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Potty Training

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The Orclette knows how to go on the potty. She knows how to recognize when to go. She can stay dry all night. She's done all these things.

But now? She refuses to.

We've taken away Dora. We've taken away Max & Ruby. We've had monumental power struggles. And we've both concluded that it's not working. We don't even want to come close to breaking her spirit-but eventually she needs to be potty trained.

She's what you'd term a "strong-willed child". I was apparently a very compliant child. If I wanted something I'd either ask or be sneaky about it. Damm was the model child. I'm serious. We had to go and name her "fire" ... She certainly lives up to her name.

So we're seeking for alternatives. We found a book called "Stress-Free Potty Training" and we're both going to read through that and decide upon a new approach. And I think I might need to crack open Dobson's book on strong-willed children. I just don't know how to deal with her sometimes. I find myself trying to reason with my 3 year old, just like my dad used to with us:) And as he found out, that doesn't work.

Does anyone else know of a book/method that could offer some good pointers? Or some good potty training tips? We're not even talking about the potty today. I was too annoyed yesterday and I really don't like being annoyed at my daughter.

What's frustrating is that she's ahead in everything else ... she loves doing her "schoolwork", she can help me unload the dishwasher and do other small chores, she can put the dog in his crate, she has a vocabulary far ahead of her 3 years thanks to me (I'm not very good at speaking to small children, I tend to speak to them just like I would an adult). Why not potty-training? She's not scared-as I said, she can and will go. Just not all the time. Only when she deems it the right time.

Miniorc had better be easier. That's all I gotta say.
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Comments

bo-breaze said…
You could bribe her/ rewards for going potty. IDK mine is just now entering the potty training period
August 5, 2010 at 4:15:00 PM MDT
Phil Kelly said…
Since my wife has her degree in that, I figured I'd ask her ;). She suggested the rewards system as well, but said that first she'd try appealing to their sense of pride - "Oh, you're a big girl, don't you want to do big girl things" "mommy and daddy use the potty" etc.
August 6, 2010 at 7:34:00 PM MDT
Rusty said…
Along with Phil, I'd suggest that if she enjoys helping you with little chores (the dishes, cleaning, etc) that you emphasize the "big girl" part of doing those jobs.

If she won't act like a big girl in potty training, then she won't be able to do big girl jobs with you.

Of course, if she's lazy, like me, then it's just more free time for her.

Dax (Rusty)
August 10, 2010 at 5:01:00 AM MDT
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