[Iready2go]

I am trying to potty train my 2yr old. She doesn't appear interested right now, so does anyone have any helpful hints or stories?

[emjay]

Kids react differently to potty training. If she doesn't seem interested, then you might want to hold off for a while - it really works better when they are ready. If you google signs of readiness for potty training, you'll find lots of hints and ideas for when your little one is ready. My DD showed interest at just over 2 years - for 3 whole days! Then I kept trying, and it became a long-drawn out issue. I gave up, and she wasn't "ready" until she was about 3, and then it was like flipping a switch!

Good luck!
- Maura

[waxhawfamily]

She may be too young. Our DS didn't start cooperating until he was 3, and I can't say that he was fully trained until he was 4.

When he finally did decide to start, we developed a potty bag. Each time he went to the potty without needing new underware afterwards, he got to pick something out of the bag. He was most motivated by candy, so that's what we put in his bag.

[votemom]

don't do it until it is crystal clear that they are ready. all you will accomplish is creating stress and frustration, for both of you - but mostly for yourself. who needs it?

my daughter was capable of being potty trained for six months. but she was stubborn. she declared daily, "I'll go potty when I'm three". and, she did. in those six months, she would bring me a diaper and the wipes every time she had a **. when her diaper was wet, she would remove it herself, throw it away, and bring me a clean one. DROVE ME NUTS! she was 100% pottytrained on her 3rd bday. SHE wanted to be in control.

so, after learning on her, i did nothing with my boys. didn't even mention it. amazingly, they both were trained before 2 1/2.

every single little body and mind is different. every child is wired differently. and whether it's a physical thing or a mental thing or a power thing, it's a battle that's not worth fighting.

JMHO

[maddensmom]

I suggest spending some naked time around the house. It worked wonders when I trained my bro and sis. My ds has to be trained next summer so that he can start school that fall. I find the impending deadline very sressful and hope he won't feel the same. Good luck.

[spaypets]

Wish I could give you some magic advice, but DD didn't train until 3 even though we started talking about it at 2. We read books, we did naked weekends, we talked about it, we did stickers and candy.

Honestly, while it all helped prepare her, I'm not sure any of it helped her--just us by making us feel proactive.

She's a little over 3.5, still waking up with her pullup wet (yes, we've tried letting her sleep in underpants--all that means is I get to change wet sheets every morning), but she is daytime trained and has been since shortly after her 3rd birthday. We've had some set backs (for a while she wasn't pooping in the potty and having accidents), so we went back to the reward system (every time she pooped in the potty she got a little car or a small doll) and that helped fix it.

[angelkisses0102]

Walk away from it for now...DD was ready but also stubborn until she was 26 months and had seen the other kids at school being trained. We were home for 2 weeks and she decided she would be trained in those 2 weeks. She never once went on her little 'throne'...we bought one of those rings and put it on the big potty. We also had a huge poster...basically the whole back of her bathroom door and we put stckers for the successes...and just left it there, adding more & more stickers. And that was it for daytime.

She is still in pull ups at night but recently told me that when she is 4...next week...she won't need them anymore! She usually only had 1 or 2 accidents per month at night but we will 'light the way' to her potty at night...she tells me that will work.

Alex just turned 2 and is very interested...he tells us when he has to go...but won't sit on the big or little potty...ugh! So he takes us to his room to be changed or simply takes off his diaper...ugh!! He can undo the snaps on a onsie is about a second...ugh!! I think the 'flushing' will be the best reward we can offer him...he loves to flush...

Good luck...

[Vicki H]

I wold look for definate signs that they are ready. I thought my Alex was ready a few months ago. He would sit on the potty and go almost every time.
Since then he says Pee Potty, but as soon as I get the diaper off he sits on the potty and stands up right away and say I done.
I am going to work on this once the warmer weather is gone. He spends so much time in the pool at my sisters and combined with vacation the timing isn't good.
I plan on devoting a lot of time in the bathroom, putting him on frequently.
He loves when we cheer him on for something and he also loves to flush the toilet , so I am hoping that both of these combined will be incentive.

Vicki

[dvona]

My daughter is showing all of the signs of readiness---she tells me "poo-poo" coming and then she poops and demands a diaper change. She walks upstairs and plops herself on the changing pad. She's made pooh-pooh in the potty, but does not like doing that and tells me no...so I'm not pursuing toilet training at this time....I don't need a power struggle. I don't think it's a bad thing to wait a little longer when they are barely two.

