Potty Training mistake....several

kristinark

My daughter is almost 2.5 she has a speech delay with only a handful of words at this point & some sensory issues. She does seem to understand everything we say to her & follow directions well. Considering all of this I was not even thinking about pushing her to potty training considering she does not have that many words. My family, all sides have been pushing me to potty train....they also don't believe she has a speech delay or sensory issues. She does have a potty & we talk about Utah but have never really pushed it on here. So we have noticed that she has been dry in the am & after naps. Plus I have noticed her grab at her diaper. My family all says these are the signs she is ready. If she could communicate better I would agree. So Thursday evening she was grabbing at her diaper. My husband asked her if she had to go potty. I reached down to her diaper just to see if there was an issue, she was dry & I told my husband. He said we'll take her to the potty. I did & she peed! I praised her etc.. Then she got up & went to touch the pee in the potty...I said no don't touch that & scared her! Now she won't go near the potty & cries like she is afraid whenever I mention the potty or she sees the potty chair. I know I screwed up...but what should I do? Should I just stick with my gut that she is not ready or what?

laf83

You know your daughter better than anyone! Maybe just start talking about the potty a lot/reading books about the potty and see if she'll take an interest? Also, if you think her speech delay is an issue you could try teaching her some simple signs for wet, dry, poo poo, potty, etc. That way she can start to communicate to you if/when she's ready! I did something similar that set us back with pooping. I saw my son starting to poop in his underwear and carried him kicking & screaming to the potty. This was after he'd pooped in the potty 4-5 times. Several days later he's just now pooping in the potty again...so she'll get over it eventually...I just know how you feel about possibly making a mistake. There are going to be setbacks (and in my case poop on the floor, lol!!!)

ggatlanta

No experience, but maybe try telling her each time you are going to the bathroom. Then invite her to come with you. If she says no or resists, fine. But if you can find a way not to force the issue, just normalize it, then a dozen or two good / easy experiences watching you might drown out the fear.

DawnJM25

All good advice from PPs.  You know your DD.  Don't let people pressure you into potty training if you don't think she's quite ready.  Signing is a great tool for speech delays.  At our house, we read books about the potty, and DD would go into the bathroom when I went potty for a long time before we actually put her on there. 

*LrCg*

I don't think a speech delay has anything to do with PT. My kids were fully PT between 17-14 months old & they said maybe 5 words. The youngest would just walk to the potty when she had to go- it was many months before she was verbal about it but clearly she was telling us.

If I were you I would put her on it when she's dry after her nap or when you check her diaper & I would encourage her to follow you & DH to the potty when you guys go (I always made DH pee sitting down whenever kids followed him in). Also remember its just pee & you can always wash hands