Potty training. How do I know she's got enough bladder control?

[tootle]

We're tentatively visiting toilet training this week. So far, the day has been full of wee'ing accidents and 2 poohs on the potty.

I'm assuming that my DD just doesn't have bladder control yet and we should put the pants away and try again in a month or two.

But, some people have said they had accidents for 2 days and on the 3rd day their child was dry. How do I know if that will be my DD or not? Should I peresevere? I don't want to cause her too much stress.

And if we give up, what should I do in the meantime and how will I know when she has enough bladder control to hold a wee until she gets to the potty?

Many thanks in advance!

How old is she? What made you start potty training?

She's 25 months. We started because she sometimes says potty and wee wee and tries to take off her nappy. She has a regular morning pooh so for awhile we sat her on the potty to do that. I think she is happy with what it all means and what she is supposed to do but as she is still young, I suspect she's not got that final step of readiness - bladder control.

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Maybe not.

I tried with mine several times because I thought she might be ready, but when she kept weeing all over the place I waited a few weeks before trying again.

She's 33 months now and we've spent the whole of the last week with her naked from the waist down (at home!) and she's suddenly got the hang of it. The problem for us now is that as soon as she's wearing anything down there; a pullup, a nappy, underpants, she forgets and wees in them.

You could try it for another day or two (if you can stand the mess) and see if it clicks, but I think my instinct would be to wait a few more weeks and try again.

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So I'll continue the rest of the day - see how the morning goes - then put it on the back burner for another month or two?

It is quite young but not impossibly so. You are only going to find that out by sticking it out for 3 days! The communication is part of it but also she needs to be able to recognise when she needs to go.

If she is getting upset at the accidents and either of you become stressed then it is worth leaving for a while. dd was ready in some ways before 2 but didn't properly train until about 2yr 9 months, for that reason. She physically couldn't voluntarily let go until at least 2 and half but didn't / still doesn't go very frequently so had good control from that pov.

If you decide to wait, keep the potty in the bathroom and continue to use as you have been, and one day she may surprise you or at least give you a clearer indication of her readiness. prais eall her efforts in the meantime with stickers etc. Otherwise set yourself a time int he not to distant future to make the effort again.

Hi
I'm a new mumsnettee and was reading through the potty training issues as I have started with my 27 month ds. I cant remember where I read something along the lines that children have control of their bladder/bowels from around 18 months. Although I'm not sure how much I do know that from experience that 18 month olds can produce wees/poo's at will. Two friends of mine have mentioned the same thing (must read the same books). One of my friends comes from Cuba and told me that they only get one set of nappies and by 7 months they are worn out and as they can't afford any more they start their 7 month olds in pants (I was amazed). Apparantly they have a few weeks of accidents and then dry. Mind you the children do get to run around in the sun all day - I don't think children in the UK are likely to get that advantage
Good luck to anyone trying!

tootle, I went through exactly the same as you when dd was just turned 2. She was keen, she could wee and poo on the potty whenever I asked her to. And if she ran around naked waist down she'd mostly go to the potty by herself. But the moment she had knickers on she'd never ask to go and constantly had accidents. We went about 10 days trying but I thought she was getting discouraged by so many wet pairs of knickers so have postponed. She's 27 months now and I've kept the potty around and she still uses it when she wants to but I'm going to try again properly when she's 2.5. There's no hurry after all. Too early is more likely than too late.