Potty Training Woes

[SparklyRainbowDinosaur]

Wondering if anyone has been through similar! My daughter is 2 and a half this month and we’ve been attempting to potty train her, but keep running into the same issues.

1. She hates going nappy free. She gets very upset when I try, insists she wants a nappy and there’s basically nothing I can say to change her mind.

2. She is good at telling me she’s HAVING a wee, but it’s usually too late by that point when she’s got trousers and a pull up on. I wanted to use the nappy free time to identify it earlier on but see 1)!

3. She seems to hate pooing on the potty/training seat and will hide to avoid it.

Does it sound like she’s just not ready or are these issues we can persevere through? The last thing I want to do is push it too hard and scare her off trying as whenever she has done her business on the potty she is SO pleased with herself! And to give her credit it’s been a fair few times now, but there’s just no consistency. It’s like she just finds it easier to just go in her nappy. Any advice appreciated 😀

Have you got some knickers for her?
Have you lined the potty with a nappy so that the poo doesn’t drop away? That’s the feeling they don’t seem to like.

She's not ready. Bin it off for a while and then try again

Why is she wearing a pull up? That's just a happy

*nappy

She's not ready. Try again in a couple of weeks and use the time to watch some potty videos or read children's books about potty training with her if you haven't already. We had a 'Princess Polly' (I think that's what it's called) book and watched the video on youtube which helped my dd greatly.

I agree she is not ready yet. Try at 3

I had this with my DD. We stopped and tried again after a few months. She got the hold of it after a few days.

I would wait if you can, saves yourself the pain.

We tried several times with my little boy from him being about 2.5. He was not up for it!!

3rd time lucky at 3yr 3 months. Cracked it in 3 days and dry at night (9/10) 2 weeks later. Day 2 though I thought we were going to have to give up again as he had an accident and after that he refused to get off the potty for the rest of the day.

Another vote for Princess Polly. My son still LOVES Pirate Pete (boy's version) months later!

You don't have to go nappy free to potty train, especially if she doesn't like it. Amanda Jenner's Potty Training Magic is a pants-wearing way of potty training. I used it and my son was dry in 3 days.

Take a break for a week or two, do some reading on other methods, and revisit with some fresh mojo.

She’s not ready. We tried multiple times and in the end just after her third birthday she said she didn’t want nappies and was done in three days. No accidents since, no prompting, she knows when she needs to go and tells us.

Realising that she needs a wee before she’s weeing is literally what potty training is. That’s the process! Will she wear knickers? The naked method is popular because of Oh Crap but it’s not the only way to train. It’s great for some kids but not all. I’d reset, forget about it for 2-3 weeks, then let her choose her own knickers, pump her full of liquids (juice, squash, ice lollies, all the stuff she probably doesn’t get often!) and take her every 15 minutes. One smartie for a wee, 2 for a poo. Then increase the time intervals gradually until you’re only prompting if it’s been 2 hours or you’re going out. See how you get on doing it that way. I think waiting can be gamble- you might get lucky and they essentially train themselves but equally you’re increasing the chance of getting into a battle of wills with a stubborn threenager 🤣

I'd also give it a break, but continue to offer the potty at nappy changes, before bath, etc. No pressure, but obviously praise if she does anything. More gradually getting used to it works better for some children.

We did very gradual potty training starting with just an hour of nappy free time on my day off and at the weekend and built up from there. Once she was able to do 3-4 hours she got a choice in the morning and after her nap of nappy or knickers. Once she asked for knickers for both we picked the next long weekend and went for it fully time. Within a few days she was completely dry
Poos took longer mostly because allergies and toddler diarrhoea means she doesn't always get a lot of notice. After a few months we introduced rewards but only when she was actively refusing to use the potty for poos.

Hey just to say solidarity, I was so ready for my daughter to be potty trained at 2.5 but she just wasn't, much like your list! Waited and let her do it on her own terms and she's gone into knickers with no fuss or accidents. She's 3 in May. Hang in there. Feels like waiting for them to lead the way is way less stressful !

I'd probably put her back in nappies and try again in the summer tbh.

We're in the same boat and I'm parking it for fear of creating a bigger issue. Same age, same problem. She 100% knows when she is pooing and weeing, understands the concept of a potty, sees others using it. Just flat out refuses to wear anything other than her nappy. She will occasionally wear pants for an hour or so but then panics when I think she feels a need to wee and demands a nappy back on. We're just backing off it entirely and will try again in a few months.

Just to add thank you for posting and those who have replied, it's really reassuring to hear others have been in the same boat. Without wanting to sound like an arse, I have been surprised she isn't ready. She is so switched on in all other senses, really observant, picks up on everything, communication is way ahead for age. This just seems to be a total mental block!

Thank you so much for the comments! I feel like I kind of needed people say just to wait a bit longer because my entire family seem convinced that their kids were all dry by now and it’s made me feel like a bit of a failure.

Im using nappies and pull ups interchangeably really but haven’t got any knickers for her. Will get some and the book recommended and leave it for a few weeks and try again I think.

@SErunner I understand, I feel similar as her communication is amazing and she seems so ‘grown up’ to me now, loves doing big girl things so I thought she might be well up for it!

Sounds like a good plan. I would just periodically try her for half an hour to an hour at time at a low stress time of day and the week. To get an idea when they are ready and don't stress it. Engage her in buying the knickers, quite a few of my friends kids have suddenly said " can I wear those knickers we bought" ages after buying them and initiated potty training themselves!!

My mum talks the opposite and about how stressed she was to get us dry before 2 so we could go to play group! She was is pro waiting for them to be ready

Just wanted to update this as everyone likes an update - DD is now fully potty trained at 2yrs 8 months. We waited a few weeks and tried again and seemingly she was 'ready and up for it this time and basically trained herself with minimal accidents.

So basically anyone else reading this, don't feel bad taking a few weeks off and trying again!