Well, we tried the *Potty Train in less than a Day* book thing today, and needless to say, the day is up and Katie is NOT potty trained. :banghead: I'm exhausted, and I've wiped up entirely too much pee and poop from everywhere BUT the potty. Katie is back in a diaper right now, despite my promise that that wouldn't happen. :bawl: I feel so bad, but I just want her to be trained!!!

She knows what to do, and she can execute all the steps. When told, that is. She'll obey each step if I tell her to do it, but she won't take the initiative to do it herself, or even to tell me when she needs to go, so I can remind her what to do. HOW do you make the leap from knowing WHAT to do, to knowing WHEN to do it? She can lower her training pants, sit on the potty, make pee-pee in the potty, stand back up, raise her training pants again, pick up the potty basin, empty it into the toilet and put it back on the potty chair, but she won't do ANY of it unless I tell her to. And she'll go to the potty and sit there for an hour or more without doing anything, and then get up and pee all over the floor within 5 minutes of standing up. :tearhair: What can I do to make it *click* for her? I seriously want to send her to potty boot camp...

sorry. Aidan is the same way. I also thought I could do it in a day. A day later and a million pee stains and whatnot, he wasnt trained.
Sorry..you arent going to like my answer....she doesnt seem ready yet.

First of all Anne, I want to say that you're brave for even trying it before Katie turned 2! We had a potty out from the time that Rory was about 18 months, but honestly, it was just there.

Probably in December we slowly started taking her more often, but no big deal. Like Katie, she could do it if we asked/reminded her, but wouldn't go on her own. In early February, suddenly, she got it. And, we noticed that if she was naked (as she loves to be :blush: ), she would happily run off and go to the bathroom by herself.

For us, Rory was about 28-29 months before it all clicked, and she got it. And, if you're not against it (and I totally understand that parents are!), but, well, bribing works too! :blush:

Now, Rory is only in a pull-up at night, and this change has only been over the past week or so. She did it when she was ready (darn her being so stubborn! :lol: ).

Good luck! It's not always fun, but it's totally worth it!

Honestly, I think that trying all of this before she's 2 is pushing it a little. I'd wait a couple months and then try again.

My mom started potty training me at 18 months and I wasn't totally trained until I was 3. I've read several places that the earlier you start, the longer it takes, and it usually ends up with them being totally trained close to their 3rd birthday (for the majority).

Rebekah is 27 months old and has never peed in a potty. She will sit there forever and nothing ever happens. But she'll also run around naked for an hour or more and never pee. After that, I stick her on the potty and she STILL doesn't go. :dunno:

I'd say she's not ready. If she needs to be directed, then she's not making the connections on her own that she needs to make. Potty training requires so much self-control, self-discipline and self-motivation on the child's part - I think it's expecting an awful lot to ask a really young child to develop those skills. Most of the literature on potty training recommends waiting until 27 months - that's been shown to be the ideal age for the majority of kids.

In our case, Brigit is just now starting to get interested, and she's 32 months. None of her friends (those who are her age, I mean) are potty trained yet, though most will, like Brigit, use the potty if they're naked and feel the urge! I have noticed that all her friends have recently begun to take the initiative more and more often. Starting preschool is a big motivator for most of the kids her age, since they see the big kids using the potty and of course want to be just like them!

So I'd back off for a few months and not stress about it! :)

I just have to chime in with everyone else...neither of my three were anywhere NEAR being trained before they hit 2...Jacob was my earliest trained and he was finished at 28 months...

Yup...too early. Be patient, the time will come when Katie is ready!

I'd agree with everyone and just be patient. Matthew is at the point now (just turned 2 a couple weeks ago) where he'll ask to go on the potty maybe once a day. I've heard 27 months is the magic number too. Plus, I'm thinking it will be easier will summer coming and wearing lighter clothes.

i haven't even bothered to buy a potty yet! :lol: tony won't even tell me when his diaper is over run with poop. he'd gladly sit in it all day :rolleyes: so i know he is miles away from training (much to my chagrin).

i agree with what others have said, if you start too young it will take longer. my sil did this and my niece would hold her poops in so long, it required 'intervention' to get her to go.

I agree with everyone else, Katie is just not ready yet. You may want to wait a few more months and try again.

Jack has just now started initiating his own potty training, and he's 2 and a half. He just started telling me this weekend he has to go and has been going! I never pushed it before this, but now that I know he's ready, I can begin the real training.

Troy is 3 and we're still working on it! This week he started telling me that he has to pee. It will come, when they are ready.

For the longest time, he just didn't 'get it'. Actually he was quite afraid to let it out and would hold it all day!!
Next came the point where he didn't want to give it up, cause it was HIS poop! ROFL!

Now, well he says 'bye poop' as it's being flushed! LOL

Kim, like Tony; Troy would have been happy to sit in a wet diaper all day! LOL

Carter is like Kim's Tony! Although, we bought a potty a long time ago - he won't sit on it without a diaper. He won't even tell me when he has poop running down his leg - although, this doesn't normally happen. He could care less. He hates having his diaper changed, and I hoped that would encourage him to use the potty, but he's totally not ready. I don't want to bother with it until he is ready.

Eliot is 3 and nowhere near potty trained, it's totally irritating but I keep trying to remember and believe that one day it will just click... I just have to be patient, not an easy task :rolleyes: Forcing them does not good at all.
He goes to MDO twice a week and he goes potty there more than I can get him to try at home... kids can be so complicated!! :lol: