2 and a half, and still not interested in her potty

Hi everyone,

I guess i am not really looking for advice, just someone to say their child is the same :~ ! But any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

My daughter is weeks off 2 and a half, and asks to have her nappy put back on when it has been off for a while! She has no fear of the potty or the toilet, and happily sits on either, but only rarely wees! She is the only one in her circle of friends that is still in nappies, not that that is my problem, but i thought she would like to be more like them, more grown up!

Deep down i think she only sees having to go to the potty an obstackle to her playing! Why learn to go to the potty, when i have mum to change my bottom for me, kind of attitude!

Hoping someone understands me,
Tepe

I have a daughter who is 22 months old.

I started toilet training her just a couple of weeks after her 2nd birhtday.

She was doing brilliantly very eager and willing to go to the toilet, she practically learnt in a day and for 4 weeks she went to the toilet all of the time even when we went out or playing outside. Bragging to everyone that she was clever being just like her older sister of 5 yrs wearing knickers etc.

She preferred the toilet to the potty using her little step and toilet insert and wore pull ups at night.

The last few weeks we are back at square one asking me to put nappies back on her refusing to go to the toilet.

I do believe she has found out that it has too gotten in the way of her playing. Nothing major has happened, maybe the excitement of all those new toys at xmas time who's to know only they hold the key.

Hope fully a girls will realise that going to the toilet quickly will be far more hasty than us having to change their bottoms.

goodluck

Hi Tepe,

I too have a daughter who will be 2 and a half at end of Feb and is not toilet trained. We are taking it slowly and not pushing her. I think children do things at different ages and stages. Don't worry you are not the only one. My husband has looked after our daughter for the last 2 years full time. We are doing a role swap at the end of this month.

Taylah seems quite happy to sit on the toilet every now and again - we have success sometimes!

I will let her get settled into having me at home and then see how she goes. But I am not concerned.

Good luck and I defintely understand

Jane

Hi Jane, Juanita and Heidi,

Thanks sooo much for your responses! I am still taking it slowly as half the time she doesn't want to know about it!

Her cousin came over this afternoon and needed to go to the toilet! She is her role model at the moment, the whole of 5, and she watched with great interest, maybe the idea is getting there. She ripped off her nappy, and asked to go to the potty, and she did. So as i mentioned, i know she can do it if she wants.

Goodluck everyone else, and thanks again,
Tepe wink

Hi Tepe

I know what you are going through. I had a very hard time with my little boy (who is now 3 1/2). I had to keep on borrowing my sisters little boy who is nearly 2 years older. My son wouldn't listen to me because of his fear of the toilet, but would copy his cousin. ???
It does sound silly to say to your child 'come and watch him go to the toilet'. But it really works! I had to borrow his little cousin quite a few times to come over and stay with us. In the end he got the hang of it by the time he was three. Then the nighttime wetting becomes a challenged. They say they should be trained by three, so don't worry you have some time.
My little boy got the hang of it for a while and then stopped for a while (because it wasn't fun anymore) and then eventually started again. I found out afterwards that a lot of kids do this. Just though I'd mention it so you don't have a stress attack like I did.

Thanks Pauline,

We're still at the same stage, but i agree with the copying thing. She watches us all the time, boring, but if another child does it, it is another story.

Wish me luck,
Tepe

hi,
i noticed that its been a while since you put this letter on the internet so i was wondering how you eventually toilet trained your daughter because i am having the same problem with my 2 1/2yr old son any advice would be greatly appreciated. thanks
three,b,s

Hi

I only posted it a month ago, and still no more progress! She will do wees on the toilet, but only when SHE wants! Has your son made any progress?? My daughter was 2.5 exackly yesterday!

Tepe

Hi Tepe,

My son is the same. He turns 2.5 in two days and even though he has used the potty occassionally, he will go for days where he won't use it at all. It is really hard for us because both my husband and I work full time so we often have to ensure that everyone that minds him (family day care 3 days, grand parents 2 days) does the same thing we do. Of course they try but everyone has their own way of dealing with it. The poor kid is probably completely confused! I keep thinking that he probably isn't really ready yet because he just doesn't show any interest. He will sit on the potty or the toilet quite happily but anything that happens is more by accident than anything else. I'm due to have my second child in early June and would love him to be at least relatively toilet trained by this time but I just don't know how to move forward. This is by far and away the most difficult thing I've ever had to teach him - he normally picks up things very quickly. Oh well. In the end all that matters is that we adore him!

By the way, hardly any of the other kids in my mothers group are any further along than this and my son is the youngest (and the only one with parents who both work full time). I try not to compare him to other kids but I find it interesting and try and see what strategies the other mums use.

Hi Yvette,

It really sounds like your son is not ready either! My biggest effort at the moment is to not get stressed over it! I am letting her provide the cues, but it is so hard after being told she needs to go to the potty 5 times with no result!

Hope things get better for both of us,
Let us know of any progress,
Tepe