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The Potty Training Fight: Not worth the battle...for now.

Potty Training Fight. Bert Anderson for Thirsties
Well, I thought my daughter was ready to potty train this past December. She exhibited the signs: dryness when she woke up from her nap, telling me when she went in her diaper and then wanting it changed, and she was showing interest. One Saturday morning we decided that we would just dive right in. The first week went well; better than I had expected. She even pooped on the potty which is something my son struggled with when we were training him. Then the busyness of the holidays happened and little by little she became more careless. After a few weeks we started to just let her walk around the house pantless. Man, I got tired of looking at her naked little bottom half! So, I thought that perhaps we just needed to be persistent and have her wear underwear around the house so she got used to the idea that even though she was wearing something she still had to actually use the toilet to relieve herself. We had a few mishaps but for a week things were looking up. Then a change happened and everything went downhill; it's unexplainable really. I think the problem started because of our busy schedule. Three days a week my son has preschool and, naturally, his little sister is along for the ride. When we're out and about I have been using disposable trainers so basically, there's nothing uncomfortable about having an accident in a Pull-Up. It was a few accidents here and there when we were away from home and then she was consistently having accidents at home. I took away the underwear and went back to her being pantless when we were at home. No such luck, suddenly she was peeing all over the floor like she did when she was 18 months old (she's 32 months now). So, I've gone back to using diapers on her and you know what? She's completely fine with that. She hated being told what to do and the battle of wills has just been too much for this pregnant mama to bear! For some reason, it was a hard pill to swallow. I felt like it was my fault; did I push her too soon? The more I think about it, the more I begin to believe that she really was showing me that she was ready. Now, for whatever reason, she just doesn't care. It's not my fault and eventually she'll be interested again. She's been back in cloth diapers for four days now and she isn't bothered by it at all. One day she'll be out of diapers today just isn't that day.
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40 comments

  • Needed this right now. Son is having a similar issue this week after a few weeks of doing so great. Husband says there’s no going back now, but maybe there is….

    Moni on
  • My son was a terrible case. I tried so many times and he would not do it. The worst was the time when he was three and I stuck with it for an entire month before a day came when I suggested it was time to try and he curled up in a ball on the floor and wailed. It really hurt to have to admit it was time to give up again. When he was three and a half he potty trained himself except for #2. I got so sick of wiping his bum after poop accidents that I started having him take a shower, which made me feel like I was at least making him take responsibility for his own accidents and also got me separated from him long enough for me to calm down. When he was four he finally started pooping on the potty consistently as long as I came in to be his doula, and after several months of that he is finally doing it independently. I really don’t think there is any method that would have worked for him other than waiting for him to decide. On the plus side, night-time training was easy because I forgot to put a night-time diaper on him one night and found out that he didn’t need one. Hopefully my daughter will not be as hard, but so far we haven’t made much progress. After potty training her fourth child recently, my sister-in-law said she has decided that some kids are born potty trained and some aren’t.

    Marcelaine on
  • very informative

    Danyelle Washington on
  • My daughter is 25 months and has used the potty a few times, besides that I haven’t pushed it. I think it scares me more than her, diapers just seem so easy.

    jessica m j on
  • My son will be 3 next month and has always been in clothe diapers. While he will go on the potty if he runs around pantsless he doesn’t care when he has a diaper on. He doesn’t even care if he’s wet. At this point I think I just have to wait until he is ready.

    Jessica B on

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