Tuesday, January 25, 2011

I Need Help

We are trying not to seem as desperate as we feel.  Tooty, who is almost 3 1/2, is still not too interested in learning to use the potty, and it's starting to become pretty frustrating.  We are playing it cool, and adjusting routines and trying to make her see how great it is to wear panties and not a diaper.  Part of the problem is she's stubborn and isn't interested, another is that she hasn't ever really cared too much if her diaper is wet...she'll asked to be changed when she's poopy sometimes, but it doesn't always seem to bother her. 

So what do we do?  Do you have any gems of wisdom in this area?  A book suggestion we should read?  A reward of some kind?  We have already told her that she can't go to school until she learns to go potty all the time and not wear a diaper, but even as much as she wants to go to school, it hasn't changed anything.

Any and all advice is appreciated!

4 comments:

Fab Five said...

With both my boys we just used up the last of the diapers and didn't buy anymore. Didn't give them or us the option of using them anymore. I had them throw away the last dirty diaper, made it a big deal like a ceremony or something, and put on the big boy undies and that was the new way of life. It took Carson 5 days before he got it down but Reese is taking longer. He was doing really well but now he's regressing a little bit and having more accidents, it's been 8 days. Just remind her like every 15 minutes to let you know when she has to go and you'll have to learn her signs. It'll take her a few days to realize herself and then maybe a couple more to get to the point where she'll tell you. When she has an accident, rush her to the toilet and let her finish there. Show her how gross and yucky and wet her undies are now and remind her to keep them dry and to put her potties in the toilet. When she goes in the toilet, make a big deal out it with lots of praise every single time. Don't force or fight or bribe to get her to go. Hold of on rewards until you get really desperate. If she doesn't want to wait and watch for her to have an accident then rush her to the toilet. You'll have to follow her around and give her pretty much 100% of your attention for a few days until she gets the hang of telling you. Make sure you have tons of undies to switch out and try to stay home for a few days just focusing on her. It's a huge ordeal and a huge pain in the butt and completely exhausting but try not to get frustrated, keep your cool and good luck! Email me if you have any questions!

Roxy said...

The stuff Jenny said is spot on. Super Nanny did the same thing with the use of the last diaper then having them throw away that last dirty one. Now the not going out part Payton was just opposite she never (well almost) had accidents if we were out but when we got home from doing whatever she almost instantly had one. Another thing you can try is telling her that if she can go X amount of days using the potty and having no accidents then she can have a potty party to celebrate (I know you want to make a toilet cake). Just another idea. If your apartment has stair make sure you have one of the little potties downstairs it helps a lot sometimes getting to the one upstairs is just too much time for them.

Frantz Family said...

I hate potty training,the worst part of motherhood so far for me. With Aaron we tried so hard at first, we read books, threw parties and focused solely on him for days...weeks. Nothing worked for him until he was ready. I hated when people told me to wait until he was ready, but the morning he woke up and decided to go all by himself (months after we gave up mind you) was the last day he had accidents, even with #2. I don't think you should worry too much about age, that is an extra stressor we put on ourselves, it is ok. Now, Leah woke up one morning interested in the potty, went one time and praised her (overboard really) and that was it for #1's, #2's are harder for her...we are still working on that one, we have to watch her closely for her signs she does good most of the time unless it hurts her, then she regresses, so keep the poo soft with good foods. Good luck, I am already dreading Jesh's potty training days

Sun said...

Every kid is so different. What worked for Charlie was useless for Riley. With Charlie we had a potty prize box and that worked great for us. We bribed him with the zoo to get him to stay dry at night. We told him if he stayed dry for 5 nights then we would go and he stayed dry. Easy peasy.

Riley was a different story. No amount of bribing or praising made him care. We had to force him to learn. We made sure that he understood and had him teach one of his toys what to do. Then I put him on the potty every 20 minutes. EVERY 20 MINUTES for two weeks and then we went every 30 minutes for another week and then every hour the next. Yep, it took a month. It was hellish for me but it did the trick and now he never has an accident.

Charlie was three and Riley was developmentally around three so I think she's a great age. You'll figure out what will work for her and then it'll just click.