toilet training

[nikole]

Our 3 1/2 yr old was well on the road to being trained when 8 mths ago she started to regress. I dont know if its lazyness or a physical problem, but she is very hit-and-miss, especially when it comes to poo. She can be brilliant one day and go thru 6 changes the next. I'm loosing patience fast and dont know how to make those good days become the normal days. Any ideas on whats going on and how to turn things around would be sooooooooo appreciated.

[shellbell]

hi nikole,

i can relate !!! we have a nearly-3 yr old and my hubby decided that we'd start toilet training last year when i was about 6 mths pregnant with our #2. needless to say, getting on all 4's to clean up wee and poo from the floor when you are heavily pregnant took its toll on me, physically and emotionally (i'd just cry every time she had an accident, though i tried not to let her see me). i still get really frustated when she has accidents, mainly because they are usually poos - lovely. i just have to pester her every 15 min or so, asking if she needs to wee. she usually waits until we've put her in her room for a daytime nap to do the poo (there's a potty in her room, but it doesn't always make it into it), so i've started checking every 5 or 10 mins to see if she needs to go. it certainly is hit-&-miss. sorry i can't really help, but i definitely sympathise

[LouLou]

Hi Nikole,
Not sure if this helps or not, but when toilet training my son, we got this great book called "Piggy & bear and their underwear" (it was a $4 book I had seen one day at a bookshop) Every morning he got to decide what underwear piggy and bear would wear for the day and the day before I produced the book I went shopping with him and got him to pick out some "special undies" - he being a boy picked out some Spiderman and shrek undies!!!!
I explained that if he thought he could go to the toilet and stop wearing nappies, he could wear his special undies or just some of the other cheapo regular ones he also had. (I guess I wanted a back up plan to make sure I was not forcing him into something he was not ready for - so if he chose to wear the cheapo ones or his nappies I was not going to push it)
Anyway I was lucky :p and he jumped at the idea of being so special to wear his undies that everyday he would want to wear them. I had to monitor regular trips to the toilet (checking every hour or so initially) for the first little while, but then he got the handle on it.
You also mentioned in your post that your daughter was well on the way 8 months ago, so I was wondering if their have been any emotional or unsettling experiences that have occurred recently. I have heard that this can also trigger a regression.
Anyway best of luck, and if you want me to post you the book email me (unfortunately one of piggy's cardboard undies has gone missing but otherwise it's in great shape),
best of luck
Louise