Potty Training - Cathlamet, WA

I had similar problems with my little boy. The only thing that motivated him to use the toilet was the discomfort of being wet. The pull-ups soaked all the wetness up so he wasn't uncomfortable wetting his pants. I bought several extra pairs of underwear(the thick kinds they have for kids) and extra sweat pants, and it only took 2 days accidents before he realized that he wanted to use the potty instead of getting wet.

My daughter is also 3 and she started showing interested in using the toilet when she was about 2.5, she used it a couple times and than she quit. She did'nt want anything to with it. She is almost 3.5 now, and about a month ago I asked if she wanted to use the potty (I asked her everyday and she never wanted to) she said yes. I made her a chart with 5 circles on it, and than a picture of a present, everytime she used the toilet, she put a sticker in the circles untill they were full. I also let her pick out her own underwear, and when we are at home she is now out of a diaper when we leave the house I still put her in a pull-up (if were going to be gone more than an hour). The other thing is when she does have an accident without a diaper on have them undress and help you wash the clothes that way it's not easier for them to wear a diaper.

Hi T.! I have two boys who are sometimes even harder to potty train girls. I set a date and told my boys when they were no longer going to wear diapers. Then I cleared my schedule of everything for about a week. I turned up the heat in my house (we live in Washington State) and let them run around in only a t-shirt. I continuely gave them something to drink and gave them several opportunities to go on the training potty throughout the day. When they went, they got one M&M and tons and tons of praise! I did not use pull-ups except at bedtime at night, I think that confuses them. Both of my boys were potty trained within the week. And there was not any accidents on the carpet:). Good luck!

J.

Boy do I understand your problem. My 3 1/2 year old daughter, Sequoyah, just will not go potty on her chair. She'll sit there just as pretty, quiet and helpful as you please but refuses to go. Now her little brother, Jessan, who's not even 2 yet, is almost completely trained. But as of this morning, Sequoyah just started using her chair as well. I never scolded her or bribed her or anything like that. Just gave her the option to use the chair. I also started putting her in training pants during the day, even though that meant I had a mound of laundry every day. But it's finally paying off a little bit for me. I don't know if this little story will help you, encourage you, or not. But at least you now know that you're not alone. Good Luck.

I think you would get more responses if you put a little more info in the request. Are there any outside circumstances? Has she been through a big transition lately? All kids are different, but three is a little old for a girl to not show ANY interest in the potty, so there must be some other stuff going on too. Tell us more.

Hi T., I just wanted to say i wouldn't force it cause she'll just set her self back. I have a 3 yr. old too and it was a bumpy road. When we started potty training her i was about to have our second child,well that set her back even more, but i would tell her that she's a big girl now and she has to give up the diapers,cause baby needs them. I slowly started to work. All you can do is be pataint about it. And i've learned if the've had an accident don't get mad or upset, calmy talk to them. And also would tell her only babies wear diapers and i would ask her if she want to be a baby,if she says yes then i say, well babies don't get to this or that,she won't want to be a baby anymore and that seems to work with me.

My daughter is 2 and a half and I started with her a month or so before she turned 2 and she was doing really well....then we had some traumatic stuff happen in our lives, tried to get moved, didn't move, and on and on, and she gave up interest. Things have settled down a lot the last few months, but now she isn't interested most of the time, however, there are days that she wants to. She knows that she needs to go, she will walk over to her play kitchen and hold onto it, raise her hand in the air (the tell it to the hand stance) and tell me that she does not want to go on the potty, she does not want Junior Mints (her treat for going on the potty) and then states that "I'm FINE". If I try and put her on the potty at this point, she will not go and will scream....as hard as it is, I am just letting her decide when it is time, which obviously isn't now. She has big girl panties and she will pull them out of her drawer and want to wear them and I tell her that when she stops going pee pee and poo poo in her panties then she can wear them and ask her if she wants to do that and she usually says no, so we will wait.....and I am the one that needs to just sit back and let it happen. Good luck.
A.

Hi T., It sounds like this is your first time potty training? My advice to you would be RELAX. your daughter is perfectly normal. I often wait until I see or hear the child speak interast in using the toilet. This saves a great deal of stress for both you and the child. I ask do you want to pee pee like mommy. she may say yes in which case I'll set her on the toilet until she decides she wants off. I'll ask her again, if she is not interested I let it pass. this could take years! But that is O.K. because pushing at the wrong time could cause serious set backs. I know from experience because my 5 year old son had a situation where my husband forced him on the toilet when he was 2 because his mother told him too. My son is just now pooping on the toilet. He started peeing at about 3. Potty training isn't a big deal if we are able to allow ourselves to follow the nature of the child. understand their fears and allow them to decide when they are ready with a little prodding. We become their encourager not necessarily their coach. Potty training is another transition from babyhood to childhood and therefore should be a pleasant one. I hope this helps, sometimes we want clear cut answers in our society but child raising is so much more than that. Blessings to you and your family, J.

HI T.,

I have triplets now 5 and the task of Potty training them seemed overwhelming. I waited until they were 3 to even talk about it. More b/c I just coudln't get myself ready to take it on. However, once we started it happened almost instantly. I think the best way is to just say during the day you GET to wear Big Girl panties -- make a big deal out of it and and let her pick them out. After a couple of uh-oohs she will get the hang of it. Lost of positive reinforcement and patience. You'll have to be on the look-out all the time the first few days and then she'll learn that it doesn't feel grat to have wet panties.

Good Luck. And remember everyone goes thru it. :)

Suz.

what i did with my daughter was when i have to use the restroom take her with me and show that big girls do it and i did the sticker chart and like someone else said about telling your child only babies wear diapers and ask if she wants to be a baby and then if she says yes then tell her some things that babies can not do but she can if she is a big girl. but at the same time you don't want to force it on her she will do it when she is ready.

There are a couple things that I did with my daughter. She went back and forth between wanting to potty and not wanting to. First we brought it out in the living room etc so it was close and she could get familiar with it. Also, so that she knew she didn't have to be ashamed. We also threw her a character themed party every (I mean every) time she went. We had noise makers and danced - she loved it!! (I saw this on Dr Phil) In the end don't force her - just know that when she is ready she will go on her own.

Most kids will potty train when they're ready. If you push to hard, it may make it more difficult. A friend of mine finally just put panties on her daughter so she was really uncomfortable when she went and she decided to use the potty. I'm trying to train my twin girls that turn 3 May 2 and I'm finding that they aren't in much of a hurry either. Sometimes a reward system helps. If they go in the potty they get a star and after 3 stars they get a reward. It gives them a goal to try for and they are proud when they accomplish it. K