Potty training is just about the hardest thing I've done as a mom....

[CiderLogan]

We are only two days into PT'ing, but it's the most frustrated I've been with parenting. DD is almost three and has to be PT'd by the time she starts preschool 8/21, so we only have six weeks. So of course I'm worried about that (lots of potential lost $$ if she isn't allowed to attend), and DH and I are at each other's throats because we're stressed, unsure whether we're doing it right, tired (sitting on the bathroom floor and reading a million books is more exhausting than it sounds), and cooped up at home (because we can't go out and risk DD peeing everywhere).

Our strategy has been to make an alarm sound every 30 minutes, then we go sit with her at the potty. But she resists sitting on it every time. And so far she's had two accidents and two successes (not a bad ratio, but they have been very hard-won). We basically have to force her to stay on the potty when we can tell she's about to go, and she cries and seems miserable while she's going. After she does go, though, she's very happy again and is pleased to get a piece of candy (yes, I feel a bit guilty about that) as a reward. She's proud to be wearing panties and understands that she is supposed to keep them dry, but the peeing itself is a huge ordeal for her. Plus, she manages to go really long times (today from the time she woke up before 8 until 1:15) without peeing, which I guess means she's holding it in, which isn't good. And she hasn't pooped at all since we starting PT'ing yesterday morning. She is still in pull-ups during nap and in bed, so we figure she'll just hold the poop until then. Poor kid.

Anyway, that got long, but it feels good to gripe about it! Tomorrow we're going to try a new strategy: "you have learned how to use the potty, and now we're not going to bug you about it any more - you should just go whenever you feel the need" to try to take away the stress. Then we are hoping she might enjoy it more when it's *her* decision to go or not. Any words of wisdom?

Thanks for reading this,
Jenny
Mom to Julia, 8/27/03
...and Clara, 5/23/06 - SHE'S HERE!!

[CiderLogan]

We are only two days into PT'ing, but it's the most frustrated I've been with parenting. DD is almost three and has to be PT'd by the time she starts preschool 8/21, so we only have six weeks. So of course I'm worried about that (lots of potential lost $$ if she isn't allowed to attend), and DH and I are at each other's throats because we're stressed, unsure whether we're doing it right, tired (sitting on the bathroom floor and reading a million books is more exhausting than it sounds), and cooped up at home (because we can't go out and risk DD peeing everywhere).

Our strategy has been to make an alarm sound every 30 minutes, then we go sit with her at the potty. But she resists sitting on it every time. And so far she's had two accidents and two successes (not a bad ratio, but they have been very hard-won). We basically have to force her to stay on the potty when we can tell she's about to go, and she cries and seems miserable while she's going. After she does go, though, she's very happy again and is pleased to get a piece of candy (yes, I feel a bit guilty about that) as a reward. She's proud to be wearing panties and understands that she is supposed to keep them dry, but the peeing itself is a huge ordeal for her. Plus, she manages to go really long times (today from the time she woke up before 8 until 1:15) without peeing, which I guess means she's holding it in, which isn't good. And she hasn't pooped at all since we starting PT'ing yesterday morning. She is still in pull-ups during nap and in bed, so we figure she'll just hold the poop until then. Poor kid.

Anyway, that got long, but it feels good to gripe about it! Tomorrow we're going to try a new strategy: "you have learned how to use the potty, and now we're not going to bug you about it any more - you should just go whenever you feel the need" to try to take away the stress. Then we are hoping she might enjoy it more when it's *her* decision to go or not. Any words of wisdom?

Thanks for reading this,
Jenny
Mom to Julia, 8/27/03
...and Clara, 5/23/06 - SHE'S HERE!!

[CiderLogan]

We are only two days into PT'ing, but it's the most frustrated I've been with parenting. DD is almost three and has to be PT'd by the time she starts preschool 8/21, so we only have six weeks. So of course I'm worried about that (lots of potential lost $$ if she isn't allowed to attend), and DH and I are at each other's throats because we're stressed, unsure whether we're doing it right, tired (sitting on the bathroom floor and reading a million books is more exhausting than it sounds), and cooped up at home (because we can't go out and risk DD peeing everywhere).

