Potty training

[Karen]

OK, am I the only one using this Toddler forum? Don't tell me there is no one else out there with Toddler questions!!

Question of the week...any good hints, books, advice, re potty training? My 2 1/2 yr old dd KNOWS when she is going, and frequently wants to wear "panties" (plastic covered cotton), but then makes no attempt to use the potty. Even with a bm - which she will go into her room and close the door to do. Yuck! At odd times, though, she hops on the potty like a pro and goes, esp if we're in a public restroom.

We have both a small potty and a potty seat for the big potty. I bought the first one, and then she decided she prefers the big potty option. I try not to over-react either way, and I really prefer not to engage in bribery, as I'm not using that approach anywhere else - at least not blatantly. In general, she's not a really negative child.

For example: This morning she told me "No more diapers. I'm a big girl.", but then made no attempt to use the potty - but it's not really an "accident" because she knows she's going.

Thanks for your help.
Karen?(

[netmechwife]

I KNOW EXACTLY WHAT YOU MEAN KAREN!!! My 2 1/2 yo ds does the exact same thing. And he really wants to wear the big boy pants... But sits on the potty so I will let him wear them and doesn't sit on it the rest of the day. UGH. I don't know quite what to do...

[PamE]

The only thing that worked for my kids when they got to that stage was not putting anything on them from the waist down. They had maybe two or three accidents and that was it. You have to be kinda brave to go for it, but it worked with all three of mine. :) Good luck to both of you!

[Diane]

I never allowed my kids to wear big girl/boy underpants unless they were at least willing to TRY to sit on the toilet and go potty. If they wouldn't cooperate and at least try... they were put back into their diapers. If they had a fit, I'd give them another chance, but after a while if they STILL weren't cooperating I'd put their diapers back on and forget about it for a few day's. If they wanted to wear the big girl/boy underpants they had to EARN the right to wear them... they couldn't just wear them and wet everywhere. When/if they finally did decide to go... I'd set a timer for every so often and put them on. Iif they went they got to put a sticker on their sticker chart. At the end of the week if they had so many stickers... they'd get to go pick out a "little" something at the store OR I'd do it by the day and let them have an extra treat or story at the end of the day. Good luck...

Diane... :wave:

[Amy]

When I trained my ds this summer, I put the potty seat in front of the tv to start with (a plastic table cloth underneath), stripped him naked fromthe waste down and turned on his favorite movie. He would sit on it and watch tv and then he peed in it! Once he did this regularly, I moved the potty to the hallway and then to the bathroom after he sought out the potty.

[Diane]

Originally posted by Amy/CO
When I trained my ds this summer, I put the potty seat in front of the tv to start with (a plastic table cloth underneath), stripped him naked fromthe waste down and turned on his favorite movie. He would sit on it and watch tv and then he peed in it! Once he did this regularly, I moved the potty to the hallway and then to the bathroom after he sought out the potty.

LOL... cute idea!! :)

Diane... :wave:

[KarlaB]

We bribed :blush: oldest ds with goldfish to get him trained. :lol: Youngest ds pretty much trained himself because he wanted to be like his big brother. With both dks we also let them run around naked from the waist down and it worked great!!! With oldest ds we checked out some movies and books from the library. We also have a few books and movies - I'll try to find them and let you know what they are. Good luck!!

[Leigh]

I am having trouble potty training my puppy:lol:, so I am not really one to be giving advice, but there is a book called Once Upon A Potty (you can get it for girls or boys), and it might be helpful. Hang in there!

[Karen]

Netmechwife: Thanks for letting me know your ds is doing the same thing!!

I have to report that for a couple of days, since we've been snowbound, I've let my dd run around naked and she has gone to the potty like a champ. However, I don't think the stores would appreciate me bringing her there like that, and there is 10 inches of snow on the ground...As soon as I put the panties on to run out with her, she soaks them...So now I know that SHE knows when to go and, for some reason, just isn't interested in doing it with the panties. Guess I'll just stop getting frustrated with it and she'll do it in her own time.

Thanks for the advice!