Last September at her third birthday party, Sydney was potty trained. It hadn't been an easy road, but she was potty trained. She had been for over a month. We'd gone on vacation and she hadn't had any accidents. After trying to potty train her a number of times, I told her I gave up and she did it herself. Maddening, but wonderful because it was done. And then something changed. Aaron had to travel for work frequently last fall and she totally regressed. She went back to wearing diapers and no amount of begging/bribing/threats/etc. did anything about it. Then she decided she wanted to go to dance class. Hello, new incentive! A week later that was not very exciting or worth earning anymore. We've been doing this for months. We try to convince her that she's a big kid and EVERY OTHER KID HER AGE (ok not all but most of them) are potty trained. Her response? Cool.
Why do you want to wear diapers like a little baby we ask? "I'm not a baby, I'm a big kid." is her response. The two are not connected in her mind. Nothing is working. She'll stay dry for a week at a time, so I know that nothing is wrong physically, it's just motivation. When we ask why her diaper/pull-up/panties are wet she'll say, "I didn't want to go potty."
Twice in the last couple of days she has wet her diaper and informed me, "It's wet, cuz I'm a baby, but that's ok."
?????
What do I even say to that? I hate potty training more than ANYTHING else I have ever done as a parent, or pretty much anything ever. This is how I feel every time anything to do with potty training comes up:
What do I even say to that? I hate potty training more than ANYTHING else I have ever done as a parent, or pretty much anything ever. This is how I feel every time anything to do with potty training comes up:
I've decided that disposable diapers are going to be a permanent fixture in my house until she goes to kindergarten. sigh. Any advice?
6 comments:
Garret was younger but he was potty training then regressed over the holidays (a few years back obviously). Every kid is different but what worked for him was for about a month I told him about a million times You can go in the potty if you want but after your potty party you have to use the potty- You will be a big boy then. I refused to call him a big boy during the whole month. I would say "no you are not a big boy until you use the potty". for him that was motivating. we had his party (hotdogs and we blew whistles) and he was potty trained. I think for him the big thing was after a month he knew it was non-negotiable---he would use the bathroom at ALL times. He was two and a boy and they are all different so not sure that helps---good luck.
Oh and don't let them see you stressed about it. I wasn't stressed at all with Spencer because I knew he would be potty trained eventually and it was all so low key. I think mainly because he never played off my emotions. It was just matter of fact with him. No bribing, no punishments.
I am about to enter the potty training phase again- who knows what I will get this time.
no really this is how it goes for every kid, I totally feel your pain. Just know that eventually she will get it. There seems to be some time between when they know how and when they decide to do it. This time pretty much qualifies you for sainthood. Just keep doing what your doing and it will all work out. Good luck!
This sounds exactly like my Allie. Accidents were no bif deal for her. She even pooped in her panties at a store nearly a year after she was 'trained' because she was lazy (no diaper bag with me, either). Even after she turned 5 she would frequently pee her pants and not be bugged. Finally now that she's about done with kindergarten we seem to be in the clear. Ugh! I feel your pain.
Now Kylie was a completely different story. She picked out the 'Elmo potty time' DVD at a store and watched it a ton around the time she turned 2. I was NOT going to try to train her anytime soon since big sister was still having issues, but guess what? Kylie decided she was done with diapers and trained herself. I swear I did nothing. And I think she only has had 2 accidents ever (she's nearly 4) and both were in the bathroom trying to get her pants off.
Hope that gives you some hope for the future.
I have no idea what to do, maybe raise the white flag and surrender and then potty train Mady. Then you will only have half the diapers you do now :) She hopefully will realize that they wont let her in kindergarten in a diaper :) Good luck! You can borrow Kenzie anytime for some added peer pressure
We struggled with this a lot with Ellie. Google John Rosemond he has some great advice. What finally worked for us was making it HER problem. We took away the pull-ups and diapers, we showed her how to clean up after herself, and as hard as it was, we acted nonchalant when she had an accident ("Ok, you had an accident. You know what to do."). It sounds like Sydney knows what she's doing; she's just been enjoying the attention and/or hasn't been experiencing enough "pain" when she has an accident. Hang in there, Dev. I feel your pain. :)
Hang in there Dev.. Sorry she's such a stinker when it comes to potty training. Everytime I see that stress sign it makes me laugh. Love you. If you ever need to vent or anything I'm a phone call away. Love ya!
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