help potty training a 3 year old girl!

Ivonne - posted on 05/05/2012

My daughter turned 3 in feb and we just started the cotton underwear during the day and pull ups for bed time. Its only been a few days and shes been doing good until today. Shes had about 3 accidents in the las couple hours...its very frustrating because she knows better. But instead of taking out on her i try to stay calm and tell her that shes a big girl now and needs to let me know if she needs potty and not wait till after she has a accident. She is also an only child and isnt around children her age very much so i wonder if that makes any difference. Its hard to deal with all the criticism and snipe somments especially since im doing it on my own but its a relief knowing that were not the only ones going through it.best of luck to you and your daughter!

Cass - posted on 07/10/2009

i had so much hassle with my daughter, i ended up giving her a lolly pop every time she went to the toilet still with not much luck but she always wanted to stay at grandads house so grandad told her she had to wear knickers and use the toilet before she could stay, she was instantly in knickers and using the toilet and hasnt looked back its a matter of woking out what they really like and dont like. also my son was scared of the toilet seat so i baught him a potty but was scared of the hole so i put a cloth nappy over the hole the first couple of times and that worked a treat.

Caren - posted on 07/09/2009

I feel your pain!! My just-turned-3-year-old daughter is almost perfect at peeing in the potty, even still in pull-ups, but WILL NOT POOP IN THE POTTY FOR NOTHING!! It is so frustrating, I know that she'll get it in her own time, but she can think and figure out so many other things about being a big girl, how to try to get around Mommy & Daddy and what not, but RUNS everytime she has to poop, even has pooped in her big girl underwear twice, but it was such a consistency that it didn't make too much of a mess (didn't run out...I know, TMI!!). We've tried taking cartoons, video games, computer games, etc. away from her, and she wants to go to Preschool, too, but it hasn't clicked yet. Good luck to you; hopefully we won't have to wait too much longer!!

Elicia - posted on 07/09/2009

We used M&M. One everytime she went pee and 2 or 3 when she went poo. It worked so well with her that my dare care provider adopted the practice when training her other kids. We started training her at the age of 2 and she was wearing big girl panties by 2 and a half.



Try to find "Once Upon a Potty" for girls. I don't know if this helped my daughter but I know mom's who swear by it. She started watching it at 2, and continued to ask to watch it until she was trained. You can also try taking her to the store to pick out her own big girl underwear and put it in her dresser for when she is trained. Then she has something to work for that she picked out.

Traci - posted on 07/09/2009

I may not have a lot of advice for you but I wanted to know that I know how you feel. I am still working on my 4.5 year old boy who still uses the potty inconsistently. He has only ever pooped on the potty 3 times - TOTAL. We've tried all the different tips and tricks but he just doesn't really seem to care. I think with some children it really is all about when they are ready. I think if you're just patient with your daughter, she will come to it in her own time. I know it's hard to be patient, trust me... I KNOW. But they will get it eventually.

A gal I work with also had a late training daughter. When her daughter turned 4 years old, she just very matter-of-fact told her daughter that '4 year olds don't go in their pull-up, 4 year olds wear underwear and pee and poop on the potty. You're 4 now.' For her daughter, it worked. It just clicked. So that may be something to think about too as your daughter approaches her next b-day.

Either way, good luck. It will happen when she is ready.

Helen - posted on 07/09/2009

i had a really hard time with my son.. and then we got a video "Potty Power".... he watched the video... it was interactive... asked them questions about big boys and babies... and who does what.... and he wanted to watch it constantly.... he told me himself that he wanted to use the potty.... because he wanted "potty power".... he loved it so much...that he would tell strangers that he has "potty power" ... i highly recommend this video...

Michelle - posted on 07/09/2009

having a sticker chart ofr some sort of reward chart may help and encourage her... also dont tell her off if she has any accidents as she will lose her confidence and be prepared for a few accidents wen u least expect it

Yvonne - posted on 07/09/2009

hi i hav just come out of d same phase wit my lil girl..she is nearly 3 and is now fully poty trained..we started in february and wow there was a lot of mess at first!!we got bit disheartened and went back to nappies for her which only confused her.now i am outta work so hav been able to do it properly wit her last few weeks.....she now has no nappies day or night and we got her lil cartoon knickers cos she is now 'big girl' and we still every friday let her pick out one small present or treat for bein so good at usin d tiolet every day.
besta luck to u.....it really does pay to stick wit it

Jacob - posted on 07/09/2009

That sounds like my 3.5 year old, she doesn't say when she has to go potty, she just pees in her underwear and doesn't care. And when she does go in the bathroom, she plays in the water and makes a huge mess! She would be wet all day if we didn't say anything. Sorry I have no advice for you, but your not alone...good luck!

Jacob - posted on 07/09/2009

I'm also having problems getting my 3.5 year old (girl) trained. We've been working on it for over a year!!! My youngest will be 2 in August, she uses the potty better than her big sister. One day, we just put the lil one in underwear and took her to the potty every 20 minutes or so. She would sit, but not do anything. One day we went out to eat, she was wearing a pull-up. Her brother and sister said they had to go potty, of course she had to follow. Applebee's was the first place that she used the potty! Its been about 2 weeks now and we are doing great!! An accident here or there and diapers at bed time and nap. Good luck!!

