Help please, 18 month old won't sit on potty!

[itsazoohere]

She knows when she needs to poo and pee, but seems to hate her potty (and the loo). We bought a second, totally different one, let her decorate it with stickers, bought special books, praised her massively when she DID use it-but now she hates that one too. I'd be happy just to leave the potty training for a bit, but unfortunately she won't wear nappies now either! She'll sometimes wear a nappy JUST to pee in (and then takes it immediately off), but more often that not just pees on the floor and gets REALLY upset to be doing so.
What do I do? Any ideas?

She won't sit on that!

She won't sit on that!

Make the potty or toilet a fun place to be. Special potty-only toys, books, etc. Let her see you using the toilet if she's in the mimicking stage. Make going to the loo a group activity a la "Mum needs to wee, do you need to too? Let's go wee." ... and if all else fails, it's not too cold to wee on the grass!

We weren't potty training at that age, but I was sort of getting DD used to the idea of the potty. We found a doll's potty invaluable, ours cost £2.49 from the local independent toy shop. We used to play games like "Pingu is a big boy so he likes to sit on the potty to do his poos and wees, you will be a big girl soon so you can do the same then, won't that be fun" (much overdone jollity needed lol) then I would make pingu squeeze and strain to do his pretend poo and it always used to really make her giggle. I would have her potty nearby and then I would get Pingu to ask if she wanted to try sitting on her potty so she can try out being a big girl sometimes she did and sometimes she didn't. We did it fully clothed at first but it gradually introduced the idea withoutr too much pressure.

Another tip is if she won't wear nappies now and you are in a kind of limbo, then what about a minki yoyo reusable? They are poppered at the sides but can pull on and off like knickers and they are a pocket design so that you can stuff it to have the absorbancy of a nappy. However, they are designed to gradually turn into training pants so they won't seem much like nappies to her, especially if she is used to reusuables? They are also lots of fun colours and designs so she could choose some? I know they look expensive, but you won't need to buy resusables so the cost works out ok over time. here

Shoegazer, I like the sound of the minki yoyo nappies, but I kinda need a miracle right now as she's peed on the floor three times already this morning!
We've tried special toys, books, all sang and danced and cheered when she DID sit on it and she comes to the loo with me and her big sisters (there is NO privacy in this house anymore). We actually have a toy potty somewhere, I'll dig it out.
But you did get me thinking, her current bestest toy is my 16 wk ds, so the poor mite was plonked in her potty and has been sitting in it for the last five mins.
It's just so frustrating-she knows when she needs to pee-she now takes OFF her nappy to do so.
Ches-we have no garden

Grrr, She still won't go near it herself, but keeps on taking off her little brother's nappy
to make him sit on the potty! And weirdly, frequently when he is about to poo. How does she know, when I don't ?

what sort of nappies is she in at the mo?

Oh well, at least you'll have her little brother trained soon. Give her a week or two, she'll come around.

My two year old won't sit on hers for more than a second and certainly won't perform. I'd guess she just isn't ready. I'd just leave it alone and don't pressure her or yourself. Try again in a few months

I agree with ginger really. she is extremely young for this anyway and having this many wees and problems shows she is not ready IMO, though I fully understand that when she takes off her own nappy this makes you somewhat keen that she does her business in an appropriate place!

I think if this was me though I would get rid of all potties and make clear to her she is in nappies. use pull-ups or training pants or something 'grown up' and covered with interesting pictures if poss just to make it more likely she'll be engaged.

If she takes her baby brother's nappy off to be honest I would be treating that as an issue where she needed a firm No and a boundary; he is a tiny baby, he must have his nappy on, he needs it, so you don't take it off.

I think you're all right, we'll just try to leave it for now. The only problem is that she seems to be desperate to be out of nappies. I've tried pull ups, training pants, all kinds. She'll pull them all off, tell me that she needs to wee or poo, refuse to either sit on a potty or the loo or put a nappy back on, then get upset if she does it on the floor.
I'm sure I never had this problem with her sisters (although it was a while ago-maybe I take after my mother with her selective memory; her children NEVER had tantrums, were fussy eaters...)