Help, please!

dtbluv

Hey!

I don't have a child, but I'm a full time nanny for a sweet girl that has just (last week) turned two.

I'm a little concerned because when we went to the 2 yo wellness appointment, the doctor said LO should already be working on potty training, and that we needed to start that ASAP.  LO's parents have also said multiple times that they want to start potty training ASAP, but I really just don't think LO is ready.  She has the mental skills, but she never wakes up from naps dry, going two hours with a dry diaper does not happen very often, and she can't pull her pants all the way on or off by herself, they get stuck on the diaper.

Are these physical reasons enough that PT should be delayed until she can stay dry longer/take off her pants on her own, or should we just start now be prepared for a little extra work?

WhitePicketFence

I think it's crazy that her pedi is pushing the issue so young. When we took DD1 to her 2 year well visit, her pedi said that it was ok to start PTing but he advised us to go slowly and to follow her "readiness" clues.

Does this child show any interest in PTing? Have you and her parents talked about PTing, read stories about it, etc? If so, what was her reaction?

dtbluv

I'm so glad to hear that you think the pedi is crazy too!  I was very taken aback by her tone and just that she was insistent that we needed to be PT already.  I generally assume that the doctor is always right, but with this I really don't agree and don't appreciate how she made it sound like the mom was being a bad parent by not having LO PTed already.

LO shows marginal interest in PT.  We have books about using the potty, and talk about it, and we also have a little potty for her and little Elmo seat cover/modifier things so she can sit on the toilet without falling in.  She likes to sit on the potty, but I don't think she really understands what she's supposed to do.  Her parents started pushing pooping on the potty, and now she gets extremely upset if she poops in her diaper, but doesn't seem to be able to tell when she has to poop and has stopped letting us know if her diaper needs to be changed.

When we do start PT, I think we're going to do the 3 day method where she's pretty much naked all the time so she can better learn to understand her body's cues.  

AmericanInOz

yea I think it's too young to fully push it

but you could do some gradual training at that age

I let dd go diaperless at dinner time for a few months, so she started to be aware of when she went and what it felt like to have to go

when we did eventually start full on training I felt like that awareness helped her alot

maybe you could just do that a few hours a day, without the pressure of potty training? just have a potty that you bring her to when you see she's going - but without pressure?

GL!