[amyfk]

Hi to Everyone,

Joanna is now 2.5 years old. although we read her books and show her movies about the potty, she has shown no interest in using the potty yet so she is still in diapers.
Unfortunately, within the past week(and earlier this evening) Joanna will pull off her diaper and urinate on the floor. She did it in our bedroom, on her Elmo Chair, and tonight in the den. This was after my husband tried her on the potty with no luck.
My questions are as follows:
Should I start potty training her, or wait until she
shows an interest?
Are there any punishment/reward systems that you
know of for kids peeing on the floor?
If she knows that the potty or diaper is for peeing in,
why the heck does she do this?
Lastly, any books that you know about that deals with
this issue?
Thanks in advance,
Amy K, NJ

[TweetyMom04]

A Childs' bowels are one thing you have no control over and they do. Sounds like you are ready for her to be out of diapers more than she is ready for Big Girl Undies. I did the same with the Boys when they were 3. Weeks went by and I got no where closer to getting them out of diapers. So I backed off and waited. I posted this after we had success after their 4th Birthday. Hope it may help. Successful Toiletteers

Should I start potty training her, or wait until she shows an interest? Wait until she shows interest. Nothing says you cannot talk about "Big Girl Pants" and who wears them.

Are there any punishment/reward systems that you know of for kids peeing on the floor? No Punishment. This can have opposite results when the time comes. A gentle reminder of where Pee and Poo go is good. Also, when she goes in her diaper, take the diaper and shake it over the toilet and whatever falls into the toilet falls. This helps her to visualize where it should go. In our case, both Boys have suffered with hearing problems. So seeing me shake their diaper over the toilet helped.

If she knows that the potty or diaper is for peeing in, why the heck does she do this?Could be rejection, to early, not understanding (vocabulary), no interest, cannot feel or doesn't understand the 'feeling' of needing to go. Sometimes children will continue to 'bed-wet' because of a health issue with their bowels. Does she 'fit' the readiness for potty training?

Lastly, any books that you know about that deals with this issue?Gina Ford wrote a great book about Potty Training. Also, the What to expect Toddler yrs has great advice and various other reads around. One thing to remember: make it fun. If you are uptight the child will 'feel' this and can have negative results than what you are trying to achieve.
Thanks in advance,
Amy K, NJ

[Drazil]

Sorry Amy but this one is in their full control ! You may be ready for it to happen BUT until she decides its time forget about pushing the subject. Adrian was 3.5 when one day he decided it was time and from that day forward he has been trained. Talk about it casually, maybe keep a potty chair out where she can see it and get used to seeing it. Do not punish at any time for this process as the poster above stated it will probably have the opposite effect. She is still young and probably just getting interested in the whole process so let her take the lead on this one. The best of luck!

[MominPA]

We put a calender in the bathroom and whenever the potty was used succesfully a sticker was placed on the calender. However, our oldest son basically did it on his own. He was attending daycare and wanted to be like the big kids and use the toliet instead of having his diaper changed. The calender was more for us to reward him for using the toliet at home.

Our youngest was already toliet trained when we adopted him. He got upset when they put a pull up on him the day we got custody. The caregivers told us "nyet diaper" and to use underwear. Our coordinator explained to them it was just for the car ride since toliets aren't readily accessible. They were happy with that answer. Thankfully I did bring underwear.

[heikewould]

Samantha was 3.5 years old. She knew what and how but just kept saying , no. Then on December 1st she said, I'm going to wear panties today, and never looked back. I will say she LOVED watching the DVD, Potty Power! She's hit and miss when it comes to a bowel movement. She'll go and get a pull-up for that. I'm not pushing, it will happen, just not when we want it to!

[amyfk]

Thank you all very much for the insightful feedback on potty training/lack of potty training.
We do have her watch Elmo Potty DVD and and read her some potty books and she sees me on the loo(I hope I dont offend anyone by this visual imagery), but still doesnt desire it.
My only question is this:
She is slated to start two full days of preschool in Sept. Most of you agreed to let her take her own initiative. What if she is still not showing an interest by mid-late August?
Thanks a lot,
Amy K, NJ

[MamaChinch]

Amy ~ a lot can change in a few months. Delaney trained at 2.5 years last August. Keep the gentle suggestions going, and it will happen. One day, I just decided to go get panties and put them on her. That was it! But she was also going on the potty fairly well.
She pee-peed on the Twister (she calls it "Dot") game once, and I made her clean it up. Has never happened again!

[mommyto4]

Hi Amy, what a bummer and a mess I am sure. This is a common control issue. I would not push the potty training now, when she is ready you will know it and it will be easy. Try not to make a big deal of her peeing on the floor,other than letting her know you are not happy when she does this. She could like the attention she gets from doing it. The novelty of doing it should then subside if she doesn't get the response she is looking for. Our pi children are usually also emotionally behind so real potty training will most likely be delayed and that is ok