I thought potty training girls was easier...?

Clare - posted on 02/23/2011

it is, If it isn't then she's not ready. Girls and boys only get this sorted when tehy are ready. It has nothing to do with gender. Try again in a month or two and see how she goes. toilet training should never be a big deal. I have 4 children my youngest potty trained herself at 15months and my elsest potty rained at 2 and half. Both girls. Go figger!!!

Sandra - posted on 02/23/2011

hiya......i have twins and obviously compared them in everything they were doing until a health visitor made me realize that no child developes the same.....i would say it is the same with potty training. we started it when the girls were around 18 months old on and off. i did not force the issue so we held off again a few times. in december they finally got it and went from full-time nappy to no nappy at all in just 6 weeks. i used to despair because a lot of people around me told me their children were dry by the time they were two. just hold off for a couple of weeks and then try again.........

Susan - posted on 02/22/2011

My daughter was 3 before she was potty trained, mainly because she was stubborn. lol But my granddaughter is about trained and she just turned 3. I never "pushed" the kids (I also have a son) when it came to potty training. Maybe don't talk about potty training for a couple of months and try again. Good luck

Sharon - posted on 02/22/2011

I went through the same thing with my DD. She started showing interest at 11 months old and I thought great this is going to be easy. Then she suddenly (as soon as I bought the potty chair) seemed to lose interest in it. What I did was just gave it up tell she started showing me she wanted to do it again ( I didn't even ask or hint about her using the potty). At about 18 Months she started showing she wanted to try again and I was thrilled. At first I tryed pull ups but they were way too much like diappers so I put her in panties and she was fully day trained by her 2nd birthday..... Now to get to night training down, anyone know how to start on that one? LOL

Tracy - posted on 02/22/2011

im still in the potty process with my daughter.she is 2 1/2. we have been trying forthe past 2 weeks. she received stickers on her potty chart. i put her in undies when she wakes up and at night i put her in diapers.she does fight me on the diapers. she wants to be a grown up.thats what she says. but her bed will be a wet mess. she does fairly well with peeing on the potty. she is starting to get the "pee feeling" and tries to run to her potty. i will say she does fairly well. few accidents here and there. the pooping is the issue. she just does not want to go in the potty. but at first when she went to the bathroom in her undies,she didnt mind it. but now i let her sit in it for 10 minutes. she is starting to not like the wet feeling. she walks around like she is riding a horse. poor kid but i have to try something to get her from peeing in her undies.good luck. sometimes it does get stressful.but if she starts to relapse after doing well.....i think the best thing to do is give your child a little break and try again. the kid will let you know when they are ready to try again

Jay - posted on 02/22/2011

My daughter has been the most frustrating to potty train. She turned 3 in September and she's JUST now getting it. Started her at 18 months (I figured; I'm a professional Early Childhood teacher, if they say a child can be trained by this age; well we're gonna do it)
I didn't bet on my daughter being so stubborn. We've tried everything but my daughter just loved the time where we laid her down to change her and the mess.
Finally, I just put her in big girl underwear and let her know that it was all her doing if she messed on herself. Mommy wasn't going to be mad but she WAS going to clean up after herself and dress herself again. I put up a potty chart also to let her know that if she DID go potty she got a prize from her box when the chart was full (because her incentive changes on a weekly basis).
We've now been 'potty trained' for a week and a 1/2 (No accidents!) Fingers crossed.
OH! and I think the thing that helped the most is that I gave her more responsibilities at home like making her bed, picking out her clothes for the next day, putting up her dishes, and cleaning her toys. She likes being treated like a big girl and she knows big girls go potty on the toilet.

Sandi - posted on 02/22/2011

I agree that less stress and some time off are a good idea. Sometimes the child just wants to do it on their terms. I had taught my daughter all the basics as soon as she started walking. M & Ms reward for practicing. She knew what to do and when she needed to. She just didn't WANT to. I took a bunch of breaks along the way. The magic solution for her was a swim class right after she turned 3. She really wanted to do it and had to be fully trained. She changed into panties the next day and was done with accidents within a week.

