need potty training advice for 2 1/2 yr old dd.

ok...  dd is almost 2 1/2 and has ABSOLUTELY no interest in trying to use the potty!  i have not pushed this b/c w/ our older dd we had quite a few setbacks and it took us forever to get her potty trained (and even she can't hold her bladder through the night still so she has a diaper on to sleep and she's 4 1/2).  our youngest dd is 11 months old today and coming in june we will have a newborn...  so i would really like to have some advice (or criticisim!) on what to do!!!!  i don't want to push it b/c i know that's not the right thing to do...  but she has NO interest in it at all and i need to know if i should just let it go, or what can i do???  i'm not really good at the potty training thing, huh?!?!?

[LosingMyMindInGA]

honestly when the time is right, it will happen.  Just keep trying every so often and see what happens.  With my youngest two, I would ALWAYS ask if they needed to go potty but didnt' force it and every few weeks I would try a day on the weekend putting them in underpants to see what would happen...If they immediately had a bunch of accidents it wasn't hte right time. Finally...a couple of months after they each turned three they were practically potty trained in a weekend..  Just make sure that she sees YOU go potty and perhaps get some books about potty time or videos....don't specifically tell her what they are for, just throw them in the daily routine.

[RockRose]

I have three boys,  and they all potty trained themselves,  with no extra encouragement whatsoever from me,  around 2 1/2 years old.  All three guys were involved in church preschool two mornings a week,  and a playgroup on Friday,  and they watched older kids being taken to the bathroom, and they wanted to do that too.  My middle son was at the park playing with an older boy (my son is tall and savvy for his age,  the other boy thought he was older than 2 1/2) and the other boy suddenly looked at my son's shorts and said "you're a BABY!!  I didn't know you were a BABY!!  You still have a diaper!".  This kid wasn't trying to be cruel - he was honestly surprised he was playing with a baby,  not a 4 year old like himself.

That was it.  That day,  he decided he wanted undies.  

It will happen for your daughter - is she around other girls who are "big girls" going to the bathroom - besides your older daughter?

[kennedydp5]

no, she's not around any others that go to the bathroom.  i honestly thought she would be a breeze to potty train since she does have an older sister, but it didn't end up that way!  

[AndiJ78]

My two older boys were very different. My oldest took some encouragement, I tried here and there while he was 2 to get him interested. He pooped in the potty well before he went pee. We did potty prizes, but didn't push it. One day, when he was 3, we did a nakey day, he didn't wear pull-ups or undies that day and he just started using the potty. When he had those all the time, he knew he could use them.

With my second, shortly after my third was born, he started going pee in the potty chair. It took nearly a year later for him to finally consistently go poop, but we let him lead the way. I didn't push, didn't show frustration, just gave gentle encouragement and it worked. Ultimately, they led the way and figured it out on their own.

[sfritz]

When my DD turned 2 I started sitting her on her potty chair in the bathroom with me when I had to go.  When we weren't in there I would set it in the living room (wierd, I know.)  We also bought her a potty chair Elmo.  We never pushed her.  One day, we were sitting in the living room watching TV and she went to her potty chair, took off her diaper, went potty, and said "Look!  I went potty like Elmo!!"
We had very few accidents after that, except at night (she is 3 and still has to wear night-night undies because she doesn't wake up when she has to go).

Good luck!!

[kennedydp5]

thanks for your info guys!!!

sfritz-  don't worry...  putting the potty chair in the living room isn't as wierd as you think!  we did it w/ our older one, too!!!  :)

[jo903]

i have tried everything my boy is almost 3 he goes nursary 1 day a week and i say to hin all your friends use the potty he replies NO, i have bought 5 pottys in total and would say do u need potty and he says NO, so i started making him sit there and has done occasional wee and we give him so much praise! but he will not just go topotty for himself he just stands there and wets himself, he also poo in his pants and just runs away from me, ive also bought potty books potty charts, i just really dont know wat to do and feel a failure. somebody help!

[penny254]

Hi i have a little girl who is nearly 3.ive triedeverything to potty train her but she wnt go.shell go all day n then wen itcomes to bed time then we have 3 -4 accidents she wnt telll me she needs to gountil shes dne it.ive got 2 older girls and they did well the oldest was dry by day wen she was 3 n was fullydryday nnite by the time she was 3 n half mymiddle child potty trained herself in2 weeks was all dne by the time she was 2 nhalf but my youngest is just ntbothered sheknows what the toilet is n where it is but wnt go ne help as ive got number4 on the way n would like her potty trained before babyarrives