Potty Training? (a little long--sorry)

[eew03]

My DD just turned 29 months last week. We've been using Pull-Ups for about a month with no real luck. For the first few weeks she would actually tell me before she went #2 (to not be so "graphic") and would do that in the toilet. Now she rarely tells me anything and if I ask the answer is "No". If I try to Make her go into the bathroom, usually a fit occurs.

Yesterday we were coming back from a shopping trip (about a 20-30 minute drive home). She had on a fresh pull-up. Well she had to go #2, you tell ecause her face was all red, I figured she was having trouble. I kept telling her she was okay, that we would be home in a little bit. She was crying so I figured she was having a hard movement. Then I thought maybe she was trying to NOT go. I told her it was okay to go in her pull-up and that she was a big girl (etc., etc.). Anyway we finally got home and I went to change her and there was nothing in there even though she told me she went. So we went into the bathroom and she climbed on the toilet and went #2 and #1--her pull-up was still dry. Since then she's back to not telling me anything.

This Potty Training stuff is a pain. Should I switch to just regualr panties or the thick cloth training pants, instead of the pull-ups? I know she'll do it in her time, but I want to do want I can to speed it a long.

Thanks in advance for you comments and advice.

[stephwhiz]

Potty training is a hard thing on all involved. Both of mine were around 2 1/2 before they were completely potty trained. I tried both of them when they had just turned 2 and neither one showed much interest in it so I waited until they were a little older and then it did not take them long to catch on. If I were you I would try some of the training panties during the day and when you are at home and then use Pull-ups at night and when you are away from home. Tell her when she starts using the potty and does so for a few days then you will buy her some "big girl" panties. Take her to the store and let her pick out some panties that she likes and use them as an incentive to go potty. Now this worked with both of mine so maybe it will work with her too. If it doesn't work then I would try again in a month or so. She will eventually get trained but only when she is ready. :D Stephanie

[LadyLavender]

My parents were really on me about why our DD isn't potty-trained yet- she's almost 3. She'll go on the potty for a whole day- then the next day, when I ask her to go, she says "No thanks." I finally talked to her pediatrician about it- I think he's an awesome doctor, plus his own kids are 4 and 3. He said to leave her alone, and NOT push her or make it an issue to battle for control over. He said when she's ready, she'll go.

No great advice for you, but it's really helped me to not be so hard on myself (or my daughter!) :)

[stephwhiz]

You are totally right about not pushing them. Pushing them will only scare them and make them be afraid to learn to potty. Doctors tell you not to worry about it and that they will learn in their own time. Stephanie

[jamma]

I agree with the no pull ups!!! Kids know those are still diapers... underwear means more messes to clean up, but they definitely learn faster!

[Madre]

On the plus side: Pull-Ups are wonderful! No mess, no fuss. :D

On the minus side: I think Jamie and Steph are right. I think Pull-Ups may drag out the potty training and those thick training pants are probably the way to go. :( You'll get there either way, but at least your route will be more direct. :)

[KansasMom]

Kushies makes a cloth training pant that has a cover on the outside to help eliminate the messes but still make them feel wet or dirty. I get mine from www.basicallybaby.com. They are just like the cloth training pant you can get in the story but they have the cover sewn to the outside. We are using them right now. We decided to finally attempt the potty training thing.

We have sat on the potty every 45 minutes since we got up the morning and we haven't gone nor had an accident yet...so we will see...it has to be coming some time...I just gave her some juice so hopefully this next sesson will be a successful one. No power struggles, no arguing yet. Please pray :lol:

[jamma]

Yah, we used those training pants too. My kids still thought they were diapers though, especially since they were a bit bulky.

sigh.

Toilet training. Just one of those things,eh?

[Timmys mom]

I'm with you, my son is over 2 and a half and still not fully potty trained. But on the bright side yesterday he told me he had to poop and pooped in the potty. Thats the first time he's done that. He's peed in the potty a bunch, but usually only if he has no pants on or if I ask him if he has to go. I hadn't switched to undies because he refused to go poop inthe potty. Now that he's done it i'm thinking about using underware, but I dread all the messes! He has pull ups too, but he thinks there the same thing as diapers, so it's really no different using them then diapers.

[selkie]

I tried to potty train DD more than once, but until she was ready a few months after her 3rd birthday there was no point. If they're not ready, you just can't push it. My personal opinion is that, in general, people push the potty training thing way to much with kids and it becomes so much of an issue for everyone involved. No matter what you use - diapers, pull-ups, training pants, "big girl undies" - it's not going to happen until they're ready. (Not that I didn't obssess about it in my head, just tried not to with her)

DD was 4 in January and we still use pull-ups at night. We've talked about when she stays dry through the night then she won't have to wear pull-ups to bed, but she's not ready for it yet. She'll stay dry for a few days and then will wake up with a full pull-up for a few days. It's just not something I'm going to make a big deal over. I smile and give her a high five when she wakes up dry and don't say much of anything when it's wet. Right now we've got Dragon Tales pull-ups and I just say "oh the dragons flew away last night, go put this in the garbage". She'll get it eventually, just like she learned to walk, talk and dress herself - all on her schedule when she was ready for it.

Good luck and don't stress over it too much. :D