Potty Training Tips for 23 Mo. Old Girl?

Updated on April 28, 2009
L.L. asks from Buffalo, NY
10 answers

Hi everyone- so baby no. 2 arrived 2 mo. ago and it has me wanting to potty train my 23 mo. old! I know some would say she is too early, but she is quite mature for her age and showing a lot of readiness...This morning I took her diaper off, and created a tree in the bathroom to put stickers on- I told her if she went she would get one m & m and a sticker for the "apple tree"- She was thrilled and actually went 7 times on the potty!!! Afterwards I put a pull-up on her and the rest of the morning she just peed in the pull up-

My questions is- she went 7 times in a little over an hour- is this normal? or does it mean her bladder is not ready? I caught her a couple of times about to go and she held it until we got to the bathroom. I did give her a lot of water this morning to encourage her to have to pee- Also, at this age would you just put underwear on her- it seems that she is too comfortable just going in the pull up?

All that aside- she was thrilled- giggled with glee every time she went!

any other advice would be great!

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E.C.

answers from Boston on

My daughter was fully potty trained at 22months in undies so she might possibly be ready. She could be going so much because she is not fully peeing the first time so I would have her sit an extra second and tell her to push any more pee out. I would just keep up the rewarding and wear the undies. Good luck!

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L.L.

answers from Portland on

That is a lot of peeing for a little girl....exactly how much water did you give her? LOL
When I toilet train I take the diaper off...as you say, they are too comfortable going in whatever they have on wether its diaper, pull-up, or training panties.
Leave the diaper off during day time to engrain the thought of doing business on the potty. (except at naptime of course)
Sticker and M&M's are fine if she is responsive to them...could be this is the source of the excessive peeing too , you know.
She is rather young but then girls potty train , as a rule, so much younger and faster than boys do.
Give it a go for a couple weeks, see how it works out. If you find she simply is not yet ready then stop for a few months.
Believe me I know how hard it is to have multiple babies in diapers...In May 1965 I had four children four years to newborn. That was in the day of cloth diapers that needed to be washed by hand so horrible rashes would not develope too.
Patience is needed..yes?
Best wishes and God bless
Grandmother Lowell

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L.S.

answers from New London on

I would switch from an m & m to rewarding her with lots of praise. She may just want those M & Ms and is going for you that many times to get them. But my son does pea a couple of times an hour and then can hold it for 3 or more if we are out. We started training at 18 months, so 23 months is a good age. Lots of praise and lots of dancing and singing after she pees is a good idea. And say ... "just like mommy" My son is 23 months and just started standing at his potty and saying just like daddy. He still has accidents. He seems to go when he has pants on because he thinks he has a diaper on. So I try to keep consistent and do no pull-ups during the day and just for naps and nighttime and traveling, but then we were away for a week and it was two steps forward and 5 steps back. It was like starting all over again. He would pee at the dinner table or when he was doing something he didn't want to stop. But he knows to go to the potty, sometimes he just doesn't want to, but when he does we sing and dance and he is really excited and then the more we praise him the more likely he is to not have an accident that day. But he is only two, so accidents will happen, I just say, next time peepee in the potty, ok. I think you are doing fine, but you may want to save the M&Ms for number 2s, because you'll be feeding her m&m's all day. We used chocolate chips for number 2 for a couple of days but then we just stopped and he forgot about them. ;)

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R.K.

answers from Springfield on

Someone at playgroup recently mentioned the 3day potty method. You have to stay home the entire first day and let them go completely naked. The second day you leave the house for 1 hour but you don't put anything on under their pants no diaper, no pull up no underwear. The third day you leave the house for 1 hour in the morning and 1 hr in the afternoon again no underwear, no diaper no pullup under their pants then for the next months when you dress them no underwear no pull ups no diaper even underwear can give kids the sensation of a diaper so they think they can go at least thats what this method stands by. We plan on giving it a shot as soon as we are done w/ our move because we will no longer have any carpets :) The other thing is before you start the 3 day you are supposed to make a potty dance to do before anyone in your house goes to the bathroom.

