Potty Training Tips for a 2 1/2 yr. old Girl

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Permalink Reply by Kristin Detloff on July 30, 2009 at 7:26pm

For my boys who are on track developmentally 3 years old was the magic number. For them I tried at 2 1/2 but it was just a little early and turned into a battle. That being said I have always heard that girls often train sooner then boys??? I'm assuming if it's true it would have to do with girls normally developing their verbal and cognitive skills a little bit earlier then the boys. All I know is I hated the battle I had with my first son and with my second who is now 2 1/2 I'm not pushing the training one bit. He asks to go to the potty sometimes and we let him and praise him like crazy but I still think he's just not quite there in terms of getting himself to the potty. We also have all carpet and I don't like dealing with all the messes vs if we had hardwood floors etc.

Does she care if she's dirty as I'm sure the cloth lets her feel it much more? My 2 1/2 year old boy could care less in the past and is just now starting to tell us every time he poops and walks all goofy until we get him changed. If she doesn't care if she's wet or dirty it may be more of a challenge.

For my kids I used regular underwear with the plastic liners from walmart. That way if and when they did have accidents not only did they feel it immediately, but it was contained by the plastic. To me pull-ups are too much like a diaper....although they get used at night of course.

So yeah...the easiest way would probably just be trying for a weekend and see how she does. Does she fight it? Does she get all excited? Is she able to stay dry for 2 hours at a time etc.? If she's ready you'll probably know but if she isn't it will probably be a LONG weekend and you can always decide to wait longer and try again later. But yeah. I would go all out with rewards like a pretty sticker if she goes, tons of praise, her own pretty potty seat, etc.

Regardless good luck! I'm having a girl in September so in a couple of years I'd probably have much better advice! Maybe you can tell me how it all works once you figure it out!! :-)

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Permalink Reply by Pamela Lichtenwalner on July 30, 2009 at 7:58pm

I've trained 3 girls, all who were developmentally on target, and they all trained at right around 2 1/2. I went right to underwear- pull ups are just like diapers. Training pants are like underwear, but thicker and might help if an accident occurs, so that not so much ends up on the floor. We have some of those, but my kids always wanted the cute princess/character undies. I start by spending all of one day focusing on the potty and not planning on doing much else. That seems to work. We do still do diapers at night until they consistently wake up dry in the am. I think girls are easier, but then I just trained my son at 2 years 3 months in January and it was very easy! He was showing lots of signs that he was ready- dry when he woke up in the morning, dry after naps, stopped what he was doing when he was about to go poopy, told me when he wet- so I knew I had to try even though I had never trained a boy that young.

The main thing to remember is that potty training takes a good 4-5 months before you can depend on the child to always (well, almost always!) remember to stop what they are doing and get up to go! It takes a lot to break the habit of soiling oneself whenever and where ever they are. But, practice makes perfect and hopefully not too many accidents later!

Good luck!

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Permalink Reply by Anna Dendinger on August 3, 2009 at 4:44pm

My dd trained around 2 yrs old. We used m&m's as a reward and that worked nicely for her. I never did pull-ups; we had been using cloth diapers and I just switched her to undies. It took about a week before she was pretty consistent, but it was still awhile before I she would remember to go without frequent reminders from me. I ended up using disposable diapers at night just b/c it was such a hassle to get the cloth on and off 2 or 3 times at bedtime early on when she'd "have" to go just to avoid going to bed or for the novelty or whatever. (She didn't get m&m's at bedtime to try to remove some of that incentive.) She still isn't consistently able to hold it all night, so we'll see when nighttime training finally happens (she won't be 3 until Dec.)
One thing with girls: they can get UTIs when they are first trained. Mine did since she just wasn't going quite often enough. We had to go back to diapers for a few days until the antibiotic kicked in b/c the frequent urgency was too much for her.

