[-erin-]

I took off work today and plan to take off tomorrow also. I'm trying to work on potty training with Juliet. She got up at 7 this morning, took her to the potty (she didn't go), put panties (gerber training pants) on her. Between this morning and noon, when she went down for nap, she only wet her panties once. However she also only did a few drips in the potty. She's holding it. Any tips on getting her to relax and pee in the potty? She seems happy on there, we read books and stuff, but she won't relax the pee muscles.

[survey77777]

With my nieces I gave them a big glass of juice before trying and then put the potty in front of the tv. Juice was a treat for them so guaranteed they'd drink it all and the tv kept them distracted when I sat there with them. Running water sounds work for some kids too. They also liked when we peed at the same time...as does my crazy baby.

[-erin-]

Yeah I gave juice for snack and she only drank half of it... strange since it is a treat for her here. She's on to me I tried running water and that only made her excited to get up and wash her hands.

[survey77777]

They are sneaky and wise creatures. Maybe turn the tap on just a trickle before you bring her in there to avoid the temptation. Who knew running water could be so enticing. I know some people use a wet finger or wet washcloth on the skin to help too.

[sarahp]

Zoe never pees when she has books - she's too busy reading books and forgets to relax and pee. Try taking away all the distractions - that may include you. We often have to walk out of the bathroom - once she has nothing else to do, she concentrates and pees. I generally stand by the door in a way where I can see her, but she can't see me. If she starts squirming on the toilet I remind her to sit still and let me know when she's all done.

Good luck!

[-erin-]

She does like to be alone in there, I just worry... she likes to sit on the big toilet and she's pretty good about getting up and down, but it's still not 100% stable. I'll have to give her some privacy.

All in all, we ended the day with 4 pairs of wet panties, which isn't too bad. 3 of those were between 4:30-6 this evening, before DH got home. She only did dribbles on the potty during the morning. During nap she had a diaper and peed and pooped then.

[survey77777]

Your story inspired us and G did a complete poop on the potty today self initiated. I was one proud mama. He called his auntie and his mammy to report on it.

Sounds like a good start for Juliet ... being comfortable with the potty is a big part of it.

[momoftwins]

I'm a big fan of putting the potty chair in front of the TV and giving them a drink! Once you can get them to relax enough for that first good pee or poop, it makes a world of difference!

[-erin-]

So this morning we had 3 accidents, but 2 were in the bathroom, one right in front of the toilet I think as she was climbing up. Twice she told me she needed to go and she only had the littlest bit of wetness in her undies. She didn't actually go in the potty though, at least not more than dribbles.

This afternoon, she didn't get up until a bit after 3 (went down around 12:30). Stayed dry all afternoon, willingly sat on the potty a few times, but didn't do anything in there. DH got home, we ate dinner, part way through she said she had to go so he took her... she still didnt do anything, we went back to dinner. After, she kept dancing around doing the pee pee dance, holding herself and we tried to get her to sit on the potty. Within 30 mins or so we had a couple accidents on the floor, and we tried to get her to sit on the potty and we got a few dribbles in. She totally freaks out when it runs down her leg and starts crying so she's in freak out mode when we're trying to put her on the potty, which doesn't help. She never totally let it all go... finally DH got her sitting on it and she peed a lot. We showed it to her, told her how good it was, doesn't that feel good, tried to make a huge deal out of it, gave her a couple chocolate chips as a reward. So we'll see how tomorrow goes. She definitely has the holding ability and knows when she needs to go, just doesn't like doing it on the potty.

[sarahp]

That's a great start! Hope tomorrow goes better

[momoftwins]

Are you still using that potty seat with the built in step stool? Have you tried a potty chair? Some kids are super picky with their potties when they are first learning. My kids never did well with the potty seats in the beginning of potty training. They did a thousand times better with the a potty chair.

I'd bet that once you can get her to do a few big pees and poops in the potty, she'll be on a roll and it'll be super easy from there!

[-erin-]

We've got both, but she prefers a seat on the big toilet. Her per last night was on a small potty seat, so maybe she'll start using that more.