My son is 18 months now and is very regular. As soon as he sat up independently, I was able to sit him on the potty every morning. It was wonderful until he started walking and just refuses to sit still. We've started practicing and rewarding again. I need to find a way to use his crazy independence to my benefit.

good luck!

Stephanie - posted on 02/21/2011

I would suggest forget the potty training for a month or so. She just may not be mature enough yet to handle this kind of responsibility. It's easier to potty train MOST children if you wait until they turn two, because of their maturity level. My daughter just turned two and is doing pretty fantastic with her training. Of course she still has accidents, but she refuses to wear a diaper and we keep going potty pretty stress free. Your daughter may be getting too stressed with a responsibility she's just not completely ready for. Take the stress off of her for a while and start fresh after some time has passed. Also, my son had real trouble potty training for BMs, he loved hershey kisses. I bought a big bag, put them in a bucket and showed him. Then I put them way up high where only I could reach, but he could see them. I explained these were only for when "uckies" went in the potty. It wasn't an instant result, he still had some accidents. But eventually it worked.

Patricia - posted on 02/21/2011

my daughter is three and she is also does that or she pees and poops in her undies..i just started to do time outs when she pees or poops in her panties...im not sure if it works but its another idea

Erin - posted on 02/21/2011

My daughter was just over 3 when she finally got it. My friend's son did it at age 2, within a week he was dry day and night and then her daughter came along. The girls both took longer. I always tell people don't worry, let them do it at their own pace, they won't be going off to college in diapers.

I think that each child needs to form that mind/body connection and it is about physical maturity which they all get to at different times.

I have a girlfriend with twins who one trained really early and one took forever.

Relax and don't force it or you may create issues and bad feelings in your child. Just know that it will happen for sure and don't let people pressure you. I never used rewards, because it's not about that. It's about the child being physically ready. She'll get there and this is one thing you should let go of as a stressor because raising children can be stressful enough. Worry about her diet, her exercise and her emotional well being, the rest will take care of itself.

Jessi - posted on 02/21/2011

Read Potty Training in Less than a Day. It has lots of tips to get them to use the potty!!

Nika - posted on 02/16/2011

Jennifer, your suggestion for asking her where she wants her potty for "privacy" reminded me that I had to set up a tent in my living room for my son! Totally forgot about that...it might be time to break out the tent again. Thanks for sparking that thought.

Jennifer - posted on 02/16/2011

agreed pantys are the way to go...also ask her where you can place her potty for "privacy" explaining that you want her to feel comfortable to go on her potty because shes a big girl

Nika - posted on 02/16/2011

Thanks, Nicole! I will definitely try just throwing her in underwear...the mess really scares me but if it helps get rid of the diapers then it's worth it. And, I feel you on the 2 kids in diapers thing. My son was 17 months when my daughter was born and he was still in diapers, I did it for almost a month and couldn't handle it! By the time he was 18months he was fully potty trained (day and night)

Nicole - posted on 02/16/2011

my daughter was potty trained by 2 but that was becasue i was due to give birth any day and i didnt want 2 babies in diapers. She could have cared less if she peed on herself (in a diaper) The pooping was no problem because she hated the way it felt on her at around 19 months. So i moved her on to just regular underwear. It did get messy for about a week ( i bought alot of carpet cleaner lol) but then she would hate being wet and she started going on the potty. Then whenever she did that i made a big deal about it and gave her a bandaid where she could stick to her bed (she started her own collection) but it worked for me. hope u find something that works. My first son didnt get potty trained until he was 3. he just didnt care. i had to stop pushing it and then he just caught on one day. But he had to get potty trained before i had my 3rd. (i dreaded the idea of having 2 babies in diapers idk why) now my youngest is 8 months and im dreading the potty training again! good luck.