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Potty training

Is your child ready for potty training at nursery? Here's the place for all your toilet training questions.

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Original poster

a reassuring message for those of you with 3yr + still in nappies!

11 replies

justgaveup · 21/04/2010 23:10

My son, aged 3.4, has been hopeless at potty training, I mean seriously he had NO IDEA when he needed a wee or a poo and also seemed to not be worried in the slightest about sitting in his own dirt or being the only one at playschool and amongst his friends still in nappies!

4 days ago he expressed an interest in wearing 'big boys pants'. So we started that morning. In last 4 days he's only had 3/4 accidents and today was totally dry all day, including playschool, shopping trip and playing in garden!

My daughter was 3.7 when she started potty training and was dry within a few days and dry overnight within 2 weeks!

I admit I have been a bit embarassed about him still being in nappies and people commenting on it BUT seeing some of the stress my friends have been through and some of the messages on here I am SO glad i waited till he was ready, has been a total doddle!

So this message is just to say that if your child is not ready, they are not ready and sometimes it's easier to wait it out!

OP posts:

Are your children’s vaccines up to date?

Set a reminder

moaningminniewhingesagain · 22/04/2010 14:24

Hear hear. A month ago DD was in nappies full time. She is 3.1.

She has been dry day and night for 4 days, was still having a nappy at night for a week before that but it was dry every morning.

One wee accident most days but thats it, I tried with potties sooner but when I realised she just did not know she needed a wee til it was too late, I waited. So it has been surprisingly painless

specialsmasher · 22/04/2010 14:27

Oh thank god. My dd will be three next week, and has shown no interest whatsoever. The last time we tried she just did a big wee, carried on playing and denied it when I spotted the wet patch!

You do feel embarrassed though - some of her peers have been in pants since this time last year!

ThreeSilverBalloons · 22/04/2010 20:42

I agree. DS1 was 3.1, totally and utterly uninterested in potty training, not bothered by all his friends wearing pants etc etc. I decided to just go for it (having already had two failed attempts)

We had a hideous couple of days and then it just clicked. In the last 5 weeks he's had about 4 accidents and is still refusing to use the toilet but I was amazed. I thought he'd still be in nappies at school

specialsmasher · 22/04/2010 21:34

I'm thinking of just doing it later this month - last time I tried to do that she was begging me not to put her in pants (and refusing bare-bottom likewise) and sobbing...

Have just been ignoring issue since really, but will brace myself for the bank holiday weekend...

BibiThree · 20/05/2010 13:13

I am so glad to hear that we are not the only ones. DD1 was dry in the day not long after she was two and dry at night by two and a half. DTs are 3 in July and still in nappies full time. MIL keeps telling me I've got to start teaching them soon and once her nappies run out she won't be buying any more
I keep telling her there's no point until they are ready as it will cause accidents, frustration and I don't want them to feel dirty or naughty or ahsmed for wetting themselves. (MIL told dd1 she was naughty for weeing in her knickers)
They do want to wear knickers and are showing signs of wanting to use the toilet (not potties though, won't even entertain the idea) but all unsuccessful at the moment.
going to buy some cheap knickers and give them free rein over half term and see how they go, no pressure though, just lots of floor mopping I suspect

gentlydrunk · 20/05/2010 22:35

My 3 yr old is still in nappies too

She just hates the potty and won't go anywhere near it. Am getting quite worried now but this thread is reassuring - thanks justgaveup!

spiderlight · 22/05/2010 00:39

I soooo needed this thread tonight!! DS is 3.2 and I've been starting to panic that I've missed the boat - had two brief starts at potty training in the past year, both times had a fabulous day 1 and then major and protracted family crises on day 2 that forced us to abandon everything. We didn't want to confuse him so we backed off entirely until things were back to normal, and now he's saying that he loves his nappies and doesn't want to wear pants, and I've had visions of him going off to university in pull-ups! He knows what to do but he has come to the (fairly reasonable!) conclusion that nappies are more convenient for him and far less faff than all that going-to-the-potty malarkey and he's not a fan of bare-bottomedness either at the moment. At least now I have some hope that he will want to do it eventually....!

welshandproud · 22/05/2010 00:43

That's great news my DD is 3.1 and i'm impatiently waiting for her to be ready dispite disapproving looks from many!
Thanks for sharing this glimmer of hope!

Butterball · 22/05/2010 00:46

My DS1 was 3y 5m before he was interested in potty training. He got the hang of it in a day and we had no accidents! Waiting was definitely the best decision with him. Was hard to relax about it once he'd turned 3 but glad we didn't push him.

Toddlershambles · 24/05/2010 23:01

More reassurance - DD showed none of the much-discussed signs: got very distressed at even gentle suggestion of using a potty or loo until she was 3.4. It took a lot of persuasion even to get her to wear pull-ups to nursery. Brief (no pun intended) enthusiasm for buying pants around 2.9 did not convert into interest in trying them... etc etc. She was the last child her age I knew still in nappies and one of her nursery teachers put on a bit of pressure. DD and I occasionally chatted about it: then suddenly one day she told me she wanted to wear pants. I actually tried to put her off for 24 hours, till I'd be home with her. So she lobbied the childminder, who dug out a pair of pants and that was more or less it - even though on day 3 we had a long journey (OK - pull ups used)and were then staying away from home for a week. On reflection, a house full of relatives ready to make a big fuss every time was probably an asset - so much for the advice about waiting till you have a few quiet days at home . We had a few accidents and weeing outside, and poo, took a few days more, but all in all it was pretty painless. Stickers also played a crucial part at wobbly moments.

I did angst as she got towards 3, but DD has a history of constipation, which can bugger up messages from bum to brain, which probably helped us resist pressure. Helped that MIL was a model of zipped lip and regular babysitter a great advocate of going with the child.

Pleased to be able to add to the reassurances above. Only advice is that it's worth getting in a few pairs of pants, for the moment when they surprise you .

wahwah · 27/05/2010 12:56

Ds regressed after over enthusiastic nursery put him off, so we waited again until he was 3.9
Very few accidents, it was clearly the right time for him emotionally.

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