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Permalink Reply by Mary L. Sena on August 3, 2009 at 10:38pm

I am working on training my 2 1/2 year old daughter too and she absolutely loves potty training books or dvds. You can find these at the library. I start out slowly, a little bit each day so she doesn't feel rushed and I pile on the praise whenever she makes pee or poop in the potty. My son was potty trained at 3 and with him I kept a potty chart in the restroom and added a star whenever he made the potty in the toilet. This worked well. He enjoyed being able to see his progress everytime he went into the restroom. Blessings on this task. There will be much needed patience with your little one and yourself. Don't feel like you need to rush right into this. A little at a time....

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Permalink Reply by Michelle Ouellette on August 3, 2009 at 11:12pm

Thank you to all of you. You've given me some great tips, advice and reassurance!! We plan on starting next Friday the 14th. My husband is going to take the two oldest out for the day, and I'm going to have a mothers helper come over to help me with the twins so I can spend the day with my daughter, her potty and her many My Little Pony's!! :) So I will let you know how it goes.

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Permalink Reply by Anne Matthews on August 3, 2009 at 11:39pm

The very best book I've ever read on the subject was a book written in the seventies, "How to Potty Train Your Toddler in Less than 24 hours" by Foxx and Azrin. While it took longer, about a week, I have used this sucessfully six times with six boys. Some were 2 1/2 or close to 3. Anyway what is brillant about this book is that you reward for dry pants. Every ten minutes you check their underwear and if it's dry they get one skittle or m&m. There is a check list to see if they're ready to start training. The other great thing is that when they have an accident you "practice" with them. You say (all excited) , "You're playing legos and you feel like you have to pee, what are you going to do?" You both shout, "Run to the potty." And you have to go to the bathroom real fast, go through all the motions, real fast. Then go to all different rooms of the house and think of different scenarios like reading with mommie, playing trucks, playing dolls etc. The book suggests "practicing" ten times. I usually quit from exhaustion after five. I can't do justice to the whole method here. You really deserve a break on this one. I suggest you get the book.
My first had cloth diapers and I just went directly to the thick training pants. I didn't do diapers at night. I think pull ups just confuse them.

I have a set of twins too. Just wait until you have two potties. They are six now and such a joy. The first year was hard but it's just so cute watching them learn to talk and walk together.

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Permalink Reply by Deborah Garcia on August 4, 2009 at 3:35am

If I may recommend a potty training system. The potty Scotti and Potty Patty, Potty training in one day system worked beautifully. My son Cooper was trained in one day...literally. After we did this program, he only had 2 accidents, and one was not his fault. We never used the pull up, we just transitioned him from diapers to underwear. I was amazed but extremely happy. The only thing is you MUST follow the directions to a "T". It takes about 2-4 hours to complete. Basically you are training them how to know the sensation of having to urinate and what to do. I must say if you want to avoid all the stress and frustration, do this program, you will wish you knew about it for all your children.
Here is a link..I highly recommend it. I Recommend to pkg with the book and DVD, it walks you through everything

http://www.pottypatty.com/

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Permalink Reply by elizabeth arendale on August 4, 2009 at 9:37am

we do elimination communication or EC here at our house. it's really just all about reading the child's signs. maybe- to pick up on her signs- fill her up with gatorade or some such other sports drink and if possible take her outside sans pants- maybe wearing a dress. see how she behaves, what she does. she might even notice how she feels prior to this strange liquid coming from her body- and how relieved she feels once it is gone.
the potty i'd use would be baby bjorn training potty. we have one and it's just SO much better than the target special. they don't sit back on it, they walk over it and squat above it almost straddling it. it's ergonomically correct for the task at hand. one can use it for tiny babies too. we've used ours since dd was 3 months and her older sister who's almost 3 still loves to use it. i've also heard that there is a clear potty on the market so you can see and immediately give positive feedback for a job well done.
good luck!

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Permalink Reply by Michelle Reitemeyer on August 10, 2009 at 9:31pm

I also suggest letting her go bare bottomed for a bit, especially to get the sensation. If you have carpets, maybe you can spend some time outside. If she's wearing a dress, the neighbors won't even know.

No to pull-ups.

I've potty trained 5 so far. I hate it. It's not fun and it's very frustrating! Good luck!

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