To try the potty now or wait... I suspect the latter.

[hairtwiddler]

Have posted here before and was all set to start potty training this week with DD (2.5). She's interested in the toilet and likes to sit on it. Really keen on wearing 'big girl pants' and very responsive to doing something for a reward. I felt she was ready.

However, she's going though a big developmental spurt and has developed a bit of non-fluent speech (stammering). I'm aware this is often a normal process but we have a family history which is an extra risk factor so am being very careful not to put her under additional stress or anxiety just now.

Tonight she told me "DD need nappy on for weewee" after she did a wee in the bath. Although she also told me earlier she wanted to wear big girl pants with no nappy! She's quite frightened I think if she's on the loo or potty in the course of play and feels like she's going to go - screams for a nappy or to get down. Very frightened of new things.

Advice please anyone! Should I wait? (I suspect yes)

little bump...

I agree that you should wait, it does sound like it might add a bit too much extra stress. I think going the way you are, just encouraging her to play with the toilet and not be scared of it, is a really good approach. We haven't reached this stage yet, so I shall watch this thread with eagle eyes to see the more experienced advice.

gosh yes I would wait for a while at least
she is still very young

Thanks for replies. Am just confirming thoughts really.... stressing out about both the speech and the potty! Am a speech therapist so probably notice it more. Work with adults though so my little knowledge is probably more of a bad thing!
Lots of calmness I think, and wait at least a month.

yes, try not to worry about the speech thing - I expect if you didn't have a professional interest it would not bother you half so much.
poor you, though, it does sound worrying.

ds3 is 3.6 and has only just started to tell me when he is wee-ing. He is in pants by day now and able to stay dry 90% of the time. Far easier than ds1 and ds2, where I initiated training.

One trick people often recommend is lining the potty with a nappy initially - so if she wants a nappy to wee in then she has it, but on the potty. I didn't do this so I have no experience but a friend did it for her DD who was scared of pooing in the potty and it seemed to work well.

It sounds like maybe the time's not right to go for full on potty training just yet, but there is no harm in keeping the potty around and getting her to sit on it when she wakes up / after naps / bath time etc, do she starts to get used to the idea and hopefully lose her fear of it. It is definitely not worth trying to potty train if you are feeling stressed as that's just the worst possible thing for it! I (very stupidly) tried to train DD1 about one month before DD2 was born, I was stressed, hormonal and emotional and unsurprisingly it was disastrous. I tried again a few months later when DD2 was about 3 months old and sleeping through the night and I was calm and happy and DD1 trained in a week with no hassle - and I don't think it was just because she was a little older, I'm sure my frame of mind had loads to do with it.

Have you thought of buying some training pants? That way, she can wee in her training pants but will feel wet, and after a few mins the wee will run down her legs. I know this may sound harsh, but being wet is not a nice feeling and she may start to try and avoid it, by using the toilet or potty. I used Bright Bots training pants for DD1 (they come in hot pink, orange, green etc) and look very much like real big girl pants.

I used the training pants and they worked very well, and I found the process with these very unstressful (she liked wearing them, and did start to tell me she wanted a wee wee within just a few days or wearing them (before that there were lots of clothing changes!)

She is 2.5 and is totally potty trained now. Though I still use the training pants just because I have not gotten around to buying her some normal big girl pants!

I had planned to go cold turkey on nappies, and put her straight into pants. To be honest I think the feeling of being wet would upset her lots too. Like the idea of lining the potty with nappy. Suspect when the time comes she'll go for that.
A very sensitive child - totally unlike her mother!
Thanks for all replies. Anyone elso going through this stammery phase and thinking of potty training?