"Holding it in"

[NK5de793d4X11778859770]

Hi - just wondered if anyone had any advice-my daughter is 2yrs and 4 months, we are on day 4 of potty training - days 1 & 2 as you would expect - some misses and some hits!
Day 3 she woke up and when she needed to do a wee she wouldn't sit on the potty and just ran around crying - seeming very distressed ( she will happily sit for 15 mins on the potty, flush her wee and loves her girl pants) we have never been cross over any accidents and have always praised her. Not sure why there has been the change - this morning she went from 09.30 - 13,00 without doing anything - but she ran around, and held it in when she felt she needed to - managed to wee on the potty at 13.00, not very happily with me giving her a cuddle - we don't want her to be distressed, but not sure how to get her to "let go" - it is as if she is frightened of the sensation, should we carry on or go back to nappies? Any ideas?

hmm...has your dd been for a #2? If not, this could be the reason for her anxiety. Not necessarily because it hurts her, but because it is a different sensation and therefore be a cause for worry.

NK5, we have had the same problem. Dd2 is 2.3 and seemed very ready to train but since we started 6 days ago she has become very distressed by the sensation of doing a wee in the potty. She will sit happily on the potty at any time, unless she feels she needs a wee, when she will run around looking distressed. She must have an enormous bladder capacity as she managed to go 18 hours without weeing! I felt so sorry for her that today I put her back into nappies, but she has been getting distressed about weeing in nappies too, so we're worse off than when we started. Sorry not to have any useful advice, but wanted to let you know you're not alone. How did it go today?

My DD did this - I was amazed at how long she could hold on for.

I used to run the tap and that would sometimes help her - or just stroke her head and slowly tell her to relax and talk her through the sensation of doing a wee iykwim.

I think when they are ready sometimes they are so conscious of not having accidents that it can take a while for them to relax and go when they need to. DD has been trained for about 5 months now and sometimes needs me to hold her hand or sooth her til she goes.

This is exactly what my DD is doing.
She is up and down on the potty like a yoyo.
Knows she needs to go, gets to potty and gets all worried and gets up again.

I sat the potty on a bath mat in front of the TV and put Fifi flowertots on for her. Eventually she did a wee on her own when I left the room.

It is hard for me to see her upset like this.
I have tried giving lots of praise when she goes on the potty and she has a sticker chart and has chosen the toy she wants when it is full.

My dd does this too. we were doing well and then went on holidays and I think she didn't like the feeling of the cold loo-seats at my mum's house. she also was wearing pull-ups there and didn't want to wee in them as they were "special nappies" which helped in terms of her staying dry but ended up meaning that she was holding it in a lot. she holds on for ages and then starts sitting on the floor and rocking back and forth to hold it in longer. something that usually helps is if I tell her that one of her dolls has to pee and so we go to the loo to help dolly pee and dolly helps her take off her pants and usually then she will go ahead and sit on the potty or the loo and go. It helps if I use the dolly excuse long before she is getting desperate. If I wait too long, I think that's when the problem starts as it gets uncomfortable to be holding it in. does that make any sense? things seem to be settling back down a bit now that we're home a bit over a week but she is having her share of accidents. poor thing.

I'm making all these suggestions but it doesn't work all the time and I'm looking for solutions myself...

Well today Emily has gone from 7.30am until almost 3pm without weeing. She will sit on the potty but won't wee on it.
I even delayed her nap but she was so upset and was running around holding herself crying saying "in bed".
We even did gymtots late morning and she held on there too.

I am at my wits end what to do.
I have tried bribing with smarties, a sticker chart, teddies and dollies doing a wee, reading books, watching TV, bribing with promise of a toy she wants, cuddles etc. All to no available. I even took away her fifi flowertot pants for the last hour to see if that helped.
Today is day 2 of intensive potty training.

I don't know what to do.
All I want her to do is wee in the potty again so I can make a big fuss and show her how clever she is.