When You Need to Take a Break from Potty Training
Saturday August 23, 2008
A mother writes:
"My child is potty training today. We have stuffed her full of drinks and she pees about every 10 to 15 minutes. She has used the potty several times when we take her to it at timed intervals. She does not seem to understand that when she feels the urge, she should go sit on the potty herself. She pees wherever she is sitting (a few times on us) and does not seem to mind. I do not want to 'catch' her pee all day long. What do you suggest we do?"
I get questions like this quite frequently. The answer I have, however, may not be one that many parents want to hear. What you should do is stop potty training. But don't look at it as quitting or as a setback. Think of it more like taking a break. The reason: Your child is not ready to potty train yet.
Read more of this answer or leave your own answer to this mom's question below.
Comments
I had the same issue with my 2 yr old daughter. I stopped training and I set a date that I would restart (preferably on a weekend or during a time when you’ll be home for a few days). In the time before that date, I would take my daughter potty with me so she could see what steps I had to take, (ie open/close the lid, wash hands, etc) then I’d tell her everyday that she was going to be a big girl soon and go potty like mommy. We had a count down to the day. On the first training day, I made sure I had plenty of towels, disinfectant spray and panties available. Then I explained to her the prize she’d get and I used her baby doll as an example. I made her baby doll “talk”, saying that diapers are yucky and stinky and that when her tummy feels a little funny then run to the bathroom. She listened to everything her doll said and I believe she felt less pressure because it wasn’t me giving her the instructions. We also took her shopping and got a new Dora toilet seat and stool that she picked out herself, which she liked much better than the potty chair that I had received on my baby shower. She’ll sit on the seat even if she doesn’t feel like going. Also, we didn’t make her drink anything more than usual. We took her potty asap in the a.m., before and after all meals and about every 1-2 hours throughout the day and right before bedtime. Of course, it isn’t easy to do and it did take a few days for her to get it down. She knows that we have no daytime diapers anymore only travel and bedtime ones. She now has her normal routine of setting her seat on the toilet, she takes off her own diaper/panties, we wipe, she gets to flush and say “bye bye” to her potty, then she puts her seat away and SHE throws her own diaper away (if wearing one), which I tell her to take care of HER responsibility, then she washes her hands and then we turn off the lights and THEN she gets her prize. It seems like alot for her to do, but she does very well and I slowly added each task throughtout the week. I wish you luck and hopefully not too many cleanups. Also, if your child doesn’t seem motivated or interested, try not pushing the matter, it’ll just take longer to train which will be more frustrating. My sister, stopped training her son about 4 times, before he finally told her that he wanted to go potty like a man! LOL! Good Luck!