Help with potty training

[jessmke]

My DD is 2 years and 1 month old. I know she is young for potty training, but she has started telling us as soon as she has peed/pooped and asking for her diaper to be changed, and is interested in using the potty, so we thought we'd give potty training a go. She was great the first day, she had one pee and one poop accident, but otherwise hit the potty every time. Unfortunately she got sick with hand foot and mouth on day 2 of potty training. She still would go on the potty if prompted, but she felt like crap and no longer really cared about getting a sticker or any other reward for going on the potty. After a week and a half of training she only pooped on the potty twice, and has never once told us when she has to go. She will go if we take her to the potty frequently enough (which irritates her so we try not to take her excessively), but if we don't take her then she will just go on the floor. She gets upset when she goes on the floor, but she doesn't seem to feel the urge early enough to get herself to the potty or tell us she has to go. However, she has enough control that she can go on command with sufficient motivation, like if we tell her we can go to playgroup as soon as she pees on the potty, she will go sit on the potty and concentrate and get out a little pee, and is proud of herself when she goes on the potty. My OH feels like we've started this and we now have to see it through, but I feel like she just isn't ready yet and there's no point in stressing everyone out over it when she is still so young. I want to just put her back in diapers and wait for a few months before trying again. Any thoughts or tips for us?? We use cloth diapers, so if we put her back in diapers she can still feel when she is wet/dirty.

 

[agse]

Potty training can definitely be tough! We have 4 ourselves so I can understand the excitement, the frustration etc of it all! Each of my kids were at different ages when they were finally potty trained..some well after 3 and some before...but I assure you..your daughter will eventually get there! I found the more I pushed them to potty train, the less they wanted to do it! It's great that she is showing interest...but maybe let her lead! Let her go when she wants and continue encouraging her. If she decides that she doesn't want to don't make a big deal about it. If you make too big of a deal, she may rebel and not want to have anything to do with it at all. Encouragement is key! She will eventually get there! Best of luck to you!

 

[Eleanor ace]

If it was me I'd keep the potty about and give her the encouragement/opportunity to use it, but not actually potty train until she shows an interest again (at least for a little while). This is what I did and mine all learned to use the toilet without any dramas; I like a quiet life and am too lazy to deal with having to constantly remind them to go to the toilet and take them every 20 minutes though .
I also have a couple of girls who were very stubborn at the age where they started using the toilet and if I'd made it obvious that using the toilet was kind of a big deal they'd have almost certainly dug their heels in. Instead I would just remind them when I went to the toilet, or when they were getting undressed for a bath, washing hands before eating and I would just casually ask "do you need to go to the toilet while we're here?"

 

[SarahBear]

It's really a personal decision and in the end it won't really matter what you decide. So stick with it and be willing to do clean up and "potty police," or push that off for later. My son will be three in March and we're basically just sticking him in underwear and rewarding for using the toilet but mostly not making a big deal out of all the "accidents." Sometimes we put him on the potty and ask him to go, but just for things like waking up, going to bed, or leaving the house. He has a long way to go, but all those accidents help the learning process along.

 

[lau86]

I know physically my daughter could potty train, I tried her over the summer but she totally dug her heels in and just wouldn't do it, she would actively run away and wet her knickers. I have two boys, i feel physically they were less aware than she was but a lot easier to persuade.
we talk about the potty and that soon she will need to go on it (I would really like her trained for starting nursery in September), but I do worry about clashing with her again. I have also tried her in a bed recently and she stood at the door every night And wouldn't get into bed, until I brought her cot back again!!

 

[SarahBear]

I also need Leo to be ready for preschool in September. I also just don't want to be changing a 3 year old. I'm hoping it will click before summer. If it doesn't click by spring break (I'm a teacher, so I get lots of breaks from work), we'll put in more direct effort into things to try to push him along. For now the training is fairly passive.