Need help with potty training a 2 1/2 year old anyone have any suggestions?

Question

We just got custody of our niece and nephew, and our niece will be 3 in july and is not potty trained yet. She knows when she goes cause she tells me to change her pull-up. How do i get her to tell me before she does it so she can use the big potty or her potty chair? I have tried using suckers but it hasnt worked.

Answer 1

If you just got custody I am assuming that they came from a not so great home. If there was any trauma at all it could delay potty training. My suggestion is wait a while. She just got moved to a new home, taken from her old one. Her life is very upset so now is not the time to try to train her. Both of my older boys didn't potty train until about 1 month before they turned 3. Yes ideally she should be trained by 2, but not all children are ready at that age. I really would wait even a couple more months before starting this process. Good luck

Answer 2

Get rid of the pull-ups and make a commitment to really go at this full force. Start over a weekend when you can commit to being home all day.... If you can take a day or two off of work that would help. Tell her that she is a big girl now and make a big deal out of the fact that you are throwing away the diapers (and you need to mean it---do NOT go back) and she *gets* to wear big girl underwear. Take her to the store and let her pick out what she likes. (Maybe her favorite disney character etc.) Yes, you are going to be cleaning up pee all weekend, but she will get it if you are consistent and stick with it. Take her to the bathroom every hour and see how that goes..... if she actually goes on the potty, give her a small treat (it can't be a sucker---because you'll be putting her on the potty several times during the day. It should be something like a small chocolate egg, or a couple m&m's or 3 fruit snacks...... If she has an accident, don't get mad, but have her help to clean it up (you'll be doing the actual cleaning, but make sure she has to stop her playing and participate in the act of helping.) Tell her that when she has that "feeling" to hold it and tell you so that she can "let it out" on the potty. Once she's going consistently when you put her on the toilet, see if she can go for a while and actually TELL you when she has to go. You might remind her, or ask her if she has that "feeling" yet..... Again, reward her when she goes.

Night time and naps are a different story---and pull-ups are perfectly fine. All bets are off when it comes to SLEEP! My 6 year old was potty trained before she was 2, but STILL has accidents once in a while at night. She's just a really deep sleeper. So---don't even try to bother with nighttime yet.

DO NOT go back to diapers, you will lose any progress that you made and it will be doubley hard next time you try. Commit to doing it and just stick it out. If she's telling you to change her, she's ready. She'll get it---just be patient and consistent.

P.S. Something that worked for my son (who really did not seem to "get it" when he was wearing underwear, was to let him run around nude. For some reason, he would not "let it go" this way! Once he SAW what was happening (the first time he had an accident without underwear on) he wouldn't do it again..... Even 2 weeks into it, if I'd put underwear on him he'd pee in them! For some reason he needed the "visual" to understand what was happening..... to understand that there was a connection between his body and himself. He was pretty young (20 months) but after a while, I think this did teach him bladder "control" and he did finally get it and was able to hold it until he reached the toilet even with the underwear on. Just another approach that might work.

Answer 3

I just helped potty train a little girl who will be 3 in april. It took about a month. She had special dora underwear. But would still have accidents in them. I put her in a dress with nothing else on and she was okay. Just make sure that you have a potty chair or something else down stairs.


You may want to just let her know what it is and what it is for. Bring her to the bathroom with you.


I hve to run for the time being if you want or need more advice send me an email.

Answer 4

Try taking her to the bathroom every 30 minutes to 1 hour. Let her wash her hands every time she goes to try. Have a foam or a good smelling soap something that will interest her. My daughter is three and she loves to wash her hands all the time. Take the training potty out of the bathroom and maybe let her sit on it while she is playing or watching Dora the Explorer. Just so that she gets more comfortable with the potty chair. Try M&M candy everytime she goes to the potty she can have one M&M os something else that she likes. Good Luck!!

Answer 5

when she wakes up in the morning take her potty, after eating lunch and dinner wait a couple of minutes and take her potty.
if this does not help her I would say you should try this for a week or two. I pantie trained my girl which meant I had to clean a lot of floors and cloths, but she was trained in two weeks. panty training is where they where a diaper only to go "out" and at night. for the rest of the day they are in big kid panties that way they can feel the pee, they make the trainers to comfy now and the kids dont mind it so much. but due to her not being in your care until now I would try the first suggestion i gave since she might need an extra push to sit on the potty more and I give my girl fruit snacks when she does a bowl movement on the potty.
she loves it.

Answer 6

first advice is be consistant and have your sitter also be consistant once you start using training pants dont switch back. For night time you can but rubber pants to put on over the trainers. I ran a daycare and what worked best for the kids was a reward system and believe it or not stickers worked best and of course making a big deal every time they go potty.
By the reward system I mean get a paper and every time they go potty let them choose a sticker to put on theirself. Compare each day with them so they can see their progress.
Really 2 1/2 isnt all that old its just about the right age to start

Answer 7

Try having a "mystery box" filled with little candies and toys. Every time she uses the toilet, you give her something out of the mystery box. She'll want to keep trying because she'll want to know whats all in the box. You can also try a different reward system where she will get a star or sticker every time she uses the bathroom, and when she gets so x amount of stars she can pick something out at the toy store.

My little sister wouldn't poop in the toilet until she was 4&1/2, at which point my parents took the diapers completely away from her so she either pooped in the toilet or she didn't at all. It took about 2 days before she would go, but this is an extreme. I don't think you need to to try this yet.

Answer 8

well you have to look at it from her side as well, im sure she is going through some major issues and that can make a child regress...i have to agree with not using pull-ups, you just have to be consistant and stay on her and give praise lots and lots of praise! You can use rewards but try to limit the sweets, find something that she likes and use that....like with my son he liked donuts and i kept a box of the donut holes and would give him ONE whenever he used the potty.....or went a day w/o an accident..Hope that helps and good luck!

Answer 9

first of all, your niece may not be ready, however if she is take her to the store and have her pick out whatever kind of panties she wants. you know like with her favorite character on them. then i would talk to her about big girl panties and tell her how much fun it is to wear them but remind her that she can only wear them if she goes in the potty. this is how my daughter finally stopped having accidents and transitioned from pull ups to panties. Just beware....my daughter insisted on spongebob briefs...LOL

Answer 10

A good trick is to have your toilet water blue and let them turn it green.

To be honest, with my son, I just waited until he was ready and he was done w/in a week. I remember it as being a day, to be honest, but my husband remembers it differently.

To go without the pullup is a good idea, I wholeheartedly agree. She won't like being wet and she won't like being stinky either. Making her change her own clothes is a good way to go too, because kids (or so I've seen) tend to want to get away with doing as little as possible, so having to change her own clothes 2-5 times daily will get old with her quickly.