3 Months to go and not potty trained!

[LG123]

No BD, not me, my daughter!

My ever so cooperative DD (2 1/2) is starting to make me worry about our upcoming cruise. She will turn 3 during our cruise in December so we were planning on letting her attend the activities. I have been working with her on the potty training with no success. Some days she will go on the potty just fine and others she just refuses to. I know we have 3 months but I would like to get her trained now so she can be "experienced" by the time we cruise.

So for all you experienced parents out there, is there a trick? Working in a pediatricians office you think I should know something about this!

She is driving me nuts with "I NEVER GO POTTY AGAIN!".

HELP!

 

[eek40]

What works best for some doesnt for others...but I will say that M&M's work wonders, everytime they pee give them a few m&ms. You can chose your reward, but it doesnt need to be fancy at all.....kids respond to all sorts of things. Also a lot of luck to you I hope it works out!
Aimee

 

[Cruise]

This has come up before and you're likely to get many, many answers. Hopefully one of them will work for you

For my nephew, it was a change of scenery. He was 3 1/2 and just wouldn't use the potty. My sister went with my mom to visit my grandmother for 3 weeks during the summer. When they arrived, my sister announced that great-grandma doesn't have diapers in her house so he'd have to use the potty. Never had a single problem after that. I guess it was the "no other choice" factor.

Julie

 

[Michelemouse]

Another vote for the m&m's. They worked for us too.

Also, be careful that she does not sense your frustration. Kids are really good at figuring out what pushes our buttons and it could become a control issue for her. Maybe if you just lightheartedly said something like "Okay...don't go to the potty if you don't want to, but remember that you won't get to play in the club if you don't." That would give the choice to her and help take the stress off of you.

Just a thought.

 

[jenschaef1]

EEK40 is right, what works for some might not work for others but what worked for our 4th was to let her run around nekked from the waist down. She would hold it for a long time but when she really had to go...she would kind of get this funny look on her face, or maybe start doin the potty dance...then we RAN to the bathroom. Note that the key here was to keep her nekked, if I put big girl underwear on her, she would forget...just too comfortable for someone who is used to going in their pants.
After the initial training stage we bought a bunch of Disney Princess underwear, boy did she try to keep those "clean and Dry"

 

[DVCLady]

Delete

 

[Wishing on a star]

Good luck with the potty training!!!

I just wanted to say, that with her 'opposing' attitude.... She may simply not be ready? Sounds like she may truly be unhappy and frustrated???? Sometimes these things cannot be rushed.

Also, I have heard stories of those 'turbo toilets' on the ship scaring newly potty trained little ones to death!!! One friend had to give up on leaving her three year old in the club after being paged a couple times for accidents.

Take your cues from your daughter!!! Have a great cruise either way!!!

PS: you can accompany your daughter to the clubs to participate in any certain planned activity that she would enjoy!

 

[CGC33A]

We leave on Sunday for the 4 day. I hope my DD (very young 3) will do okay. She is not good with redressing herself, so I am planning on taking her to the bathroom every 3 hours or so. As for training, she would wet the Pullups (had to have the pink ones with Minnie, no others would do) but not underpants. A post above said DD would keep the Princess panties dry. Mine is doing the same (note: not past tense, we are still working on it).
We have been on the cruise before & she is anxious to go again. We have also told her she has to use the potty on the boat.

 

[ReadyForDisney2003]

Boy do I remember this age. The only thing that worked for us was peer pressure at her school. I must say *I* as her Mother had nothing to do with successfully training her to use the potty. Finally, I talked with the teachers at her school and they told me to chill out and they would 'do it' within a week. Well, it was a done deal. I asked them how? They said they just had her go with her girlfriend. Becca, can you go to the potty with Caitlin? And, Caitlin would do her thing. Then, Becca (my DD) would do her thing. I was so worried at the end of the week that I would ruin everything over the weekend, I got the teacher to babysit on that Friday night. After that, done deal.

And, you wonder where women learn to go to the bathroom together?

But, my DD was just over 3 years old at the time.

Try a little peer pressure. Maybe that would work.

 

[CourtasanSatine]

there's a epsiode of Bear in the Big Blue House that might help.Tutter is also potty training

 

[BethC1952]

CourtesanSatine: If I heard "Royal Order of the Toileteers" one more time, I was afraid I would become "untrained" LOL!! It worked, though, and my DGD was trained when she was 2 1/2. We also told her that she couldn't go to see Mickey until she was toilet trained. The next day, she said "Grandma, I'm potty trained now!"....and she was!

We kept her potty in the living room so that she wouldn't forget about it. Now, at the ripe old age of 3 years and 4 months, she proudly told her teacher today on her first day of school that she was a big girl and could be a "potty helper" (the buddy system...one who is with one who isn't!)

Beth

 

[crisi]

My daughter (who turns four in a few weeks) just potty trained a few months ago. My son was also past three when he potty trained, so I'm an expert in what works. Do you want the secret..... Its the last thing you try.

Stickers, nope
M&Ms, nope
Naked kids, nope, but I did get pee and poop on my carpet for two weeks.
Videos, nope (We had the Bear one and Its Potty Time), books were also a no-go.
Peer pressure, nope.
Peeing for presents, nope
New underwear, nope

All of these things are motivating, but none of them were motivating enough for my kids to make the big leap.

My son decided on his own it was time. Walked down the stairs at 3 1/2 one day in underwear and its a done deal. He was very close just before our Disney World trip and I told him he had to wait until we came back - I didn't want to be hauling around a change of clothes at Disney.

