Is this a bad idea?

[LaWeasel]

To let DD have a go at potty training (because she's asked to) even though I'm not convinced she's ready and she won't sit on the potty at timed intervals so I am relying on her (so far non-existent) ability to tell me she needs to go?

She is 2.5...

If she's asked to, that's a good time. And timed intervals is not the way forward IMO. They need to be able to tell you when they need to go and to do it, not to sit on a potty waiting to catch wees.

So give it a day and see how it goes? Keen-ness is your friend.

Thanks. I don't wnat to do anything to put her off! It would be good timing if she gets it now.

So far I have learnt that she's either capable of holding it in, or doesn't actually wee/poo very often... she went three hours yesterday after putting pants on in the afternoon without anything then had a tiny accident. This morning we have had an hour so far with nothing.

That is a good sign. A lot of people start too early, when the child is still weeing frequently.

If she has a tiny accident after a long time without a wee, she might very well have held the rest in. She might do the rest on the potty or she might hold it in for another hour like my DS.

What would convince you that she is ready? If she wants to do it, that sounds like 'readiness'. I don't think we did the 'timed interval' thing (children not docile enough), but mine were both potty trained before 2.5 with no dramas other than a poo in the library.

I'm not convinced she's ready because she doesn't seem to like the idea of the potty or using the toilet she just doesn't want to wear nappies!

She also has toddler diarrhea, which as well as being delightful, also means I'm really not sure what's going to happen when she needs a poo. I had hoped to sort that out/she'd grow out of it before we were on to potty training.

Okay we've had one accident that finished in the potty, after 2 hours in pants.

That is a good start. It's a pity about the toddler diarrhoea but you might find she has that for years still so you can't hold off potty training in the hope that she will grow out of it. If you miss the potty training window when they are keen to do it, they can sometimes become quite resistant to it later on and it is much harder.

You can buy pants with extra absorbant gussets that might help with the poo if it is particularly runny. Otherwise, you will be surprised how much poo an ordinary pair of pants can hold

Hmm, it was a good start but I think we are officially giving up for a while longer now. After the first accident she told me she wanted a poo but refused to sit on the potty. She didn't have a poo but had 2 more wee accidents, didn't tell me about either and didn't want to sit on the potty to finish.

She's been in a nappy for her nap and doesn't want to put pants on again now, so we'll leave it for a bit and I might buy different potty/small loo seat and see if that helps.

Ah well, perhaps she'll be keen again when she's a bit more ready.