Potty training almost three year old girl?

Question

My daughter turns three in February and has showed no interest in potty training until recently. We put her in underwear this morning, as she requested and she has been in them all day except for during her earlier nap. We have been taking her to the potty every half hour or so, and ask her constantly if she has to go. She peed one time in the potty earlier, but has also peed through her underwear several times. Now she almost throws a fit each time we ask her if she has to use the potty, or we sit her on it. Should we offer an incentive for just sitting on the potty since she resists it so much? Should we offer her an additional incentive for actually peeing in the potty? I know this is the first day we have started training, want to start off on the right foot.

Answer 1

Ahh I just went through this exact situation a couple months ago. My daughter will be three next week. I found that you can't push them. I had been pushing her to go for the past year and it just wasn't working. Putting underwear on her all the time seemed to help a bit, although we went through 6 Pairs a day sometimes! I would just make a huge deal every time she went and tell her what a good girl she was and let her phone her grandma and tell her and she liked that. But in the end she just had to make the decision for herself. One day she came and told me she had to go potty and she did and ever since then she has been doing a good job. I also use to take her about every half hour, but if she fights and doesn't want to go don't make her or she wont want to go. Just encourage her a lot and good luck!!

Answer 2

First of all Relax.....Children will train on their own....I know it is frustrating, at this moment I am going through the same thing with my son who is 4. Up until Nov-Dec of last year, he had no interest in going to the potty. We waited until he started to notice that he was wet or soiled. He still wanes on his interest at times, and will pee himself. The key is don't push her to sit on the potty, that may cause a fear, or turn her off completely to idea of sitting on the potty and peeing. One thing that I did was mark down on a sheet of paper the times he peed in his diaper. I did this for a couple of weeks, and then looked to see if there were any common times which he peed every day. It may take more than a week, as she may not have any times which are the same. Then I formulated a plan, and had him go to the bathroom about 5 minutes before the common time that he peed. My daughter was tough also....but once she started Head Start Program...she saw that all her peers were going on the potty. If that is not possible, if your daughter has some playmates which might be her age or a little older and are using the potty, just remind her that she is a big girl, and she can go on the potty like her friends.

Good Luck
Kathy

Answer 3

Don't ask her if she has to go potty. Just take her in there every 20-30 minutes or depending on how much she has to drink. If she still carries a sippy cup all day use the every 20-30 minute thing. Anyway, if you ask her, she will get all upset and cry. My son did this. I wouldn't say anything to him, I would just pick him up and carry him to the bathroom, put him on the toilet and say go pee. He wouldn't get so mad that way. If he went pee, I would give him an M&M. You have to stay consistent with taking her every 20-30 minutes or you will have accidents. It will take a while to get completely trained. Good Luck. Also, tell her that you will buy her some really cool undies for going potty.

Answer 4

You have done well so far it seems, but yes, ease up a little on the asking her to go.
She's gonna wet herself, that's part of it.
You need to throw a PARTY when she pees and encourage her BIG TIME when she sits on the potty - even if she doesn't go. Get a bunch of potty books or regular books (library) to read on the potty only. Get a bag full of treats (stickers or I did cut pieces of licorice or one or two m&ms, whatever works) for when she pees.
I say no way on the pull-ups, but some people swear by them, to me they are just diapers anyway. That is up to you.
Expect accidents and be prepared to throw-down on the celebration when she goes.
There's a bunch of good questions on here about potty training. You'll get it. or rather, she'll get it!

Answer 5

My son is almost 3 and we've been trying to get him interested. We don't want to force him but he started to show interest in the potty. He asks about the potty and puts his stuffed animals on it. He doesn't like to sit on it though. We have instituted a behavior modification / token economy program. We have a bag of little plastic snakes and bugs that he can earn by sitting on the potty for several seconds. We also have stickers and a poster. If he pees on the pot he gets 1 sticker and 2 stickers for pooping. Then we have shoe boxes filled with toys and cars each box the larger the prize the more stickers needed to "buy" it. So far we have been training his "friends" and he likes it. When he starts to use the pot on a regular basis we will increase the number of stickers needed to buy the prizes. Whenever he shows any interest in the pot we reinforce him with praise. We are using pull ups to encourage him to pull them on and off like underpants. If this doesn't work soon we'll revise the plan.

Answer 6

Maybe lay off for a while. Maybe the pressure of it is too much. Give it a rest for a week-maybe two. Then go at it again, but don't use "pull ups". Just get her up in the morning, put her in her little girl undies, and tell her what the deal is. When she goes in her pants, don't make a big deal out of it. Also, when YOU go potty, take her. My daughter was reluctant to even try until I got her some toys just for playing with in the bathroom. Her potty chair is situated so that her keens are touching mine when we are both going. We play games, and read and color. Make it fun for her. I even went so far as to tape up paper on the walls so she could doodle while she did her business. Try to make it as low stress as possible for her AND for you! If you are stressed over it, it's more pressure for her. Lighten up!

Answer 7

Every half hour is a bit over the top. When she pees in her pants, just say 'Oh dear you forgot to do it in the potty' sympathetically. The whole point is for her to realise when she needs to go. If you just catch it by having her on the potty constantly that isn't teaching her anything. Dr. Phil has a great method for potty training reluctant children.

http://drphil.com/articles/article/264/

Good luck.

Answer 8

Every half hour? You're probably driving her nuts. Ease off a bit, and take her every hr and a half or so, and every time she sits down-- whether she goes or not-- praise her like discovered the cure to cancer or something. Maybe let her choose a sticker, and let her put it on the bathroom mirror every time she actually pees in the potty.

Answer 9

My daughter wasn't potty trained or even talk until she was 3 1/2. In our house, 'pass the salt' was a battle cry. Not until we understood how our behavior afffected her growth and grew up ourselves did she catch up with her peers and succeed in eveything she tried. Don'tmake a big deal and exacerbate her anxiety. Adults never pee in their pants anyway.

Answer 10

I would not start her out on the first day wearing underwear! Pull-ups are the way to go. My son has been in pull-ups for 2 months now and still has accidents. You will get frustrated very quickly changing underwear and pants over and over all day. I suggest reading books to familiarize her with going to the potty, take her in with you too. My son will go pee-pees and poo-poos by himself all the time now. He occasionally wets at night, though. When he keeps his pull-ups dry for 7 days, he will get to wear underwear!
If you overdo it right away, she will regress and show NO interest. It will come, don't worry.