Afternoon everyone.
I am hoping someone out there might be able to point me in the right direction as it feels like I am going in circles at the moment!
My DD is 2.2 and we started potty training last Sunday. She had been showing signs of readiness (letting me know when she had or was going in her nappy, interest in the toilet etc) for a while now but we had to leave it as we were moving house so wanted to make sure she was settled before starting anything new!
We started with a toilet with a seat and step for her which she seemed fine with. She had the usual accidents at the start but by Wednesday seemed to be getting the hang of it, asked to go (even if she didn't actually do anything that time) and only had one accident. Then Thursday came around and everything fell apart! She had become constipated almost as if she was building up her confidence with peeing in the toilet but once she was feeling happy enough to try doing a poo it was really uncomfortable. This totally knocked her off! Thursday & Friday was a complete disaster and Saturday & Sunday she literally held everything in all day until bed time. My DH ended up going and buying a potty as she was freaking out going near the toilet and we obviously didn't want her distressed. Yesterday she seems to have turned a corner slightly and after some bribery with bubbles, she will now go and sit on the potty and even managed to get a couple pees and a poo! However generally I am taking her to the potty and she will sit on it but do nothing. She clearly needs to go and ends up having an accident. I try to quickly sit her on the potty as soon as I see she is having an accident and hope we 'catch' some of it. When we do I try to be positive and say things like 'Oh look you got some pee in your potty - Well done! Next time we will try to get all of it in there!'. Trying not to focus on the fact my carpet is now damp with a trail to the bathroom!! She doesn't like mess and will try to help clean up her accident, I try to reassure her and tell her that it's ok and move on but she just won't go when she needs to! When DD gets up in the morning she is always saying 'Mummy, made mess in nappy' so she clearly isn't comfortable in her nappy either but she is running out of options.
My question is, do I persevere and keep doing what I am doing or do I stop? I am reluctant to stop as she did get the hang of it last week and I know kids at some stage all had set backs but I know she is still quite young. Any advice, tips or even wine is much appreciated!
Apologies for waffling on and thank in advance for any advice!