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C.M.

answers from Boston on

Potty training has got to be the most difficult challenge some of us mom's face. My daughter refused to go on the potty until after her 3rd birthday and since then has had a bought of regression with peeing in her pants. Every child is different and even if you seem successful, be prepared for her to regress....especially at this early age. As far as pull-ups, I had absolutely no sucess with those, because she would just go in them without hesitation. She still does today if I put one on her. If you really want to give it a try, let her go without any diaper or pants. If you would rather bring her potty out in the livingroom area so she doesn't have far to go. Keep it fun and positive. Especially at her age. Doctors say that the bladder isn't really ready until age 3, so don't get upset if it doesn't happen overnight.

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J.C.

answers from Providence on

she's not too young to potty train. anyway gerber makes cloth underwear that are thicker in the middle, kind of like cloth diapers. so if she pees in them it won't make a huge mess, but she'll still feel it and eventually she'll realize it doesn't feel good. that and rewards for going on the potty worked for my little girl. we used cute "big girl" underwear as rewards.

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A.M.

answers from Boston on

Hi
I trained my daughter at 2 as well. The thing that solved it all was my mother-in-law bought big girl under pants that we put on her and since then there has been no diapers. Good Luck!

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M.K.

answers from Boston on

My daughter trained with a little guidance and some stickers at age 2- she was interested and ready. My son told me at 20 months, "NO DIAPER." So I bought him a potty and that was it. Most of my nieces and nephews were potty trained right around 24-26 months, so I would definitely say she is ready if she understood the reward system and went 7 times! My suggestion would be to stay home for a few days and let her walk around with nothing on the bottom. Once you put the pull-up on, it feels like a diaper so she sub-consciously stops paying attention. After a few days, you can make a big show of giving her a present- big girl undies with her favorite characters on them! For night time, you could do training pants and some waterproof pads under her sheet. I don't recommend the rubber sheet for two reasons: 1. it has an awful smell that isn't good for her to breathe and 2. it makes a very distracting crinkling noise.

Good luck and Happy Training!
-M :)

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L.C.

answers from Boston on

If you think she's ready, she probably is. Give it some time. My daughter (2 1/2yrs)is currently potty training and in the beginning it seemed like she was peeing every 10 min, but after about a week she seemed to be doing better holding it. I think they are just so used to peeing whenever, while wearing a diaper, it takes a little practice to train themselves not to. I use the cloth training panties by gerber(mainly because pull-ups are so expensive) and just put a diaper on at night and a pull-up on during naps. I also put a little potty in her room while she naps, so if she does wake up, she can use it herself (I don't recommend doing this until they have the idea of using the potty down and you're sure she won't play in it, yuck!). I also found that my daughter is more likely to tell me she needs to use the potty if she is wearing panties rather than pull-ups. Especially when we're out and about. In the beginning we kept a small toilet available in the kitchen. I have twins 11months younger so I couldn't keep it on the floor, but if you can put it out where she can see it and use it whenever she feels she needs to, it seemed to be easier for us. She'll start to get it. Try not to get frustrated (it can be very frustrating at times), she's learning to control her body, which isn't an easy process. Think of it like learning to walk, most babies don't just stand up one day and start walking, there are many falls and stumbles along the way. Hopefully this is helpful.

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C.S.

answers from New London on

In the beginning, peeing in the potty is a novelty, so that may be why she went so many times in such a short time span. If she can hold it when you ask her to, she sounds very ready. Also, I trained both my older girls with panties; in my opinion, a pull-up is just a glorified diaper. It's easy to just pee in there. I wish you luck; potty training is rarely easy!

Oh, and if a reward (M&Ms) works, go with it! My middle daughter didn't need any, but my oldest did. I used stickers, and she loved getting them and putting them on her chart. Good luck!

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