Help! I am trying to potty train a camel - any advice?

[vonsudenfed]

Sooo, day one of potty training in the vonsudenfed house.
The scores on the carpet so far are two accidents this morning and two (miniscule) wees on the potty this afternoon. And when I say small I mean small, a thimbleful, no more. And yet I know she is holding in a glass of milk, several glasses of water and a yoghurt - and almost certainly waiting until she gets her night time nappy on to release it. She did this at lunchtime, when her nap time nappy was soaked (she was asleep and I would usually expect it to be bone dry).

So how do I persuade her that the potty is good (each thimbleful gets the full applause and chocolate treatment already)? And do I put her down for her nap without a nappy ( really??? she goes down in her sleeping bag and still has a good hour so it seems daft)

She's been quite good at holding it in with a nappy before - quite often dry between 7.30 and 1 (and she does drink plenty) which is one of the reasons I thought she was ready for the potty.

Anyone else had this - and how did you get round it?

how old is she?
maybe she just isn;t ready to go for it yet

2.7 and very much wanting her big girl pants

It was the fact that she had enough control to hold it in for hours that made me think she might be ready, but I may have been wrong. She doesn't seem to be able to release it - she sits on the potty for ages saying she needs a wee, but then we only get a tiny amount.

Both my girls were exactly like this - they could hold on pretty much all day! It was a bit maddening as (from observation rather than experience!) it seems to be much easier to train a child that has loads of accidents, rather than holding it in all day and having one huge accident late afternoon or holding out for a nappy. I would stick with it though, if she has the control to hold on that long she must at least have some idea about what is going on. It's only been one day - patience! Hopefully within a few days she will get the idea. Re ditching the nap time nappy, yes, I would do that, but not until a couple of weeks in when she has pretty well got the hang of it all and can either call you if she needs a wee or comfortably hold on for that hour.

DD2 used to do what you describe - desperately need a wee, let a tiny bit go in the potty then have a huge accident about 5 mins later. It was infuriating (but try not to show it!), it's a confidence thing of getting used to the feeling of letting go. Keep the potty very much to hand, have her in a dress with no pants and when you know she needs a wee (i.e. after she has sat on the potty and only let a tiny bit go) watch her like a hawk and as soon as she starts to have an accident whisk her onto the potty and try and catch at least some of it - then give huge praise.

Both my girls got the hang of wees after a couple of days despite their camel traits (poos took a bit longer though.......).

I agree she probably needs to learn how to consciously let go whilst on the potty. My dd was doing same thing - it took her 5 days of accidents and holding it in before she mastered it.