Just my 2 cents...

Donna

[erickk]

Our son was interested at about 2 1/2 but not really ready until 3. He thought the potty was pretty cool but was not too sure what to do. When he was ready one thing we found helpful was to skip the pullups and use cloth training pants (the heavy ones) for during the day and the vinyl covered training pants for night time and trips away from home. Made the trainging period much shorter since he did not care for the mess. We used one of those rubber flannel covered pads on the bed at night. Every kid is so different. Our son stood up to pee (just like Daddy) right away--in fact at preschool there was quite a panic one day as everyone decided it would be cool to pee standing up (including the girls ). We left the potty out once he was interested but did not pursue it until he showed he really was interested (those cool underpants at the end of the road is a good incentive too!)

[sak9645]

Remember that early toilet training is usually NOT successful in training the child. It trains the PARENT -- for example, making the parent put the child on the potty every half hour. But the child usually has no real control over his/her elimination, and no real understanding of the need to use the potty.

If you try to train early, be prepared for lots of accidents. I remember a little boy in my daughter's first day care center. The staff kept telling everyone that Giovanni had just turned two and was toilet trained, and wasn't he the smartest little cutie?

Well, one day when I was there, a teacher put Gio on the toilet. They were doing this every half hour. The teacher went over to the next stall to help another child with his clothing. Gio forgot all about why he was on the toilet, stepped out of his clothes, and began walking around the classroom, bare-bottomed and urinating all the way.

Toilet trained? Gio could not tell when he needed to urinate. He could not tell when he was urinating. He knew nothing about taking off and putting on his pants. He could not make the decision to go to the bathroom or to leave the bathroom, with any understanding.

With some kids, early training also provokes resistance. They don't call them the "terrible 2s" for nothing. Some kids at that age are actively going to resist anything you tell them they have to do. Even if you tell them to go get an ice cream pop, they will probably say "no". So if you tell them that they have to stop their play and go sit on the potty, they are going to fight you every step of the way.

And there's simply no good reason for fighting battles that don't have to be fought. In another six months or a year, the child will probably be a lot more cooperative -- as well as a lot more interested in being a "big kid" and using the toilet.

One of the best ways to toilet train a child is simply to put him/her into a mixed age preschool/day care class that does not have any restrictions on diapered children. My daughter, even at 2.75, showed not the slightest interest in toilet training.

I put her into a mixed age class of 2-4 year olds that had a big unisex bathroom, with toilets, urinals, potties, and changing tables. The children were allowed to go in and out at will, and to use whatever they wanted. They stood around, talking to each other and watching each other.

Two weeks later, my daughter asked for her underwear and said she would stay dry in the daytime. And she did, with just one accident, when we were traveling and off-schedule. Interestingly, ALL of the diaper/pull-up wearing children trained fast at that school, even though the teachers put absolutely no pressure on anyone. They simply saw what the bigger kids were doing, and started to imitate them.

Having learned my lesson, I simply told Becca, at that point, to let me know when she wanted to wear underwear at night. I showed her where we kept the diapers, the pullups, and the underpants, and said she could choose whatever she wanted.

One night, almost a year later, Becca announced that she wanted her underwear. I made her wait till the weekend, envisioning having to change a wet bed at 3 a.m.

That weekend, I told Becca that I would wake her once at night and take her to the bathroom, which might help her stay dry the rest of the time. I did, and we had no accidents. In fact, we never had any accidents -- not even one. After about six months, I stopped waking her at night, and she still had no accidents.

Your child will toilet train. And he/she will toilet train as fast or faster if you don't push him/her. And once he/she is trained, he/she will be REALLY trained. He/she will not have constant accidents, or need constant reminders to go to the bathroom.

Sharon

[angelkisses0102]

I forgot to mention...our daycare for Arianna said a big NO to pullups...panties only...for the reason mentions. For Alex, a different school, they also say NO to pullups...they will use those thick cloth trainers (Gerber makes them) at school and the waterproof pants at night....as Erickk also mentioned. They refuse to train on the parents schedule...the child must be verbal enough to tell you before... In Alex's case, that's not the problem...just his refusal to sit on the potty...so we wait...and wait...and wait! I will be very surprised if he is trained before 3.

[ddahl]

Whats a naked weekend? Just no diapers?