Potty training - dunno what I'm doing!

[YukoandHiro]

So we started in earnest today after a few days of dd constantly asking to use it, and doing a few successful trips.
Today has been a disaster. One wee in the potty, the rest on the floor/in pants. Some just after we've got off the potty for a try. Wants to sit on it as a chair to play/watch tv but doesn't seem to know when she's going to go until it's happening.
Is this normal for the first day?
Do I give up? I'd planned to give it three full days. She's 2y5m and very verbal.
This is exhausting and it reminds me of the anxiety of the day early days.

Download and read Oh Crap

Basically have her naked waist down to start with and watch and wait for a sign that she needs to go (my ds use to stop still) Rush to potty. Repeat.

Once that is working more often than not, put on trousers but still no pants.

Then go to pants as well.

It took my DS 5 days but he hasn’t had an accident since and is very reliable.

Day 1-3 were a nightmare. Lots of wees on the potty but he couldn’t hold it and just dribbled everywhere all the time. It took a few days to train his bladder to hold it until he was sat on the potty rather than dribble it into a nappy like he was used to.

Stick with it and in a week it should be sorted.

Basically you are making a massive fuss to make your child realise the toilet sensation should happen in the toilet. Try 3 days at home. But honestly if you are anxious just wait another 6 months. I have 3 and I promise that at your stage there really is no rush.

My son was naked waist down around the house for a couple of months. Otherwise he would go in pants. He's now 3 and dry at night and day. It was hard work at first started same age as u. But keep up reminding ( if he's busy on still need to give a little nudge) . I actually used to let him use my phone on the toilet as he struggled going for poohs and hated sitting still. I'm sure you are doing great.

I would echo the advice to ditch the pants for a few days. Also worth getting a training seat for the toilet and encouraging her to use that before/after bath. Don't get too downhearted if it's not instant: it takes a while to get from nappies to self-initiation. There is no particular reason why a typical 2.5 year old wouldn't be able to get the hang of it with a bit of patience and help. Give it a week and see whether she has made any progress e.g. has she gone from cluelessness to near misses with a couple of successes? The mythical '2 days then completely dry' child seems to appear much more often on Mumsnet than in real life so please don't judge her by that standard.

Thanks all. I admit I've put her back in a nappy after her bath this evening as I'm fairly exhausted. But we will keep going the next few days.
She has eczema and having her legs uncovered has been our approach but it's been tricky today as she ends up scratching and damaging exposed skin. So I might have to put her back in loose bottoms tomorrow, but maybe with no pants? The pants seem to tell her she's going but obviously makes it hard to get on there very quickly.
Do you move the potty round the house with you at first, or leave it in the same place. I've been moving it today but worried she seems to just see it as a seat rather than a toilet

We had one day like that - DS sat on the potty for half an hour, bless him, because I said I’d give him chocolate if he did a wee, then he stood up and pished behind the curtains.

We stopped and came back to it about two months later. I only restarted it because he made a sad face when he pooped in his nappy. On the day we restarted, he took to it without any issues and had no accidents at all with either pee or poo from then on. Honestly, it was the easiest thing we’ve ever done! I couldn’t believe it. We didn’t use a potty for long either - maybe a week? Then he was on the toilet.

I’d say leave it a few weeks then come back to it, especially if it’s irritating her wee legs.

Honestly it sounds like it's too early. If you wait thry basically just get on with it. If I was you I'd back off for now but start talking about it. Say what is happening when you go to the toilet. And being big and using the toilet.

Yes I stopped! Will try again in a few weeks and with better preparation

try and read 'oh crap' as it gives guidance of how to approach it.