Can anyone help me with any ideas at all in my attempts to begin potty training dd?

[Appealforhelp]

She has a developmental age of 2 ish but in actual years she is 4.5.

We have a specially adapted potty chair and she is getting used to this.(In fact so used to it that yesterday I found she had managed to locate a biro and scribble black pen all over the chair cover eek!)

She will sit in it for a short while when I reaad her a book,but so far no wees on it.

Am i best just to go cold turkey and put her in pants and do the regular toileting thing putting her on the potty every couple of hours?

Help!

I would also like to know

I keep trying with dd2, she is 4.2 with a developmental age of 2.9ish. She will happily sit on the potty and has produced poo's but only when she is suffering from constipation, we have had no luck with wee's and she is happy to pee all over the furniture.

When i leave her nappy off she will hold it in for hours, as soon as i put pants on her she pee's and pee's, she loves the feel of being wet and will happily splash around in a puddle of wee.

I hope someone has some advice.

Have you thought about one of those dolls that wees ? Would she copy/ role play what the dolly does ?

They're all so different aren't they. If she is not scared of the potty I would give the pants only approach a try. It might be that she senses the wetness better than in nappies or with no nappies which might help her make the connection of using the toilet.

I just bought a potty chair today for DD, she immediately said "bath" and started putting her toys in it!

lol fanjo, our potty chair has been used as a hat (on her head), a dress (takes the middle out and steps inside) and a royal throne . At least they are using their imaginations , maybe we need to show them how to use it (only my bum is too big), i might have to get dd1 to demonstrate.

Well, I sat her on it and she didn't like it and wanted to get off, her legs are too long for it, need to raise it up somehow!

I am probably being way too hasty though, as I think DD's developmental age isn't much more than 2 (she is 3.5)

Its hard to know if they are ready, i think the best thing to do is to make her comfortable about sitting on it. Dd1 was a night-mare to potty train, at the time we did not know she has Aspergers so we pushed her like you would a normal child, she would shake with fear when asked to sit on the potty and i had to bribe her to stay on it until she wee'd, after trying many potties we managed to find one she would sit on (the fisher price royal potty) as it would play a tune when she wee'd in it, we then had the problem of switching for potty to toilet which took a long time, she's now 6 and still gets very anxious about using the toilet.

Maybe the best way to go is to skip the potty and move straight to the toilet (with a plastic training seat)?

dd2 will happily sit on both but won't do a wee .

we tried sitting her on the toilet at the hospital when we needed a urine sample, she had a panic attack and kept shouting "stuck stuck" (she doesnt have many words)

The reason I am hopeful is she seems to have turned a corner from being like an 18 month old to like a 2 year old...instead of running around grabbing everything like a little toddler she will walk along holding your hand and respond to a few instructions, it's quite amazing (although late).

Dd1 still thinks she's going to get stuck/fall down the toilet .

I would just keep the potty in the room, don't make her sit on it if she doesn't want to, sit a dolly on it, use it as a hat (make it fun), take it slow and eventually she might feel comfortable to sit on it.

Don't push her if she's not ready, i spent so much time crying with dd1 whilst potty training as she would get so upset, i feel really guilty for pushing her, i couldn't understand why she wouldn't do it when she understood what it was for. I think thats why i have tried to let dd2 take the lead and if she's not ready then we will wait and try again another time.

Yes, i agree, we are being VERY careful she doesn't get upset sitting on it, as then it would just be a non-starter for AGES, she has a long memory!!

I am not desperate to train her, just have the usual pressure from older relatives who see her as 3.5 instead of delayed.

Thats great fanjo, it sounds like she's doing really well, dd2 is 4 and has only just started holding my hand and responding to questions. She sounds very similar to dd2, we are getting more words now and she's just started to ask a few questions (asking where things are), maybe in a few months time they will have more understanding to work out the potty training. Dd2 has started saying 'wee wee in potty' when i change her nappy but i don't know if she really understands what she is ment to do. (either that or she is being a little madam).

She is doing really well in every respect except for her speech (although her muscle tone is still v low). We have noticed more "absences" so maybe epilepsy is interfering with her speech though as they have suggested, am hoping they can help with that once we get results.

DD says "change nappy" whenever we mention anything to do with toilets, potties or nappies, I think its just a word association thing with her.

Hi,

I used to work in a nursery and a parent of a child who had the label of a learning disability used to put her child in pants then put a nappy over the top. She had had advise to do this. She would speak to him about not wetting the pants and we would take him to the potty. These things do take time for any children and he did get the hang of it and the nappy got removed. She said it helped her when going out with her child. I'd be interested if anyone else was recommended to do this or thoughts on the matter!

Good luck.