What if they ask for their diaper back?

Today is Day #1 of potty training. I'm trying the "go for it" approach by taking away the diapers and giving Casey big girl panties and staying home the next few/several days so she has all-access to the potty. So far, it sucks. I've cleaned up 4 piddles. She asked for her diaper back after #4. I gave it to her because she was really insistent (laid it on the floor and laid on top of it). But is that the right thing to do?

She did drop a very small amt of poop in the potty a short time later which I praised her for, gave her a sticker (which she has been asking for all day) and put a sticker on her potty chart and showed it to her.

*sigh* It's going to be a long week if this keeps up.

*Oh and if you are wondering about Amanda, she's shown no awareness of what's happening down there but she insisted on going diaper-less today too. So, I let her and clean up 2 piddles for her. One of which she did in her booster seat while eating breakfast and was perfectly content to just sit in. I figured if she isn't uncomfortable sitting in a pool of pee than she must not be remotely ready. So, she's back in her diaper and dressed for the day.

 

Your girls sound a lot like mine. We tried potty training last week and they just aren't ready. They had very little interest, even with the excitement of stickers and I have tried the M & M approach, but it didn't work. I've decided to put it off a couple more weeks and try again. I think they'll let me know when they're ready. I did switch to pull-ups, so they get the up and down action of panties instead of diapers and when they ask me to go, we go. Most of the time, they are just wanting in the bathroom to play in the sink and flush the toilet, nothing to do with going!!

I know I really didn't answer your question, but I just wanted to share what I had experience so you'll know you're not alone!!

 

at that age, if they wanted the diaper back, I'd give it to them. Now at Gabe's age, if he asked for it back after a week of doing GREAT, I'd have to say no.

 

I guess I'm wondering...Did you start potty training because they showed interest or because you thought it was time?

I took "the wait until they are ready" approach and it was far easier for all of us. Granted my boys trained later ( Ben almost 3yr (34mons) and Luke at 3.5yrs. I just wasn't one of those people that wanted to do the 20min timer.

Don't feel too down. They all get it! Everyone is anxious to get their child trained. But like they say..."you can only lead a horse to water".

 

QUOTE(girlsxtwo @ Jul 16 2007, 03:23 PM) [snapback]332677[/snapback]
Your girls sound a lot like mine. We tried potty training last week and they just aren't ready. They had very little interest, even with the excitement of stickers and I have tried the M & M approach, but it didn't work. I've decided to put it off a couple more weeks and try again. I think they'll let me know when they're ready. I did switch to pull-ups, so they get the up and down action of panties instead of diapers and when they ask me to go, we go. Most of the time, they are just wanting in the bathroom to play in the sink and flush the toilet, nothing to do with going!!

I know I really didn't answer your question, but I just wanted to share what I had experience so you'll know you're not alone!!



Are you sure this isn't my kids? Amber doesn't care either way. She does, however, enjoy flushing the toilet. Emmy christened the new potty seat the moment it was put on, but since then, has no interest in sitting on the potty. Last night, I had both girls running around in panties and Emily peed twice and was pretty upset about it, so that gives me hope for early training on her but Amber is just along for the ride. She has NO interest in using the potty yet. BUT, she did get a sticker last night because she voluntarily sat on the potty.

 

QUOTE(Debb-i @ Jul 16 2007, 05:00 PM) [snapback]333338[/snapback]
I guess I'm wondering...Did you start potty training because they showed interest or because you thought it was time?


I started Casey training because she tells me before she has to poop and pee. Mandi couldn't care less.

 

Accidents are going to happen even if she's 100% ready. Does she normally tell you before every time she poops and pees that she needs to go? She might still be learning the feeling, and it's great that she can identify it but she is still learning. At that age if she wants her diaper back I would give it to her. You don't want her to get frustrated or embarrassed by her accidents. You can always try again in a couple of weeks.

I, too, believe in waiting until they're ready. Kelly started training before Kaitlyn did. She had a lot of accidents along the way even though she wanted to be in big girl undies and no diapers/ pull-ups. Kaitlyn decided while we were on vacation when she was 3 yrs 3 months that she was ready to give up diapers and she had almost no accidents. She was trained much faster and easier.

 

I think you have to go with your gut... in my older dd's case, she showed very little outward signs of being ready...but I just knew that she was. (you have a pretty good sign there if she is telling you...) With my older dd I had to just take away the diaper and refuse to give it back. She did have a ton of accidents...but after 5 days that was it... she "got" it, and from there only had a handful of accidents in the year following. There's nothing wrong wtih 2 steps forward, 1 step backward...but I knew in my dd's case she was very willful and if I gave the diaper back I would have to be prepared to wait a long time to take it away again. If your dd is more pliable than this it might not be such a big deal. My twin dd was much more gradual and really intiated on her own starting around 18 months. Actually if I had my way I would have waited to potty train her b/c of not wanting to deal with the hassle...but she was literally asking to go. And I do think it's wrong to ignore that obvious of a sign!

My ds is another story... I've been working on him this last week..and so far he is very good at keeping his undies dry. He holds his pee forever. And he has peed on the potty at least once every day for the last week... but he holds the rest for naptime or bedtime. And he does ask for his diaper back. I let him have it for naptime and nighttime of course...but since he's staying dry during the day I keep him in his undies. He likes his underpants...but he also likes diapers... he likes when he actually pees, but he doesn't like trying to go potty... I think he's going to have a much slower learning curve than my girls. <_< sigh.