My daughter we took to the doctor for an ear infection and she explained that big girls wear underwear and babies wear diapers. We went and bought diapers, not pull ups. And if she had an accident, she wore diapers. If she went potty, she got to go back into underwear. She also had all her "big girl" privledges removed. No movies - babies don't go to movies. No pop or candy - babies don't get pop and candy. It took two weeks and it was tough.

They both still wear pull ups to bed. I was a late bedwetter and I'm not going to rush my kids on that one.

 

[abitjaded]

Originally posted by crisi
Do you want the secret..... Its the last thing you try.

Stickers, nope
M&Ms, nope
Naked kids, nope, but I did get pee and poop on my carpet for two weeks.
.....
.....
My son decided on his own it was time.

Oh crisi, so true. We tried target practice with Cheerios, and expensive color changing disks. We tried underwear for weeks at a time, no pull-ups. We tried outside naked (one fertilized the flower beds). We even tried the sitting on the pot for hours, reading books. Both my sons had all the words memorized, but potty trained? Heck, no. But they can still quote a lot of Shel Silverstein. One was four before he stopped pooping, but hadn't peed for a year. The other was four before he stopped peeing but hadn't pooped in a year. And both had to wear pull ups at night until they were five and six. And one (nearly 7) still needs to be reminded before he goes to (in) bed every night

Try everything, then fall back on the old tried-and-true: Patience

Carla

 

[Grumbo]

run around nekked from the waist down. hold it for a long time but when she really had to go...she would kind of get this funny look on her face, or maybe start doin the potty dance....

Thank God my kids are beyond this stage... Thinking back I start laughing
Then I start to think in a few more decades I may be reverting back to that stage.. Sheesh
Cheers,
Grumbo

 

[pippy]

My daughter was potty trained by 2 1/2. I too let her run around the house naked from the waste down. Whenever she had to go potty she used the toilet because she didn't have diapers on to go potty into. I also stayed away from the pull ups because they are too much like diapers, I put plastic training pants on her when we went somewhere in case of an accident and at night she slept butt naked!!! When she stayed dry I bought her fruit of the loom panties, they are comfortable. However my daughter is now 4 and still loves to run around the house "comando". All in all she was completely potty trained in about a month!!

 

[ohMom]

with everything said here, just adding my thoughts

my very stubborn almost three-year old daughter needed to feel in control. She had been showing signs and I was feeling ok with a little "pushing" in that direction. BUT she needed to be in control. So I would say things like "it's time to go potty" and she would of course say no she didn't want/have to and then I would say "ok, we're just going to wait here until you're ready" and we'd sit in the bathroom for about, oh 30 seconds, until she realized she needed to try before she could go play again. That graduated into, "it's time to go ...... but first you need to potty, I"ll wait for you until you're ready" or before she could play outside, etc. That in itself didn't do the trick, but it helped curb the frustration we both were experiencing.

definately though she needed to be ready

i didn't use treats for either of my kids, but lots of hugs and praise. Maybe stickers on the calendar for a weekly treat after having ____days dry? that's working for us now with some other control issues

 

[LG123]

Thanks for everyone's advice. We went out to dinner tonight and she wanted to go potty several times. A couple of drips in the toilet doesn't count for me but she seems to think it does. All she wants to do is wash her hands after she is done. So, needless to say, we spent most of our dinner in the bathroom. I didn't want to tell her no in case she really did have to go. I think I tried everything suggested above with my older daughter and nothing worked for her. She finally went while on vacation with only a couple of minutes to check out of the hotel. Has been dry ever since. I think this is the "Great Potty Training Conspiracy"!

Thanks again.

 

[BCVOwner2002]

It took DH less than a month to potty train DS! I had been trying for a few months. DS was almost 2 years old at the time. He is now 17!

One day DH was changing a dirty diaper and he picked up a Batman figure and said to DS that one package of diapers cost as much as Batman!!! He added if we didn't have to buy diapers any more we could go to Toys R Us and buy more Batman toys or Legos!

For the next few weeks, every time DS would go to the bathroom in the potty DH gave him a dollar and every time he went in his diaper, he lost a dollar. In less than one month DS was no longer wearing diapers and had a few extra toys!! Today, DS says he should've held out longer for more toys. LOL!!!

Good luck!!
Annmarie

 

[Dancind]

I'm trying to remember what worked for my DD, finally at age 3. I think it was taking her to visit a wonderful pre-school, and telling her that she could go there when she was trained. Seems like it wasn't long after that. Would pics of the Oceaneer's Club and stories of all the wonderful activities be real enough for your DD? As in, if you're using the potty, you can go here! Diana

 

[musicgirl]

Oh those days... so long ago, but still so clear in my mind!!! I thought my ds would be the only kid in diapers in Kindergarten!

My ds was dry all night starting at age 2. It was the daytime that was a nightmare! It seemed that the more I wanted him to be potty trained, the more accidents there were.
One (desperate) day I took a bunch of his favorite toys and told him he could get one back at a time everytime he went in the potty. Didn't work.
At over 3 1/2, a friend took him for the day. He came back and never had an accident. Her kids (3 boys) were all trained by 18 months. I'm not sure what she said or did that day, but it worked!

I always thought it was a power issue with him. If we promised him something special, he'd get it and go right back to the "accidents".

Good Luck and remember you'll have a great time anyway! Any day cruising is always better than a day in the office!