Our strategy has been to make an alarm sound every 30 minutes, then we go sit with her at the potty. But she resists sitting on it every time. And so far she's had two accidents and two successes (not a bad ratio, but they have been very hard-won). We basically have to force her to stay on the potty when we can tell she's about to go, and she cries and seems miserable while she's going. After she does go, though, she's very happy again and is pleased to get a piece of candy (yes, I feel a bit guilty about that) as a reward. She's proud to be wearing panties and understands that she is supposed to keep them dry, but the peeing itself is a huge ordeal for her. Plus, she manages to go really long times (today from the time she woke up before 8 until 1:15) without peeing, which I guess means she's holding it in, which isn't good. And she hasn't pooped at all since we starting PT'ing yesterday morning. She is still in pull-ups during nap and in bed, so we figure she'll just hold the poop until then. Poor kid.

Anyway, that got long, but it feels good to gripe about it! Tomorrow we're going to try a new strategy: "you have learned how to use the potty, and now we're not going to bug you about it any more - you should just go whenever you feel the need" to try to take away the stress. Then we are hoping she might enjoy it more when it's *her* decision to go or not. Any words of wisdom?

Thanks for reading this,
Jenny
Mom to Julia, 8/27/03
...and Clara, 5/23/06 - SHE'S HERE!!

[CiderLogan]

We are only two days into PT'ing, but it's the most frustrated I've been with parenting. DD is almost three and has to be PT'd by the time she starts preschool 8/21, so we only have six weeks. So of course I'm worried about that (lots of potential lost $$ if she isn't allowed to attend), and DH and I are at each other's throats because we're stressed, unsure whether we're doing it right, tired (sitting on the bathroom floor and reading a million books is more exhausting than it sounds), and cooped up at home (because we can't go out and risk DD peeing everywhere).

Our strategy has been to make an alarm sound every 30 minutes, then we go sit with her at the potty. But she resists sitting on it every time. And so far she's had two accidents and two successes (not a bad ratio, but they have been very hard-won). We basically have to force her to stay on the potty when we can tell she's about to go, and she cries and seems miserable while she's going. After she does go, though, she's very happy again and is pleased to get a piece of candy (yes, I feel a bit guilty about that) as a reward. She's proud to be wearing panties and understands that she is supposed to keep them dry, but the peeing itself is a huge ordeal for her. Plus, she manages to go really long times (today from the time she woke up before 8 until 1:15) without peeing, which I guess means she's holding it in, which isn't good. And she hasn't pooped at all since we starting PT'ing yesterday morning. She is still in pull-ups during nap and in bed, so we figure she'll just hold the poop until then. Poor kid.

Anyway, that got long, but it feels good to gripe about it! Tomorrow we're going to try a new strategy: "you have learned how to use the potty, and now we're not going to bug you about it any more - you should just go whenever you feel the need" to try to take away the stress. Then we are hoping she might enjoy it more when it's *her* decision to go or not. Any words of wisdom?

Thanks for reading this,
Jenny
Mom to Julia, 8/27/03
...and Clara, 5/23/06 - SHE'S HERE!!

[CiderLogan]

We are only two days into PT'ing, but it's the most frustrated I've been with parenting. DD is almost three and has to be PT'd by the time she starts preschool 8/21, so we only have six weeks. So of course I'm worried about that (lots of potential lost $$ if she isn't allowed to attend), and DH and I are at each other's throats because we're stressed, unsure whether we're doing it right, tired (sitting on the bathroom floor and reading a million books is more exhausting than it sounds), and cooped up at home (because we can't go out and risk DD peeing everywhere).

Our strategy has been to make an alarm sound every 30 minutes, then we go sit with her at the potty. But she resists sitting on it every time. And so far she's had two accidents and two successes (not a bad ratio, but they have been very hard-won). We basically have to force her to stay on the potty when we can tell she's about to go, and she cries and seems miserable while she's going. After she does go, though, she's very happy again and is pleased to get a piece of candy (yes, I feel a bit guilty about that) as a reward. She's proud to be wearing panties and understands that she is supposed to keep them dry, but the peeing itself is a huge ordeal for her. Plus, she manages to go really long times (today from the time she woke up before 8 until 1:15) without peeing, which I guess means she's holding it in, which isn't good. And she hasn't pooped at all since we starting PT'ing yesterday morning. She is still in pull-ups during nap and in bed, so we figure she'll just hold the poop until then. Poor kid.

Anyway, that got long, but it feels good to gripe about it! Tomorrow we're going to try a new strategy: "you have learned how to use the potty, and now we're not going to bug you about it any more - you should just go whenever you feel the need" to try to take away the stress. Then we are hoping she might enjoy it more when it's *her* decision to go or not. Any words of wisdom?

