hi, can anyone give me some tips on trying to get my little girl to use the potty, keep putting her on every hour but just seems not interested at all, getting very worried as she is 3 in april and starts school in sept, please help me if you would with some good advice thanks.

Anna - posted on 02/21/2009

try to give her hershey kisses as a treat for doing a good job, or at least the effort, i did it with my youngest when she was barely 2. or try any little treat that she loves.

Elena - posted on 02/21/2009

I know it sounds lame, but I got her the little dolly that drinks water and pees. I let her "Potty Train" the dolly, and then she got it. I thought it was lame too, but it worked. And be sure you never put her down for going in her diaper. That just discourages them. Good luck!!!

JoAnna - posted on 02/21/2009

When my daughter turned 3 last July I told her 3 year olds use the potty and diapers are for babies.  We made a sticker chart for the fridge and at the time she was huge on Cinderella 3 (we would get it from the library) so I promised her I would buy it for her when she used the potty consistently.  It worked!  One week later she had her Cinderella 3.  All kids are different,  just have patience.   A good pre school will not frown on a child wearing pull ups.  Usually once they are in class they will see the other kids using the potty and want to too.  Don't stress, as my mom would say to me, she'll be out of diapers by the time she gets married!!!

Melanie - posted on 02/21/2009

I agree with Tina. Let them go naked and they will realize when they are going. Always have a potty nearby and don't force them to go as it will have the oppisite effect.

Jen - posted on 02/21/2009

Hi,it was awee bit easyer for me as my son tryed to toilet train him self at just 22months but i wasnt ready as i had not long had another baby,but after his seconed birth i tryed but i found my son wouldnt use the potty so i just put him straght to the toilet n got him 1of those little toilet seat inners n steps n it worked he just did not like the pottie, So my tip is try the toilet as thats wear they no we go.

Leah - posted on 02/21/2009

Believe me the sticker chart really worked for me w/ both my kids. at the end of the week or weeks I would get them something special, a mylar balloon was always a request. I also let them pick out big kid underwear to wear around the house and they didn't like having accidents in them so they made sure to get to the potty on time. Good luck, it just takes time.

Heather - posted on 02/21/2009

Hi Beverley! My son is finally JUST trained, and he is four years old. I finally just put him into "big boy" underwear with Superman on them; I told him he better not pee on Superman! And now hes got it mastered for two months already :) Maybe something like that will help your girl too :) Good Luck!

Regina - posted on 02/21/2009

Put her on the potty as soon as she wakes up in morning and after naps and do lots of praising and some kind of reward.  Doesn't have to be candy.  My son was happy with pieces of cantelope.

Lisa - posted on 02/21/2009

I use to sit in the bathroom and read a story to my girls while they sat on the potty. And I praised the heck out of them if I heard the slightest tinkle.

Megan - posted on 02/21/2009

i have to say we had it pretty easy with our little girl. We did the potty training in May & she turned 3 in April. We started a couple weeks before reading a potty book (we had several) every night before bed & talking about how big girls use the potty & practicing with her dolls on the doll potty. The big mistake i made was trying to use the pull ups... they were so much like diapers she didn't care about going in them. She & I went to the store to pick out a special potty seat & sparkly princess underpants. I took a week off from work with no plans other than the potty. The first day we set the timer & she sat on the potty every 15 min. We used M&Ms for rewards, 1 for sitting on the potty, 2 if she went pee & 4 if she pooped. It was just enough for her to look forward to sit on the potty. We gradually increased the time when she sat on the potty. She started to tell me when she had to go by the end of the second day & the third day we didn't need the timer. By Thursday she had no more accidents. The biggest thing for her was she didn't want to get her special underpants wet. if she was in anything but those sparkly princess panties she didnt' mind wetting them.  Good luck.

Hayley - posted on 02/21/2009

i was so lucky with my little girl when i potty trained her it didnt take long at all but i bought her some books with storeys about big girls useing the potty and toilet thats another way to my little one didnt like the ptty al that much but having a speical big girl seat for the toilet help she felt like a proper grown up and i also rewarded when she used the potty or toilet with a little sweety she was only allowed ine when she done the bis then once it became a natrul thing faze the out gd luck hun

Kathryn - posted on 02/21/2009

Letting her pick out some cool big girls helps too, I would let her keep them on for about an hour after every time she went and then put her back in a pull up.  She really wanted to stay in the big girls and figured out real quick what needed to happen for that to happen.

