From Liz F. ~ My daughter is a little over 2.5 and we're having trouble with potty training. She has a book and a video and she wants to wear panties (we Barbie, Blues Clues, and Disney Princess panties.) But she won't go on the potty. I can't send her to daycare with panties if she's just going to pee in them. Diapers and pullups are the same -- she just pees and poops. How do you potty train when they have to go off to school all day?
From LauraL ~ Does your school not assist with potty training? Surely she's not the only child there that's not trained? Zach's school has scheduled potty times frequently through the day, and if the child has to go other times they are assisted. He wears pullups to school still, and we are diligently working on training him at home, too. By the way, he's 3 years and a few months old.
From Lizbaby4 ~ I was fortunate that when my boys decided to potty train, they did. They had a few accidents here and there, but did not pee their pants at school for fear of being embarrassed. My youngest trained over the summer. The preschool the boys went to worked on potty training also. As long as I let them know what we did at home, they followed suit. I know boys train later, but I did not push them into pants. They decided on their own. They were 42 months, 40 months, and 38 months respectively when they decided underpants were the way to do. Pullups did not work for us because they were too much like a diaper. We only used them at night.
From M. Bonnett ~ Most daycare programs that are acredited actually prefer the wet child with underwear and multiple changes. Children don't tend to learn with pullups or diapers, because they don't get the connection between how their bodies feel before they go and when they go. If they get wet, they start to make the connection. I worked in preschool/daycare for 5 years and we would always recommend the underwear and the parents were the ones who resisted. Other than wanting the panties, is she showing any/all of the other developmental signs of being ready for toilet training? She may just not be ready yet.
From Liz F. ~ I asked her teacher if I should start putting her in training pants or panties and she said to wait until she started asking to use the potty sometimes. I think the daycare program she is in is very good, overall. They are accredited/certified by the state and the director has advanced degrees in child development/ learning. They assess the child's skills and taylor a program to their needs. Accademicly, Elizabeth is much more advanced than I expected her to be at 2.5. As for showing signs, I thought she was ready. She knows when her pull-up/diaper needs to be changed (both pee-pee and poo) and is insistant that it be changed right away. She always follows me into the bathroom and talks about the fact that I'm going pee-pee or poo -- she knows. She also knows what the cat litter box is for and can discuss it. She has used her potty on occasion without me prompting her. But that's only happened 4 - 6 times in that many months. We have the "Once Upon a Potty" book and video. Sometimes out of the blue she will talk about Prudence going potty and being a big girl. Her night time diaper is always dry and clean. As I write this, I'm starting to think she could do this if she wanted to, but maybe she just doesn't want to. But she is dying to wear big-girl panties. Maybe I'll just send her to school with 3 outfits and three pairs of panties and see what happens.
From E's Mommy ~ We are currently starting with my son but expect it to take awhile. Our daycare provider told us that we have to do pullups - under her license the state requires it for hygiene reasons. When we are really ready, and if he doesn't cooperate, then she might try underwear, but only as a last resort.
From Nicole8 ~ Maybe she just isn't quite ready yet. The best time to do it, is when your daycare is doing it too. That way, you can be on the same page. I think otherwise, it confuses children. I have spoken to my son's teacher and we will talk about it again when I think my son is showing signs of interest. However, I have no idea about the pull-up thing. I have not gotten that far with my daycare yet.
From Ashlyn's Mom ~ My daycare insists that Ashlyn wear pullups until she is compeletely trained. Ashlyn seems to do much better in panties so I try to put them on her in the evenings and the weekends. I really have no advice since we are just starting the potty training process.
From Liz F. ~ Friday, Elizabeth was really begging me to let her wear big-girl panties with the Barbie. My daycare provider never told me I couldn't put her panties -- just that it would be easier to wait until she was more along. Well, we did big panties on Friday and she had a couple of accidents (I packed several changes of clothes.). We had several accidents over the weekend -- including a huge FLOOD in Barnes & Noble. On Monday she had one accident at school. But as of Tuesday, Elizabeth is well on her way to potty training success! Yesterday she had an accident while we were getting ready to leave for school/work. She told me she had to go, but we didn't make it to the potty in time. We were running for the potty and she suddenly stopped in her tracks. She looked at me with the saddest face and said, "Mommy, my panties are crying." I almost cried -- she looked and sounded so sad and dissappointed. But the good news is that after that she went for over 14 hours without an accident. Last night she even got out of her beloved bath to go pee-pee on the potty and then got back in the tub! That was a milestone. She loves her bath so much I can't even get her out with the promise of M&Ms!
