Potty Training 2.5 year old

[Bumblebeex]

Hi Mumsnetters,

My DD is 2.5 years old and is doing well with potty training but we're a bit stuck when we introduce loose trousers.

She will go to the potty independently for wees and poos when bare bottomed but as soon as we put loose bottoms on she wees in them. Can anyone help with how to transition her from bare bottom to trousers? Just a bit stuck with how to get her to understand this new step 😊 thank you x

Maybe try pants, not such a big change?

I tried putting underwear on her today and she just weed through them all x

She just needs practice. Whenever she starts weeing get her on the potty anyway and remind her we don't wee in clothes, only on the potty.

Thank you, you're probably right that she just needs more practice. Hopefully it will "click" for her soon! Will keep trying anyway 😊

We had a similar transition where underwear seemed to confuse things at first. You could try introducing trousers gradually and reminding her that the potty is still where wees/poos go. Potty training underwear can also be a useful middle step, as they provide a little protection while helping the child get used to wearing underwear. SuperBottoms has padded underwear designed for potty training that you could look at.

We did shorts (rather than trousers) and no pants for several weeks after bare-bottomed stage. Then added pants.

Might shorts help? More air flow to remind her?!

We've done both shorts and trousers but she's still having frequent accidents.

Although she seems to be having less accidents when she does it at my mum's house. I don't know if it's cause she's more relaxed at home so she just let's it out.

I'm just getting super frustrated with it now 😞

It took about 2 months for DS to get used to wearing shorts/ pants and stop having accidents in them. As it was summer we just had loads of time where he didn’t have anything on his bottom half and then I just kept trying the shorts every so often and eventually he got the idea but it did take a good 8 weeks or so

That does sound annoying!

Have you been doing the OH Crap! Method? I think they suggest going back a stage? Even an hour or so morning and evening?

Thanks for your replies. I did read the oh crap book before I started.

We did go back a stage to bare bum and she self initiates wees 100% of the time but she just seems to get stuck when she has anything on her bottom.

She does somtimes tell us she needs a wee when she's wearing bottoms or I catch her signals and get her to the potty or even when she has a nappy on in bed (because she wants to get out of bed lol) so I'm sure she knows what to do 🤦‍♀️ just feel at a loss but to carry on and just keep reminding her that wees go in the potty and not on the floor 😫

Is she alright in skirts/dresses? Maybe you could move on to pegging the bottom together and then very loose harem pants?

Yes she's fine it's skirts & dresses so that could be an idea. Thank you 😊

We're still having accidents if she isn't prompted every 45 minutes to an hour to use the potty. Is this normal, or am I expecting too much for her to tell me when she needs to go while wearing bottoms? I don't want to over-prompt her.

When she's bare-bottomed, she just takes herself to the potty.

Should we ditch the nappies completely apart from at bedtime? She still wears a nappy when we're out and about.

I'm just getting a bit stressed with the whole process and really want it to be done now! 😩

If you're still using nappies sometimes then it sounds like there's some mixed messaging for her. She's understanding that when she's bare bottomed she takes care of her own toileting, and when she's got something on she's sometimes supposed to wee in it and sometimes you'll tell her when to use the potty.