i have a 3 year old, any help with potty training? any ideas.

Jennifer - posted on 03/16/2009

I went out and let my daughter buy her own underwear and potty seat. These were her special items. But really, make a HUGE deal out of going potty! Make it fun, give rewards, use a chart and let her put stickers on it everytime she goes on the potty. If there is an older sibling in the house, have your child watch when they go. My youngest wants to go to school soooo bad. We told her she had to go on the big girl potty in order to go to school. Seriously, it took a DAY to potty train her. Find what works for her, not for you and run with it. She'll get there eventually. GOOD LUCK!!!

Amanda - posted on 03/15/2009

She might not be ready yet they always say don't push them and they'll do it when they are ready.  I agree try the potty seat that goes on the big potty and my daughter calls it and see if that helps.  Ialways took my daughter every hour and also she watched Elmo's potty time.  My friends some is 3 and a half almost 4 and he's just now starting to use the potty all the time and wear big boy underwear.  If you think she's ready than if you have time where you can stay home for a couple of days try putting her in big girl panties and when she pees she'll see that she can't pee in her underwear and has to go potty.  I've read too where they say once you go from diapers to pull ups don's use diapers at all anymore and the same with underwear(during the day).I think pull ups almost feel like diapers because there's no real consequence (like wet pants) when they pee so when I changed my daughter to underwear all the time she finally got it.  Last piece of advice I'm sure you've heard is don't get  to frustrated it will happen.  Good luck.

Joellen - posted on 03/15/2009

I ditched the potty and got my son a seat that goes over the toilet. He's 4 and he is just now getting the concept of going to the potty on his own. She'll come back around just give her some time. Continue to be persistent and praise her when she goes. I got a potty chart for Caleb and gave him a sticker every time he went and cheered for him. He likes that. He also hardly ever wears pull-ups anymore and he's into Thomas so I bought him some Thomas underwear. I also tell him to go to the potty every 20 to 30 minutes or so.

Marlean - posted on 03/14/2009

I put my daughter's potty chair next to the "big" potty and would ask her to go at the same time as I. When I would start to go I would make a big deal and act very "happy" that I was "putting pee pee in the potty". I believe my daughter seeing me having "such a good time" going...in fact encouraged her to go. Of course I would go and play along even if I really didn't have to...I showed her "I tried" and wondered aloud if she had any luck. I also reinforced the fact that "pee pee and poo poo go in the potty cuz it's stinky!!" We laugh and try to have fun. I think showing her and setting examples has worked far better than any form of bribery or punishment but rewards I did use (like stickers and such if she actually told me she had to go) Of course it is hard to potty train if you are unable to keep a steady "potty" schedule. I did, after a while, start to recognize HER schedule for having to go as opposed to having one for her. She is 4 now, has been trained since around 2 and I haven't had any problems since. p.s. We also had a book about going potty that we read regularly....even when we weren't going potty.

Janelle - posted on 03/14/2009

We bought my son a potty seat and started putting water in it and adding a little soap to make bubbles. I would ask him if he wanted to go potty on the bubbles. He LOVED it was potty trained in 1 week at the age of 1 and a half. I would let him help get the water and soap in. And when he would go let him help me flush it down. He's been potty trained for a year and had no problems. Just gotta make it fun!

Quinta - posted on 03/14/2009

I did not pressure my son to use the potty. I bought a potty for him when he was 2 and he really liked Elmo so I got the Elmo potty. I told him that the potty stays in the bathroom and you could only press the buttons on the potty if you put something in it... number 1 or 2 of course. at first he went all the time just to play with the potty, but like any toy it gets old. And when he wasn't into it anymore I didn't force him to use it. i would take him to the bathroom when I thought about it or when i saw him trying to go number 2 i would sy hold it hold it and run to the potty with him. He would use the potty and I would do a dance and sing a song and tell everyone in the house. About 2 months later I bought him some underwear and we put them over his pull ups and then after a month of doing that he told me that he didn't want a pamper he wanted BIG BOY Pants and he has been using the potty since then.

Krista - posted on 03/14/2009

Make a really big deal of the potty. Then let her wear nothing but an over sized tshirt that keeps her covered. Have her walk around all day in that and of course she will have accidents. Just clean them up and try to explain to her that pee pee goes in the potty. After a few days of this she will get the hang of it. Also get some books that are only to be read on the potty so that she looks forward to sitting on it.  The best thing is just persistance. If she knows that she can't wear diapers during the day she will eventually get sick of making messes everytime she has to go and learn that to avoid that she will have to use the potty. Just make sure you have lots of carpet cleaner and patience! I did this with both of my kids and they were both completely potty trained(even at night) by age 2.5 years. Good luck!

Pat - posted on 03/14/2009

hi heather,

my son didnt like a potty and what I did was went out and got a seat with handles and steps to put on our tioliet and tried him,he enjoyed it and thought he was a big person,you could try that and see if thats any good x