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Potty training

Is your child ready for potty training at nursery? Here's the place for all your toilet training questions.

Should we just give up?

4 replies

WidowWadman · 26/04/2011 20:22

Daughter is 28 months old, can go for hours without doing a wee or a poo and even has the occasional dry sleep nappy.

We have let her run around without nappy, at home and at nursery for a few weeks now and she's been sitting on the potty at nappy changes since her first birthday. Without pressure, she quite enjoys sitting on it, although she seems to be a bit weirded out by her own bodily functions when she does something in it.

She has at least one accident each day, but seems to be better at going to the loo at nursery than at home.

She will tell us that she needs a wee, do nothing when we put her on the potty or the toilet, and 5 minutes later she wets herself (and the carpet). She also sometimes seems to try and hold it in until we give her a nappy.

On other occasions she refuses the nappy - or takes it off herself.

We think she knows when she is doing a wee or a poo, but she is not really there yet when it comes to anticipating it. Also, no matter how much fuss and praise she gets, she is not entirely happy with doing it on the potty or toilet.

To add complication to the whole situation, there will be a little sister or brother in 4 weeks time.

We're torn between just putting her back into nappies as she seems not quite ready and persevering. Both my mother in law and the nursery think she's "almost there", but have been saying that for weeks.

WWYD?

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Are your children’s vaccines up to date?
girlywhirly · 27/04/2011 07:43

Someone once said on this topic, that there is physical readiness and emotional readiness for training. DD wants to give up nappies, and obviously has some control, but emotionally she isn't ready, otherwise she would be confident to use the potty. I think it would just result in a complete regression after the new baby, even if you all struggled on for the next few weeks. You really don't want to make the potty or toilet into objects of unhappiness.

Go back to nappies for now, see where you are when the baby is a few weeks old, by which time the weather will have warmed up again and you can go out in the garden to save lots of mess indoors!

One suggestion; get a dolls potty and indulge in a bit of role play, praise the doll or teddy for using the potty even if DD has a nappy on and will not sit on the potty herself. They could each sit on their potties together if she wishes!

NellyTheElephant · 27/04/2011 22:26

I would definitely stop right now and put her back into nappies - mainly because of the new baby's imminent arrival. If it wasn't for that I'd probably advise you to continue. Enjoy this last month with her without the stress on both of you of potty training and accidents. I promise you, having her in nappies will be 100x less stressful than a newly potty trained child mixed up with the exhaustion of a new baby. I know, I have been there (twice - once with new baby and 2 yr old in nappies and once with new baby and 2 yr old newly potty trained and soon hitting regression and control / attention issues e.g. just sitting down to breastfeed?? Oh yes... DD needs a poo, or not, or does she.... back and forth to the potty and then oh... it's in her pants and you haven't yet fed the baby). It is a very stressful time for a toddler just before a new baby arrives, they sense a big change coming but don't understand what it will mean to them or how they should react.

Maybe stick with allowing her to be nappy free in stress free situations at home, but when out and about use pull ups, but still take her regularly to the loo / potty. Once the baby is a few months old and everything is a bit more settled you can push to get her completely out of nappies.

WidowWadman · 28/04/2011 20:42

Thank you - weirdly today she had plenty of wees in the potty, at nursery as well as at home. Maybe she's getting there? She is wearing nappies when out and about (mainly to save car seat and push chair from getting wet), but pull-ups seem to be working better than other nappies.

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WidowWadman · 07/05/2011 10:21

Amazingly, she now is on her third day without accidents and even had her day time sleeps all week without nappy. Odd how it so suddenly happened

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