Thanks for reading this,
Jenny
Mom to Julia, 8/27/03
...and Clara, 5/23/06 - SHE'S HERE!!

[CiderLogan]

We are only two days into PT'ing, but it's the most frustrated I've been with parenting. DD is almost three and has to be PT'd by the time she starts preschool 8/21, so we only have six weeks. So of course I'm worried about that (lots of potential lost $$ if she isn't allowed to attend), and DH and I are at each other's throats because we're stressed, unsure whether we're doing it right, tired (sitting on the bathroom floor and reading a million books is more exhausting than it sounds), and cooped up at home (because we can't go out and risk DD peeing everywhere).

Our strategy has been to make an alarm sound every 30 minutes, then we go sit with her at the potty. But she resists sitting on it every time. And so far she's had two accidents and two successes (not a bad ratio, but they have been very hard-won). We basically have to force her to stay on the potty when we can tell she's about to go, and she cries and seems miserable while she's going. After she does go, though, she's very happy again and is pleased to get a piece of candy (yes, I feel a bit guilty about that) as a reward. She's proud to be wearing panties and understands that she is supposed to keep them dry, but the peeing itself is a huge ordeal for her. Plus, she manages to go really long times (today from the time she woke up before 8 until 1:15) without peeing, which I guess means she's holding it in, which isn't good. And she hasn't pooped at all since we starting PT'ing yesterday morning. She is still in pull-ups during nap and in bed, so we figure she'll just hold the poop until then. Poor kid.

Anyway, that got long, but it feels good to gripe about it! Tomorrow we're going to try a new strategy: "you have learned how to use the potty, and now we're not going to bug you about it any more - you should just go whenever you feel the need" to try to take away the stress. Then we are hoping she might enjoy it more when it's *her* decision to go or not. Any words of wisdom?

Thanks for reading this,
Jenny
Mom to Julia, 8/27/03
...and Clara, 5/23/06 - SHE'S HERE!!

[CiderLogan]

We are only two days into PT'ing, but it's the most frustrated I've been with parenting. DD is almost three and has to be PT'd by the time she starts preschool 8/21, so we only have six weeks. So of course I'm worried about that (lots of potential lost $$ if she isn't allowed to attend), and DH and I are at each other's throats because we're stressed, unsure whether we're doing it right, tired (sitting on the bathroom floor and reading a million books is more exhausting than it sounds), and cooped up at home (because we can't go out and risk DD peeing everywhere).

Our strategy has been to make an alarm sound every 30 minutes, then we go sit with her at the potty. But she resists sitting on it every time. And so far she's had two accidents and two successes (not a bad ratio, but they have been very hard-won). We basically have to force her to stay on the potty when we can tell she's about to go, and she cries and seems miserable while she's going. After she does go, though, she's very happy again and is pleased to get a piece of candy (yes, I feel a bit guilty about that) as a reward. She's proud to be wearing panties and understands that she is supposed to keep them dry, but the peeing itself is a huge ordeal for her. Plus, she manages to go really long times (today from the time she woke up before 8 until 1:15) without peeing, which I guess means she's holding it in, which isn't good. And she hasn't pooped at all since we starting PT'ing yesterday morning. She is still in pull-ups during nap and in bed, so we figure she'll just hold the poop until then. Poor kid.

Anyway, that got long, but it feels good to gripe about it! Tomorrow we're going to try a new strategy: "you have learned how to use the potty, and now we're not going to bug you about it any more - you should just go whenever you feel the need" to try to take away the stress. Then we are hoping she might enjoy it more when it's *her* decision to go or not. Any words of wisdom?

Thanks for reading this,
Jenny
Mom to Julia, 8/27/03
...and Clara, 5/23/06 - SHE'S HERE!!

[CiderLogan]

We are only two days into PT'ing, but it's the most frustrated I've been with parenting. DD is almost three and has to be PT'd by the time she starts preschool 8/21, so we only have six weeks. So of course I'm worried about that (lots of potential lost $$ if she isn't allowed to attend), and DH and I are at each other's throats because we're stressed, unsure whether we're doing it right, tired (sitting on the bathroom floor and reading a million books is more exhausting than it sounds), and cooped up at home (because we can't go out and risk DD peeing everywhere).