Kathryn - posted on 02/21/2009

I will tell you what our Ped told us. You can try for a year to get her to go or wait until she is ready and it will take a week.  I did 3 things with our daughter, I bought the Cottonelle kids toilet paper, it has little puppies and paws on it and I told her it was her "special puppy toilet paper" and only she could use it.  I bought a book called "The Potty Book" it is short, it rhymes and it is cute. 3rd - I only put her on the potty in the morning when she got up and she HAD to go.  I told her this was the only time that she had to sit on the potty all day and that if she wanted to go again that was fine but I was not going to make her any other time.  We read the book ( I used her name in place of the name of the book) and the special puppy and within a few weeks she would start to go on her own and within about a month and a half she was totally potty trained.  I think the key was giving her that freedom during the day, the more pressure we put on her, the less she was willing to try.  And we made a HUGE!!!!! deal when she did go.  And yes I did bribe her - lollipops ROCK!!!  It is worth the short term bribe to get the diapers off.  It will happen, I just don't think it can be forced - as soon as we lightened up so did she.

Elizabeth - posted on 02/21/2009

My daughter turns 3 in April too.  I finally just put her in princess panties - that she picked out.  We talked about not letting the princess get wet.  I tried the potty every 2 hours, but she didn't want to sit for longer than 1 or 2 minutes.  After a weeks worth of accidents, lots of laundry, and spot remover - (I felt like I had a puppy again) it just clicked for her.  All of the sudden she just started running into the potty when she needed to go.  I did the same with my oldest daughter and it only took 2 accidents for her to be trained, so you could get very lucky.

Tracey - posted on 02/21/2009

All great advice, and I'm adding mine too....lol! I used the reward system too.....but also with the potty thing, let her sit on it anywhere she wants too in the house. My first born was trained by 2 because she used to sit on it watching her favorite television show....at first with pants, then with the big girl panties, and onto naked bum. Used with descretion naturally, we didn't let her do it around company.....but alas it worked. We just encouraged her to move it to the bathroom with Mommy....and we'd go together. Made it a game, and she'd win a sticker or a simple freezie treat, and walah!!!!!!!!

Janis - posted on 02/21/2009

Go buy "The Potty Book for Girls" it comes in a boy version and a girl version.  Read it as many times as your daughter wants you to which is until she has it memorized and you will to.  I have raised 4 children on the potty book with great success.  Another good bood is "Everyone Poops"  A word of advice... Do not use food as a reward. 

Millie - posted on 02/21/2009

I am a daycare teacher and I work with 3 year olds. Try giving her stickers and a special prize when she goes. For everytime she uses the potty give her a sticker and as for sending her every hour. try every 15 minutes to get her used to going a little more.

Jenni - posted on 02/21/2009

Make a sticker chart and let her put a sticker on it every time she "tries" to go. Make a new chart when she likes to try and let her put stickers on her "big girl" chart when she does go. You can make a new chart to reinforce what you want at each stage. When she fills up a chart reward her with something small she would like. We do chocolate, but not all moms give their kids candy.

Stephanie - posted on 02/21/2009

My kids both loved stickers. I would only let them have them when they were in the bathroom and sitting on the potty. If they went potty then they could put the sticker on a potty chart. When the chart got full, then they would get a special little something. I started out with a week at a time then gradually increased it to a couple of weeks then a month, etc. My daughter turned 3 in January and is completely potty trained and has been for about 4 months with the exception of night time and we are still working on that one.

Hilary - posted on 02/21/2009

We did the stickers and treats too, and tried to have to try on the potty (reading a book each time makes it less frustrating for both of you and gives some bonding time), and my daughter potty-trained pretty easily.  But I think the bottom line isn't what tricks you use, it's whether or not your child is ready.  When we were little, everyone was potty-trained by age 2 and it was a matter of pride for the parents, but many times it was the parents who were trained, not the kids.  More and more, child developmental theory is saying that most kids don't have the capacity to hold their urine and stool until they're about 3.  I would keep trying to get your daughter comfortable with the potty, but don't push her.  Let her see you using the toilet, and I think the naked/underwear idea is always a good one; it helps kids understand why they would need to use the potty.  But give her time, she's little yet. 

Suzy - posted on 02/21/2009

I made my daughter a sticker board in the bathroom.  Every time she used the potty, she got to stick a sticker on her board where ever she wanted.  Giving treats sometimes works too. 

Marileigh - posted on 02/21/2009

to get my daughter to go on the pot, i had her set a timer for every 45 mintues and i took her in the bathroom, and had her sit even if she didnt have to go, also at night time i told her the store was all out of pullup when she started going to the bathroom it took me about 2 weeks but she was potty trained, you can try that hope it helps!

April - posted on 02/21/2009

Hi. My daughter didn't start using the potty until a few weeks before her 3rd bday. Someone told me to take her to the store and let her pick out some big girl underwear that she liked and to also start putting them on her with the plastic underpants over them. This worked really well for us although I did a lot of laundry for a while! The problem with the pullups is that they still don't really give the kids the sensation of being wet like real underwear do.

Tina - posted on 02/21/2009

what helps is... let her run naked in the summer! we have a garden with a big fence around. put a potty outside too and give her a sticker or star or something else everytime she uses the potty successfully. with 5 or 10 stars she can have a little present! it worked for us!