Refusing to wear a diaper now...

[teddy]

What does it mean when your kid doesn't want to wear a diaper anymore? My DD is 21 months and we have her potty set up. She just sits on it diaperless after she wakes in the morning, after naps, and before she gets in the tub. She's had a few pee-pees in it and one poop. But lately DD has been screaming to get her diaper off. She pushes her pants down and tries to push down the Easy Up or unfasten the velcro. She'd rather run around diaperless. She sometimes screams to get it off right before bed, in which case I just put on a new diaper, usually an Easy-Up because they're harder for her to take off.

Today she was watching something on TV (Clifford?) and just unfastened her diaper, walked over to the garbage can under the kitchen sink, threw it in the garbage, and went back to the family room to finish the show. No screaming, no announcements, no comments to me. It was really cute but confusing to me.

Before dinner she took off her diaper again and I just let her eat dinner diaperless. She was very happy. Do you think she's trying to tell me something? Or is it a control thing? Should we start full-on potty training with training pants (what are these anyway?!?)Any advice?

[brubeck]

Wow, you've got the hardest part done: motivation! Obviously she no longer wants to wear a diaper in any form. This may be because she wants to wear regular underwear or because she doesn't want to wear anything at all. The biggest obstacle I encountered in potty-training (and other Moms I know too) was to get the child to WANT to do it. I just think that you should grab onto this aspect of your child and use it as much as you can.

IMHO you need to make a connection between no diapers and using the potty. Make it clear to her that if she doesn't want to wear diapers then she MUST use the potty. Confine her to a room where the floor is easy to clean (or the backyard) and play with her. Have the potty in the room. When she has to pee/poop she should use it. ow chances are she won't (for the first few times at least) and you need to make a big deal about her peeing/pooping on the floor. Have her 'help' you clean it up. Point out that if she keeps doing that then the diaper will go back on. Play that diaper card for all it's worth. If she does use the potty then praise her and remind her that if she keeps doing that then she doesn't have to wear diapers anymore.

If you want to make this go faster, you could ply her with drinks and ask/remind her if she wants to go every 10-15 minutes.

This may not do anything, but I think at her stage it's worth a try. If you can ride that don't-want-a-diaper mindset to a potty-trained kid you're set!

HTH!

[Melanie]

Is her diaper wet when she does this? Or is it sometimes clean. I think either way it's a good sign to go with for potty-learning!

http://www.gynosaur.com/assets/ribbo...pphire_24m.gif

http://lilypie.com/baby3/011106/1/2/0/-8/.png

[teddy]

When she takes off the diaper, it's clean and dry.

Today she had a poop on the carpet but I didn't read this board until tonight. So when I cleaned it I just showed it to her and she said Poo-poop.

Wow, I guess it's time for us to start the teaching full-on! I hope I am ready for this. It's just been casual use of the potty until now.

I guess I'll be on this board a lot more now. Thanks for everyone's insight and advice!!! :)

[ms tinkerbell]

YOu know what my daughter has recently just turned 2 (Aug. 21st) and I keep asking her if she wants to go potty. She'll go sit on the potty but afterwards she REFUSES to put a diaper back on.
I bought her some Hello Kitty panties, and am too scared to put one on her. I guess we are in the same boat. I agree, *I* hope I'm ready for this... I think its harder for me than it will be for her!

Good luck!
Tink
http://www.mstinkerbell.com/icons/dumbo.jpg

[teddy]

I, too, just bought some Gymbo panties but they look huge. The smallest size they carry is 3 (as in 3 years old), and my daughter is still wearing size 12-18 in Gymboree leggings. And I am scared to put them on her in case she doesn't understand that they're NOT diapers.

I am going to Target to check out the Gerber training pants described on another posting. Maybe your DD (i.e. you!) might be more comfortable using them!!

Yes, good luck to BOTH of us and our DDs!! ;)