Patty - posted on 07/09/2009

since it's summertime - I would let her run around naked in the backyard this weekend - she will quickly learn when it's going to happen & how uncomfortable it is. Hopefully she will learn quickly.

Catherine - posted on 07/08/2009

When my daughter was potty training, I let her pick out the prettiest panties (she chose care bears and strawberry shortcake, I think). I told her that if she wet them, she had to go back to wearing a diaper for a while. She hated messing up her pretty panties. In no time, she was potty trained. This method also worked for all three of my boys (superman, batman, and transformers underwear).

SUELLEN - posted on 07/08/2009

HI I AM TRYING TO TRAIN MY THREE YEAR OLD TWIN BOYS. IT STILL IS A GAME TO THEM AND THEY ARE SOAKED IN THE MORNING. I ALSO DON'T KNOW WHAT TO DO. THEY DON'T SEEM TO KNOW WHEN IT IS COMING AND WHEN THEY TELL ME THEY HAVE TO POTTY IT IS ACTUALLY JUST TO PLAY IN THE BATHROOM AND GET INTO MISCHIEF. IF YOU FIND OUT ANY HELPFUL HINTS, PLEASE LET ME KNOW.

Heather - posted on 07/08/2009

no she's always wet in the morning. maybe twice she was dry. thanks for the info.

Heather - posted on 07/08/2009

thanks for the info., but she's an only child and there isn't anyone her age around her or any other kids around her very much except her 3 (boys) cusins acasionally.

Heather - posted on 07/08/2009

thanks for the tip. i've tried that too. i got some for her 3rd b-day that she even pick out and told her she would be a big girl now but it didn't work.

Kristina - posted on 06/28/2009

I am still potty training my daughter too, but she has gotten better at knowing when she has to go ever since she had a peeing accident on the floor a few days ago. Now she seems to understand the concept of going to the potty chair before you pee. Good luck!

Hillary - posted on 06/26/2009

What worked for me is to get the favorite cartoon character underwear. Let them go around the house in just their underwear. Then they can actually feel if they wet themselves. Remind them nicely, not to go pee-pee on their friends. My son was potty trained by 2 years and 3 months. It took us one week for #1 and another week for #2. We were totally potty trained in 2 weeks total.

Melissa - posted on 06/24/2009

I am still in the thick of potty training my nearly 3 year old boy. It has been over a month, and things are going reasonable well. All the signs you were saying about your daughter were the same here, yet he refused to tell us when it was time to go. So we switched to underwear, borrowed the neighbours carpet cleaner for a couple weeks and dove in. We put him on the toilet (real toilet) with a potty seat ontop every hour on the hour for a week. It was hit and miss at first but now he recognizes the urge better and doesn't want to wet himself so he "runs to the potty," (a phrase which we drilled into his head. Poop was hard, but you can sort of tell when it is time just by watching their mannerisms and then you just fly like the wind to the potty.

We rewarded stickers on a yellow chart for every pee on the potty and stickers on a blue chart for poops on the potty. We also made a hugely ridiculous deal about it every time (chhering and clapping and gawking...) It seems to be working and appaerntly boys tend to be more difficult in this aspect. Good luck!

Oh and now, we have got him down to every 2-3 hours for a pee and 1-2 times a day for poo (around the same predictable time. The nice thing about going diaperless is you can sort of observe your daughter's patterns. We do still put Evan in pull ups for nap and bed though, for now.

Sheryl - posted on 06/24/2009

Consistancy, is definitely the key! Also, with both of my children, I bought underwear with their favorite characters and explained to them that they couldn't pee pee or poop on them( thomas the choochoo train, elmo) and that seemed to do the trick for both my 4yr old son( at age 2) and my 13 yr old daughter(at 18months). Good luck!

Mary - posted on 06/24/2009

There are a couple of things, first routine. Get her used to the potty and then make it a routine. Second, if she has older siblings or friends it may help for her to be aware when they go.



Don't worry she will be potty trained before she gets her high school diploma! The less stress over it the better.

Carrie - posted on 06/24/2009

Ok I understand, but since I lost my job and was able to stay with my daughter we did it cold turkey. Went from diapers to no diapers! She had a few accidents here and there but nothing a washing machine couldn't handle. It also helps that whom ever is watching her sticks to it too. My mother in-law was helping with that when she watched my kids before I lost my job. Good luck!!!!

Kelly - posted on 06/24/2009

i have a 3 1/2 year old too she's just starting to say oh no and run for the toilet the dr says she has to be ready you have to watch for the signs they go about the same time everyday

does she make it all night without peeing her diaper? thats a great sign too good luck!

Neddy - posted on 06/24/2009

I noticed with my daughter that when she first went to the potty, it took her 3hrs and i think it's because it's their first time and they are afraid. My husband put her on the potty and told her she couldn't leave until she did something and that it was ok to do it in the potty. The funny thing is she always needed to do her business at that time, but just wouldn't til 3 hrs later. When she finally did it...well there was no stopping her.