I need your help! I have a 3 year old (Joy-joy) who is more than ready to start potty training and I am so nervous to do it! I have read some books but still feel like I don’t know where to start with her! She has used the potty a good handful of time- even told me a couple of times when she’s needed to go and then actually went. We’ve bought pull ups but she see’s them as diapers that have a Princess or Dora on them – even the “feel and learn” type.

Because she isn’t jumping in with both feet I’m feeling a bit “mentally” stuck. I am a very busy mom and I’m having a hard time “scheduling” a few days home to devote to training. I get bored easily so I’m afraid that if we stay home for a few days I’ll go stir crazy and get destructed from the task and focus on all the other things that need my attention at home – and then not do whatever it is I’m suppose to do with her. Can I train just when we are home? Or should I just bight the bullet and block out days at home? Should I do it on the weekend when my hubby is home??

Here are some more of the random thoughts that rattle around in this crazy head of mine:

“Should I start with a naked day?”
“When we do start training should I keep her potty in the bathroom or bring out in the living room where we function more?”
“I’ve heard you should put them on the potty like every 20 minutes or so on a naked day but how long do I have her stay there? She could stay there for 20 minutes just waiting to go!”
“If I do a naked day do I need to play the whole day to be all about her – where I don’t have any projects or to do for myself that day (other than food and such of course)?”

We’ve tried a “naked” day once before but stopped halfway through the day because she just didn’t care and would pee on herself – she REALLY wasn’t ready then but now she talks about using the potty and has shown other signs of readiness. Any advice on what to do if that happens again, even if though she seems more ready now?

Can you tell I’m feeling a bit lost???

Tell me – what worked for you? What didn’t work for you??

Please, I need your help – even if it’s just encouragement to get jump in with both feet! I have been dragging my feet for months now and it’s more than time to stop!

POTTY TRAINING UPDATE AFTER TWO MONTHS

Whew- I didn’t think Potty training was going to happen today! When my little Joy-joy got up this morning she was VERY insistent that she was NOT going to sit on that potty today. She isn’t a very stubborn child but today she was! She wasn’t going to have anything to do with that potty.

I tried to work my magic powers – I gave her the stickers to play with hoping it’d make her want to go so she could put one on the chart, I put her sister on the potty so she could see someone else on it, I even tried to bribe her with candy but no – she wasn’t going to do it!

Since she was so instant I didn’t want to force it – I’ve heard that if you force the issue it could set them back & I didn’t want to do that. So, I gave in and gave up for the day. I was ok with it. I wanted her to be successful – plus Gracie-grace woke up with a small fever and I had some errands to run – so I let it be for the time being.

However, this afternoon Joy-joy took a GREAT nap so I thought I’d give it one more try and would you know it – she wanted to! No bribing – just happy to comply! So from the time she woke from her nap around 3 until she went to bed she wore her “special underwear”, had 3 accidents and 7 successful uses of the potty! (I can’t believe she went THAT many times!)

At first I felt a bit lost – not sure if I should just wait for her to come and tell me she needed to go what. But about 45 minutes after she woke up she finally went – all over the floor. That was ok with me though – I kinda wanted her to know what it was like to go pee in her underwear. So after that I started to set the timer for 15 minutes. That time frame really worked well for her. The timer would go off, we’d go and sit together and she would pee!

The best part of the day was after I got her ready for bed. I needed to get her ready for bed so I had her sit on the potty – but she wouldn’t go. So, I put a diaper on her and put her in her jammies. About 15 minutes or so later she told me she needed to go potty and would you know it – she did! I was SOO excited that she could tell me and hold it long enough to get the jammies and diaper off!

All in all I would say that today was very successful! Especially for only working on it this afternoon/evening! Hopefully tomorrow starts and finishes just as successfully!

Author:

Alicia is the dog food advisor at petdogplanet. She is also the mother of a German Shepherd. She like party, club, swimming and a crazy fan of video games.