Potty training-germ and dirt anxiety! Please help!

[newtolineofduty]

We have started to potty train my daughter (nappies off and big girl knickers on), and I'm really struggling (as I predicted!) with the 'mess' given my anxieties about unseen dirt/germs and just poo/wee generally. I don't want to label myself with OCD or anything but dirt/germs/the idea of things being 'contaminated' makes me so anxious so potty training and all the accidents that come with it just make me so tense! I ensure I keep it all in as I don't want it to rub off on her/make her feel pressured! I wondered if anyone else can relate to this? I put towels etc down today all over the floor and sofas but I still felt so anxious! X

Lots of people skip the potty and go straight to a trainer seat on the toilet. Could you try this? It is at least a bit 'cleaner' and means you don't have to handle it and do the cleaning out the potty thing.

Accidents might happen put if they are ready there shouldn't be many. If there are lots put the nappy back on again.

Good luck!

Thank you @anxietyanonymous x strangely I'm actually ok with cleaning the potty etc as i think I feel more in control of that-it's the anxiety around accidents/being able to act quickly enough as she doesn't get loads of notice as yet as when she needs to wee! X

Could you buy a few more potties so that she is never that far away from one.

We also bought a carpet cleaner which really helped with the cleaning involved in both toilet training and weaning (ds2 was a good thrower!!!)

Definitely go straight from nappy to toilet - I have medicated OCD & there is no way I'd have coped with a potty 🤢

Thank you everyone xx

We've had the potty in the middle of the house and been playing near it or moving it around if necessary. I like the idea of toilet but obviously harder to get her there quickly! X

Urgh I just want it done. I'm so worried it'll take ages! X

If she's having a lot of accidents I'd give up and try again in a month or two. That's what worked with my two and we only had a couple of accidents. I was quite worried that my house would smell of wee and I know what you mean about unseen germs as well. Tbh potty training is grim at times but it honestly doesn't last long if they're ready for it.

Also I'd tell myself that cleaning a potty straight away is cleaner than sitting in wee or poo and then being cleaned as the germs have less time to multiply which helped me

Thank you @Babyfg x I'm willing to wait and try again but my partner is anxious we're leaving it too late! Also all my friends babies are now potty trained at this age which also makes me feel that we're late to the party! know rationally that's not true though and they're all different etc. She's only 2.5. We'd ear marked this weekend to give it a really good go as she'll be off nursery for five days straight with the bank holiday etc xxx

I got a lot of pressure as i found the gmas were very pro doing it at 2. But neither of mine showed any inclination or signs of being ready. We dabbled slightly. When they did show signs at 3 of wanting to do it we pounced and there were literally no accidents.

So give it a day or two, see how your child reacts. If they arent getting it park it and revisit. There are many threads you can search up on here were people are pro leaving it a little later which might give you confidence.

Thank you @anxietyanonymous x what signs did you see that you thought really signalled readiness? My daughter is interested, says when she needs a poo, shuffles around/tugs at nappy when weeing, goes for long periods without weeing, and shows a desire for privacy when doing a poo etc, so I was pretty confident she's ready??? X

We waited until ready (3) and went straight to using a toilet. Once going long gaps inbetween it was just a case of taking them to the loo when they would be due to go (e.g every few hours), aswel as before leaving the house, arriving and leaving places. There was no 'training' asides from that.