Similar thread I know - but could really really do with some advice please...

[sw11mumofone]

Hi
My DD is exactly 2 and a half. Just after she was 2 in the summer we spent quite a bit of time starting to get her used to the potty by putting her on it at the end of the day before bath time and sometimes in the morning. She was happy to sit on it but very rarely did anything on it. Due to one thing and another we didn't get around to full on potty training and then since then we have gone off the boil a bit and not being practicing every day.
I decided that I would try and start training her this week. We have a completely free week (nursery has broken up) followed by DH being off work for 2 weeks. We are going to grandparents for xmas but i thought if I gave it a go for a week first we'd hopefully be well on the way by then.
I have checked all her signs of readiness and she seems to tick all the boxes. She also is very interested in everyone else using the toilet and wants to copy, use toilet paper, flush the loo etc. She was really excited buying her new big girls pants and was super excited to put them on for the first time this morning. She has also reached all her other milestones early so don't feel that is an issue.
We had a couple of accidents which is obviously expected on day 1, but she didn't really want to sit on the potty. I decided to start with to give her a chocolate button if she would sit on it for around 5 mins every 20 mins or so. That worked and she sat on it regularly but didn't do anything. Then at 5pm today after holding everything in for over two hours she started hopping about and asking for a nappy. She eventually got really distressed, pulling the nappies out of her drawer and begging to have one put on. Finally realising that wasn't going to happen she sat on the potty and did a wee. We made a huge deal out of it and rewarded her with a sticker on her chart and chocolate cake! And she was chuffed to bits - quoting pages from her potty training book about being such a big girl etc etc. But it was very distressing. She then went on to have another one accident and refused to sit on the potty again after.
Ironically tonight when we put her to bed she got really upset because she wanted her big girl pants on and not a nappy!
I don't know what to do. I am due to have a baby at the end of Feb so I feel like its either now or not again for quite a few months. She is showing so many signs of being ready that I feel if I give up now we'll miss the right time. But hated seeing her so distressed. To add something else into the mix she also suffers from UTI's so the sooner she is out of nappies the better.
What to do? Try another day and see if the distress becomes less? I think she will be devastated to have to give up her big girl pants as she loves them and we've spent a couple of weeks talking it all through. But I don't want to scar her for life?
Any advice would be very gratefully received - sorry for massively long post.
Thank you!!

[housesalehelp]

I would try maybe another day or so -also does she drink a lot - I would maybe try giving her more than usual
then if its not working maybe try pull ups? I would also leave the potty out and encourage her to use it when she wants to. I would then maybe try pants again when she is using the potty sometimes. I tried my DS at 21/2 he was excited about pants but was clearly not ready -loads of accidents and happy went back into pull ups - he has just trained - really easily at 2 and 10 months - also I have heard that a new baby can mean regression in potty training, I don't think in most cases that you can miss a window

[sw11mumofone]

Thanks so much for your post housesalehelp. I decided to go for it and try another day. And it started brilliantly. She was excited to get into her new pants again and came downstairs and had a huge cup of juice. 40 minutes later she just turned around and said I'm going to do a wee wee in my potty mummy. Then pulled her leggings and pants down and got on with it. She was chuffed to bits with herself and got a chocolate button and sticker for her chart. Then everything else since then has been on the floor!! She won't sit on her potty if I ask her and doesn't really listen - she's so stubborn. I read so much about staying calm and not making them feel bad about accidents that now I feel like she thinks its no big deal to wee on the floor!!! So not really sure how to progress from here.
Do I just keep going and hope it clicks? Do I keep trying to get her to sit on it intermittently, or just hope she gets it by herself and keep cleaning up after her?
Losing the will to live being stuck in the house all day and its only day 2!!!!
Thanks for any advice.

[sw11mumofone]

Also just to say, she was in pull ups for quite a few months before this. Hasn't been in normal nappies for a while. When I put her down for her lunchtime nap/quiet time today she was really upset when I put a pull up back on her! She wanted to keep her big girl pants on! So I feel like it would be a step backwards to revert to those...

[housesalehelp]

well it sounds like progress as she hasn't been holding on and getting upset and she did go once by herself - what about poos btw ? I would give in another couple of days - I would ask maybe every 40 mins- and I gave choc buttons for sitting on the potty and then another for doing something