potty, she would stop for a brief second and think about it and say either yes or no, and then go back to playing or run to the potty.

To help and involve daddy more, he and I would even celebrate our bathroom accomplishments by Hi-5-ing and "whoo hoo'ing" each other when we did something. We made her potty accomplishments a HUGE deal. We also made a production of picking out and wearing big girl panties. By the end of the week she was in big girl panties all the time, and has even been awaking dry in the morning (when we watch what she drinks at night). We do still put pull ups on her at bedtime, but she immediately takes them off upon waking.

My daughter will be 2 1/2 the end of the month. She has been showing all of the signs that she was ready for the potty for over 6 months now. When we first introduced the potty she loved the idea and would use it 1-2 times a day for a couple of weeks and then one day she refused to sit on the potty kicking and screaming. I tried various types of rewards with no luck. She can be very strong willed. She would be in underwear for 7 hours no accident and still refused to sit on the potty. I knew that wasn't good for her so I stopped asking her to go, put her back in diapers and decided she would do it when she was ready because I knew she was capable. I bought the DVD Elmo's Potty Time wich she seemed to enjoy, at the end she went right in and went pee on the potty, but refused again after that. About 2 weeks ago she woke up one morning and said I don't want my diaper, I want to pee on the potty! She has been doing #1 &#2 about 90-95% of the time since! She still gets a pull up at bed and nap. With my daughter I can't really say, "let's go sit on the potty" it has to be, "if you have to go, you can go in and go and let me know if you need help" and she usually replies with "c'mon mommy". It totally has to be her idea. Not sure if that helps. I know it's frustrating.

My daughter seemed ready and half-interested for almost 6 months (she is just turning 3 in May). Some people don't like this idea, but what worked for us to get her committed was to let her run around naked all weekend, and put a potty chair in our main living area. It was always in view for her to see, and after a few accidents, she didn't like the feeling of being wet. That weekend was the best thing we ever did, because then she finally committed to it and was instantly trained. We did use m&m rewards for awhile, but that was a hard habit to break because even though she has now been potty trained for 2 months, she still asks for m&ms sometimes after going potty. So weigh the options there. She still wears a pull-up during naps and overnight, and she won't go #2 on the potty yet, but we're mostly there. Good luck.

I can tell you from an experience that I am having that the new classroom itself could be a problem. My daughter will be three in July. She has been potty trained during the day for almost a year. She only had 2 accidents EVER at daycare. I think she tried harder there than at home at first. She had not had an accident at all since September, I think.

She moved up to the preschool room about a month ago. The first week she had accidents every day! The second week she had them almost every day. The third week, mid-week, I suggested that maybe something was wrong with her body and that we should probably go to see her doctor who may have to give her a shot to make her body better. Her flu shot was so traumatizing to her that she cried all the way home after, about 20 min!

She assured me that her body was fine and that she did not need to go to the doctor and has not had an accident since. I did not yell at her or struggle with her about the accidents, but was at my wits end.

I think it can be really unsettling for these kids to move up to the new classroom and that the potty thing is somehow an outlet for their fears.

Just my two cents.

Hi S., you know what works as a wonderful motivator for kids? STICKERS!!! GET A SMALL PIECE OF PAPER, make a sticker chart with the days of the week for the rows, then make as many columns as you want for each time you think she will go potty during the day. each time she successfully goes potty, put a sticker in the square. make sure you SHOW her the stickers BEFORE...AND LET HER SEE YOU MAKING THE CHART. BE AS OBVIOUS AS YOU CAN. she will see her favorite character, or her favorite color stickers and she will wonder what YOu are doing with them and how SHE can get some of them. let her know that when she gets "so many" stickers, she can do something special, get a new book, go someplace, have a playdate, get ice cream, WHATEver. THIS WORKS WONDERs. it did with my two girls, who both potty trained at 2.5 and almost 3. also, make sure you get that vinyl pad that goes between the fitted sheet and the mattress. if she has an accident, just whip it all off and throw in the wash and put back on again. i have a one year old son, so im sure i will be asking others about boys and potty training soon, but its great to know that we all have ideas and are willing to share them, isnt it??? have a great day S., and good luck. let me know what you think about my idea and if you have tried it or not.