6 days in and not going well...

[Aranea]

Do I just pull the plug on this for now and assume dd is not ready yet?

She has been happily using the loo at random times for pees and poos for several months now, so when she announced that she wanted to wear knickers I thought the time was right.

It hasn't all been a disaster - yesterday she only had one accident (though it was a messy pooey one) - but today she has had more accidents than successes, of both sorts.

She just doesn't tell me when she needs to go. She'll refuse when I ask her if she needs the potty, then pee 5 minutes later, then volunteer to go and sit on it and squeeze out a few more drops.

Is it too early? She's 2yrs 4months and I really really thought she was ready! Is it worth persevering for a bit? It is grim.

any advice anyone? Before I embark on a damp day 7?

Hope it is going better. They are all different and suddenly it just clicks. As you said it is grim! Cleaning poo :(
I would say persevere as she is doing some, just a bit late. Rewards are the way forward though. No one wants to bribe but it works!
I tried stickers but mine have never been into them. My son responded to magic stars. He was the same age as your daughter. I started my daughter on Wed and only today she seemed to want to use the potty and became upset at not getting there on time.

Perhaps initially a sweet for anything in the potty. THen let her know she needs more in the potty and then her pants need to be dry for a sweet.

Unfortunately there are no easy answers. You've started, if you can keep going, do.

Good luck

Thanks. It's been up and down. Today not great. I can't work out whether she really minds or not. This afternoon she was sitting on the sofa with dh and neither of them appeared to have noticed that she had peed till I pointed it out... and then it was only really dh who seemed upset.

And then every time I think, 'sod it, let's just put her back in nappies,' she'll get herself to the potty all by herself. (obviously she'll forget to pull down her knickers, but hey...)

It was so easy with dd1, we had it cracked within 4 days. I don't really feel dd2 has made much progress a week in, which is discouraging.

My son is 27 months, he was exactly the same. I just kept putting him on the potty every 20mins. He got a choc button each time. At the start of week 3 he started to sit on the potty himself and requested the button! Had issues with getting trousers off so just had him in pants. Week 5 now and he can do trousers and pants and asks for potty or toilet when we're out and about. Stick with it. Bribery worked!

I'd leave it and try again in 6-8w

2.4 still little, isn't it

whoop whoop! She's cracked it! It took her a couple of days over a week to do it, but she is now regularly asking to use the loo (and beginning to prefer to go upstairs to the loo rather than use the potty downstairs) and going much longer periods between pees. She even woke up dry this morning and told me she needed a pee. Phew. I am so relieved.

I think the thing that turned it all around was when I started threatening to take her knickers away if she refused to go and try on the potty when I thought she needed to go.