Our strategy has been to make an alarm sound every 30 minutes, then we go sit with her at the potty. But she resists sitting on it every time. And so far she's had two accidents and two successes (not a bad ratio, but they have been very hard-won). We basically have to force her to stay on the potty when we can tell she's about to go, and she cries and seems miserable while she's going. After she does go, though, she's very happy again and is pleased to get a piece of candy (yes, I feel a bit guilty about that) as a reward. She's proud to be wearing panties and understands that she is supposed to keep them dry, but the peeing itself is a huge ordeal for her. Plus, she manages to go really long times (today from the time she woke up before 8 until 1:15) without peeing, which I guess means she's holding it in, which isn't good. And she hasn't pooped at all since we starting PT'ing yesterday morning. She is still in pull-ups during nap and in bed, so we figure she'll just hold the poop until then. Poor kid.

Anyway, that got long, but it feels good to gripe about it! Tomorrow we're going to try a new strategy: "you have learned how to use the potty, and now we're not going to bug you about it any more - you should just go whenever you feel the need" to try to take away the stress. Then we are hoping she might enjoy it more when it's *her* decision to go or not. Any words of wisdom?

Thanks for reading this,
Jenny
Mom to Julia, 8/27/03
...and Clara, 5/23/06 - SHE'S HERE!!

[CiderLogan]

We are only two days into PT'ing, but it's the most frustrated I've been with parenting. DD is almost three and has to be PT'd by the time she starts preschool 8/21, so we only have six weeks. So of course I'm worried about that (lots of potential lost $$ if she isn't allowed to attend), and DH and I are at each other's throats because we're stressed, unsure whether we're doing it right, tired (sitting on the bathroom floor and reading a million books is more exhausting than it sounds), and cooped up at home (because we can't go out and risk DD peeing everywhere).

Our strategy has been to make an alarm sound every 30 minutes, then we go sit with her at the potty. But she resists sitting on it every time. And so far she's had two accidents and two successes (not a bad ratio, but they have been very hard-won). We basically have to force her to stay on the potty when we can tell she's about to go, and she cries and seems miserable while she's going. After she does go, though, she's very happy again and is pleased to get a piece of candy (yes, I feel a bit guilty about that) as a reward. She's proud to be wearing panties and understands that she is supposed to keep them dry, but the peeing itself is a huge ordeal for her. Plus, she manages to go really long times (today from the time she woke up before 8 until 1:15) without peeing, which I guess means she's holding it in, which isn't good. And she hasn't pooped at all since we starting PT'ing yesterday morning. She is still in pull-ups during nap and in bed, so we figure she'll just hold the poop until then. Poor kid.

Anyway, that got long, but it feels good to gripe about it! Tomorrow we're going to try a new strategy: "you have learned how to use the potty, and now we're not going to bug you about it any more - you should just go whenever you feel the need" to try to take away the stress. Then we are hoping she might enjoy it more when it's *her* decision to go or not. Any words of wisdom?

Thanks for reading this,
Jenny
Mom to Julia, 8/27/03
...and Clara, 5/23/06 - SHE'S HERE!!

[TaChapm]

Congratulations on making the huge step to potty train. It can be really frustrating.

We had a big prize (garbage truck that Jackson had wanted) for the first time he went potty and then I had several multicolored bags with small prizes in them for the rest of the time. I had money, matchbox cars, candy, colors, bubbles etc. in the bags. We tried to give him the candy after he used the potty but it didn't work well for us. I had a jar of tootsie pops in the bathroom and we would give him one each time we sat him on the potty. I know it sounds gross but it was the only way we could get him to relax while sitting on the potty. Once we started doing this he started using the potty much faster and didn't fight us. You just have to do what works for you. I would also let him pick out the color of bag he wanted while sitting on the potty and we would talk about what might be in it. It would get his mind off of us forcing him to sit on the potty.

We also had another big prize for the first time he pooped. It took a few days for him to do it but once he finally go over the fear he had no problem. It took us 2 days of hard work and it was done. We continued with the prizes for about a week and phased them out slowly. Within a week he was going without us taking him and hasn't looked back since then. FWIW Jackson had never used the potty until we started in and showed no signs of being ready but he made it.

I hope things get easier for you all. It is frustrating but so worth it.

Tara
Mommy to Jackson 11-10-02
Tyler William 6-9-05
Baby Jaci...Due September 5, 2006!

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