Disaster after one week - what went wrong?

[Andlou]

After a week we have just decided to give up on our first attempt to potty train DD at 2.0yrs. I wasn't expecting instant success but she seems to have got worse as the week has progressed.
She had been telling us when she'd pooed for a while and sometimes said "wee wee potty" as she held herself when weeing in her nappy. We gave her a potty on her birthday and the next day when she announced "poo" after teatime we put her on it and she did one straight away, much to our surprise and delight. The following week, at home and at nursery, we encouraged her to sit on it and she used it successfully - even asking for her potty herself when she needed it. So on Sunday we decided she was ready and took the plunge. Obviously we were expecting lots of accidents but for the first few days she'd happily sit on it and would often ask to use her potty. After four days I noticed that she was holding her wee and doing maybe six a day instead of lots of little ones as before - I thought this was a good sign as she was learning to control her bladder. But then a pattern seemed to emerge where she'd only do a tiny dribble on her potty when we asked her to sit on it and then minutes later do an enormous wee on the floor. She also started saying "no like it" when we asked her to wee on the potty. Thursday and Friday she only slept for 10-15 minutes at nursery instead of the normal one and a half+ hours - totally out of character and I'm worried this is becasue of the potty training trauma. At home today she has totally regressed and hasn't done anything on the potty at all.
Any ideas what's gone wrong? I don't want to cause her any stress (or more stress for us!) so we've decided to give up and go back to nappies for a while, as I know she's still young for this. I don't understand where her enthusiasm has gone and why she now seems totally unwilling/phobic about using her potty. We've tried reading to her/letting her watch videos/bribery with stickers and chocolate but she will only squeeze out a drop to be obliging before having a big accident straight afterwards. This has been a really upsetting week and it's made worse by the fact that I'll be dreading our next attempt.

[longgrasswhispers]

2.0 is still young. I'd forget about it for a while, but keep the potty somewhere obvious and refer to it a few times a day - but with no pressure. For example, if she tells you she's spent a penny in her nappy, or she's in the process of spending a penny in her nappy, you could say "Well done darling, and maybe next time you could try the potty?".

In a week or two, try having her nappy off at home - I know this might mean lots of cleaning up, but it will make her aware of the link between the full bladder feeling and a penny coming out (although it sounds as if she knows already)...

Eventually, I'm sure, she'll regain her interest in it.

[pointythings]

My girls were both 2 1/2 - 2 is very young. I don't think she's ready.

I made the mistake of trying when DD1 was 2.4 - mostly due to peer presure, all the other kids in our mums' group were out of nappies. It was a disaster. Two months later she came out of the paddling pool, I said OK, let's get your nappy on, she had a screaming paddy and refused it. So I said OK, let's go back to pants then - within a week, I kid you not, she was dry, clean and going independently on the big toilet with barely an accident at all. With DD2 we learned the lesson and waited for the nappy refusal - it came at dead on 2 1/2 and the same thing happened, sorted in a week. It's really worth waiting until they are ready and want to do it.

[Andlou]

Thanks - relieved to have her back in nappies and she seems perfectly happy about it too. However, she still tells me when she's weeing/pooing and when she has had her nappy off has told me beforehand and been happy to wee in the toilet or potty! Can't make her mind up it seems!

[pointythings]

@Andlou - that probably means it won't be long. Wait for the tantrum and sit back and enjoy the ease of potty training as it should be. Good for you not giving in to the peer pressure.