Tuesday, August 21, 2012

Potty Training Woes

Truth time.

I am in potty training hell.  

I've tried naked potty training.  

Doesn't work.  

I've tried just putting her in undies and asking her if she has to go potty/putting her on the pot every twenty minutes.  

Doesn't work either.  

She will actually sit on the pot for twenty minutes and then go right after I put her pants back on which equals me doing ridiculous amounts of laundry. 

Is it normal for a kid to not care about having wet pants?

I really really want to put this kid in preschool.  I'm really really tired of changing diapers.  She is old enough and smart enough to do this!  

What can I do to help her understand that going potty in the big girl chair is fun????  I'm pulling my hair out in frustration!


9 comments :

  1. I placed a piece of paper on my fridge. Every time that Amanda "made a pee", she was given one sticker to place on that paper. Loud clapping ensued. 2 stickers for a poo. More loud applause and praise.

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    1. "Loud clapping ensued." I laughed out loud at that. Thank you for that! I haven't tried a chart yet. Maybe I will have to get on making one today. Thank you!

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  2. I tried that chart...it didn't work. I'm right there with you, Crystal! Sean's school is doing their best to help, but he's just not budging. And he's already peeped and pooped in his potty, but for whatever reason he's just not having it right now. Good Luck, sister!!! C'mon little Clara, we're allllll rooting for you =) xoxo

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  3. Oh and I also have a 'goodie bag' filled with all of his favorite things like ring pops, Matchbox cars & other fun trinkets. That sometimes helps...I've heard, after all, that potty training is alllll about bribery! Screw the chart, go right to the goodies! LOL

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  4. Maybe she isn't ready. Or feels pressured. She will let u know when she's ready.
    Lilly's big thing was wanting strawberry shortcake big girl pants. Which I had to scour the Internet for because they were impossible to find. Once there was a promise of her favorite cartoon character on her butt she was set.

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    1. I don't understand the not being ready. How can you prefer having wet pants? I'm going to have to try this bribery thing too.

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  5. Crystal- I was right where you were. Stubborn as hell two year-old and I was over changing adult sized bowel movements. When it came to potty training Michael I had two rules. 1. I was not going to let my kid run around naked all day for the simple reason that I didn't want to spend my day cleaning up urine. 2. I also was not prepared to let him wear just underwear hoping that he wouldn't like wet pants and he would "just get it". The thought of doing two loads of laundry a day made me want to pull my hair out. So, I did what all the books said. Spend a couple days going every 20 minutes. Tried the one M&M for pee. Two for poop. Sticker charts. You name it we did it and Michael hated all of it. So, this is what we did. Michael started getting a bath every night. Used the whole "water makes anyone pee" tactic. I would run his bath, put him on the pot and would turn the water off after he peed. Mind you- this is only urine. Not poop training here. If he peed he got to pick a color tablet to change his bath water a cool color. He loves them, you can find whatever Clara likes and substitute. Maybe it will be princess bubbles. We did this every night for about a week, once I noticed he knew he had control over his bladder, we moved to Pull-Ups and sitting on the potty in the morning, snack time, nap time... you get the idea. It took Michael understanding that he was in control of this for it to click for him- not just peeing or pooping because Mommy put him on the toilet and made him sit there until he went (which also failed us). The pooping in the potty came on its own time- and took some bribery. It didn't take long, ten days. Which in the big scheme of things isn't very long. I noticed MIchael pooped at the same time every single day, during his nap. So before nap time we would sit and practice our "poop squeeze". If poop came out he got a Matchbox car, which are his fave. I know this is long and winded, but Michael is a control freak, and that was just not a fight I wanted to participate in. Now, we have William peeing in the toilet before every bath time and he thinks it's the coolest thing when he can make himself go. Next week, he's in Pull-ups. I hope this helps.

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    1. Mrs. Breier, that is not a bad idea. Maybe it will also help her learn to love bath time! Thank you!

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    2. We love Crayola Bath Dropz as our "treat"...

      http://www.amazon.com/Crayola-Color-Bath-Dropz/dp/B00009KWTB

      We get ours at Target, are about $4.00 and last a month. We've also used Cars and Toy Story bubbles, bubble wands. Make sure you stick to only rewarding her when she goes. That is the key!! Good luck!

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