DD has just turned 3. We've had a potty for a year. I've been reading potty books, talking about using potty/toilet etc. for months and months, and watching and waiting for signs of readiness. So far nothing. She shows no awareness of doing a wee or a poo, or of needing to. She has been uninterested in, or hostile to, the potty and knickers up until recently, and she doesn't seem to mind having a dirty nappy at all. Also, up until quite recently she would sometimes wake with a poo in her nappy.
She is meant to be starting at a nursery/pre-school in mid-September, which will require her to wear knickers, although if she is not potty trained they say they will work with me to try and help.
So, for the past few weeks I've been getting her used to sitting on the potty, e.g. regular reading on the potty after breakfast. For the past week stepped it up to wearing knickers or nothing for a few hours a day as well (she asks for nappies quite quickly and I encourage her to stay with knickers but if she gets upset I don't want a power struggle over it so I go back to nappies).
So far, nothing in the potty, just a few wees on the floor. She says she doesn't know when she is about to go.
I am trying to stay positive - we have moved on at least from refusing potty/knickers to giving them a go. But I am finding it really difficult - I am worried about her going to nursery and having a horrible time being worried about it, or being teased. My sister is very disapproving and seems to think that it is my fault she isn't potty trained yet. I have mentioned it to a few friends and they have responded with slight shock, and e.g. "oh, x was dry before she was 2"... I don't know a single other person in RL who is struggling or has struggled with potty training - everyone seems to tell me that their kid wanted to train, or responded quickly to adult-led training.
Anyway, sorry this is so epic. Just hoping some of you out there are in same kind of position and will come and huddle here for support!
Is your child ready for potty training at nursery? Here's the place for all your toilet training questions.
Potty training
Support thread for 'late' potty-trainers and/or gentle/slow training?
badchat · 03/08/2013 21:02
Thanks dairy you have given me hope! DD2 is due in 8 weeks and I'm torn between pushing it a bit more now so I don't have 2 in nappies or waiting until things have settled down when the newborn arrives - but that could be a long time!
I think I'm going to try for maybe just 4 days when she is at home in Sept and if no joy drop it until next year.
How come everyone else's children have got it so fast or taught themselves? 
Hi new to Mumsnet joined to get some advice on this issue.
Have just checked and we've been potty training my ds 3.2 for 9 weeks (small sob) he pooed in potty on day 2 ( he was not impressed) and has only gone in pants ever since.
The first few weeks he did really well with wee in potty and was dry in the night in the first week. great.
Then he had chicken pox about 4 weeks in and after that things deteriorated now he doesn't stay dry for more than an hour or so and he doesn't seem to notice or care. He's so stubborn he resists most suggestions of trying for a wee. I can't even begin about pooing..
I got so fed up a couple of weeks ago I bought some pull ups to give us both a break. When nursery saw he had them on they more or less blamed them and therefore me for the accidents aargh.
Not sure whether to take a break or troop on??? 
tiny, you are not a crap mum! If your DD isn't interested then I suspect nothing in the world is going to force her to do it. She'll do it when she's good and ready and not a nanosecond before.
I'd be interested to know if all the children discussed on this thread are like my DS: stubborn, uncompliant, marching to the beat of his own drum. Getting him to do anything he doesn't fancy doing has always been a major struggle (getting him dressed, changing his nappy, bathing him, you name it).
I have some progress to report - he spent all day in pants yesterday (twas a nursery day) and he had no accidents at all! And this morning his nappy was virtually dry and he did a gigantic wee on the potty just after getting up. Usually his morning nappy is like a cannonball so that's encouraging. Though I am ready for the two steps back that we usually take with him on stuff like this 
.
tiny, I haven't bothered booking DS in for swimming lessons for that very reason 
I look at it this way; DS may drive me nuts at the moment, but when he's at school later in life, I suspect he will not easily be led astray. I can envisage a scenario where he's behind the bike sheds with some mates (or whatever passes for bike sheds these days) and one of them says "here, try this" and DS will say "Nah. What for?" and walk away.
yes, I have just come off a thread about potty training and nurseries, where a number of posters said things like 'oh, don't worry, my nursery had it cracked for me in a couple of weeks as the peer pressure really helps' 
My lovely boy has a sophisticated theoretical understanding of the whole process - but for months and months you could tell that he thought it only applied to other people, not him.
Glad I've given you hope. I spent a looong time despairing before this breakthrough.
We now have the unexpected side effect of ds, 15 months, regularly going to sit on the potty (fully clothed), visibly concentrating, looking into the potty afterwards and then pointing at the sweetie jar and shouting insistently!
Maybe I should just bung him in pull-ups and see what happens...
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