Child Will Pee Anywhere BUT the Potty……

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Question:

I started the boot camp program and my daughter is more than happy to go on the potty but when it comes time for her to actually "go" she frantically tries to get off. I have had times of her going pee just a little bit and then she hops off the potty and seems scared. I will put her back on (30min) and try to get her to go, but she just holds it until I put a diaper on her or she will run off and go somewhere else to pee. If I catch her running off to pee somewhere else I rush her back to the potty, but she still holds it.

We thought that maybe it was because she was using the big potty instead of a toddler potty so we got her a toddler potty and the same thing occurs. I ask her where the pee goes and she points to the appropriate place. I am at a complete loss.

Any advice you could give would be very helpful.

Answer:

Thanks for writing. It sure does sound like your daughter officially has fear about letting her pee fall into the potty. This is actually not uncommon, believe it or not. In a toddler's mind, their pee and poop is a part of their body... imagine how afraid you might be if you thought a part of your body was falling into the toilet!

I have a couple of ideas. You might also want to read a blog post I wrote in answer to another parent's question when she encountered the same problem with her child. Here is the link to that blog post:

http://thepottybootcamp.blogspot.com/2010/01/toddler-is-scared-to-pee.html.

In addition to the ideas given in the blog post, you can also try to gradually acclimate her to sitting on the potty while peeing. You do this by having her sit on the potty while wearing her diaper. If it works, you can gradually remove the diaper. Some parents have had luck with laying a diaper on top of the potty, and having the child sit on top of it. Finally, you can try something called the "bathtub technique". The bathtub technique almost always causes a child's bladder to relax without them consciously being aware of it happening... and when they realize that they peed on the potty (and that it did not hurt and that it was not scary) it can sometimes help overcome that initial hurdle.

Here is a link to the bathtub technique:

http://thepottybootcamp.blogspot.com/2009/12/bathtub-can-help-your-toddler-overcome.html





Post by Suzanne Riffel, author of "The Potty Boot Camp: Basic Training for Toddlers" - a new, fast, easy toilet training method that produces remarkable results.