Yes, praise will work great. Clap, get excited, do things that make her laugh and help connect potty to being a good thing. Like I said in a previous post on potty training, I spin DD in a circle three times after she goes potty. She will laugh her head off and kick her feet- its great fun.

Another thing she likes to do is jump, but she can't do it by herself just yet. If she doesn't want to spin, I help her do moon jumps up and down the hall. We both shout "aaaaaAAAAHHHHHH- JUMPIES!!!!" and then do a really big jump. Sometimes we also count up to it- it really builds up the suspense and DD is starting to try to count along with me. You don't have to use stickers or candy and there are plenty of things you can do that are equally as rewarding.

My daughter's gotten quite tall and she isn't ready yet for the big potty. Even with the seat, its way too big for her. For the transition, it all depends on how well your child is at using step stools and turning around to sit on the dunny. My main concern would be a child falling through and being too scared to try again.

The potty I have is made by fisher price. It sings music and makes noises to correspond to different parts of the potty. I like it because there is a small plastic bowl that catches everything and its really easy to clean. I use cloth diapers and have a sprayer connected to the toilet- that also makes a big difference.

When I first started potty training, I did it during the time DD was most alert- which was around noon (before lunch is served, since a full belly will put her to sleep). It took awhile to get her used to hopping onto it first thing in the morning. She is not a morning person. Sometimes I'm lucky enough to catch her in time, but I don't stress about it if I miss out.

Potty training can take a long time for some kids and you'll know if your child is ready. If she's not, try not to pressure her- it'll backfire and set you even further back than when you started.

As for getting her to sit on hers without you sitting on your, if you can't just say ' I don't have to use the potty' then I'd say work slowly out of the habit.

Finish before she does and do something else in the bathroom, wash your hands, or put on lotion or just straighten up the bathroom.

We're just starting 'serious' potty training with Bug, he is almost 3 but hasn't shown interest until now.

I put him on the potty when he first wakes up, about 15 minutes after he finishes his drink, after meals and before nap and bed...and any time someone has to go to the bathroom they ask him if he needs to go.

If your picking one time a day to start with, what time do you notice she is wet? Pick a few minutes before that.

Praise works for Bug, he announces to anyone in the house or anyone that visits/or calls for the day.

From raising my daughter (24 Y/O), I found when she could get on the big potty without help she was willing to use it, so maybe get a step stool to help her get on the big potty.

Good luck

I have a 17 month old and I'm successfully training her now. I started introducing the potty since she was about 13 months old. I have never done it this early with my other two, they were about 2.5 before they were trained, but I'm reading this really great book called Early-Start Potty Training by Linda Sonna, and its making me realize that early is ok.

My little one is doing okay. She is definately interested. She has pooped on the potty twice and peed in it twice since last week. We started a schedule that consist of evenings before bed so its only been 5 days. She pees in the potty: first thing in the morning, after breakfast, before nap, after nap, before bath, and before bed, and before we go out to a store.

Then sometimes she will go ramdom times during the day. And she pees while we are in the car.. I keep the potty seat in the back and she usually has to pee at some point while we are out.

I use Fuzzi Bunz training pants, but most training pants will do the job. This takes time and patience and disipline in your part.
And the praising part by all means praise her. It doesn't have to be candy. Just like adults, Kids love praise.

Lily just turned 2 1/2 and started wearing underwear last week. They say the ideal time to begin training is between 27-32 months, but some kids show interest earlier and some later. Praise and rewards work for us. Lily looks at potty books, watches me go, and gets very excited when she has successes. She has very few accidents at home and at daycare. We have the potty-ring and a regular toddler potty at my house, and she chooses which one she wants to use. Her daycare uses peer modeling, potty time every hour, and praise as part of their method, with no pull-ups allowed. I think you just have to be patient, consistent, reward success and do not punish accidents. Good luck!

I agree that praise alone will work. Like all children, yours probably just LOVES it when she thinks she's pleased you. So making a HUGE deal about her success will work.
As far as the time of day you pick, that totally depends on your child. Each child/person has a time of day that they go to the bathroom the most. For my dd it's first thing in the morning and late morning. She rarely poos after that time.
And, as far as your in-laws go.... Iknow what you mean. There's times I really just want to strangle mine because they offer advice when it's not necessary nor is it wanted. My dd is 19m old today and we are beginning potty training this weekend. However, she has shown me signs for about the past three months that she needs to be potty trained and is ready but I just had a baby Nov 29 so I've been just a little busy.
Good luck with the training!!

Rewarding: Claping is good. My daughter loves reading books so I told her that if she would sit on her potty for one full minute, we could read a book. That seemed to work great. Or {depending on where you live} you could tell her you will go on a walk if she sits there for a full minute {without you having to sit on yours} or you she can put a rock in a jar and when the jar is filled, she gets a special treat--I know you dont want to use candy but once every 4 times isn't bad.

I think that her coming to sit on her potty when you sit on yours is a HUGE step! Thats great. She will start to learn what it is for soon.

I started my daughter on once a day too and it was, she sat on the potty while I was starting the tub. I would let it fill up all the way while she sat there and then put her in. Really... It works.

My daughter is 22 months old and potty trained. Hope I helped!

Praise alone should work and making a big deal out of using the potty helps too. My son just turned 2 on Dec 27th. I got a potty around 15 months so he can get used to the idea of having it. as he gradually started showing more interest, i would sit him on there more frequently. he has no problem sitting on the potty but has not successfully gone yet.

what time have you notice your little girl being wet the most at ? maybe track her wet diapers for a bit so you know her schedule of when she goes and put her on a minute before then.

i bought my son training pants, however i can not use them on him yet as they are too big for him even though they say they are from 23 lbs to 28 lbs. my son is really tiny in the waist so nothing would stay in them, however he loves wearing his dieago pullups

Kudos to Mom1623 & Sarah BClark! I have lil busy body round the house everyday too. She is 20 months old, and has been introduced to the potty seat for a few weeks now. I was always told that a child should at least be verbalizing before going to the potty. However, though my daughter doesn't verbalize that she has to go potty, I am sure to take her to the potty first thing in the morning, throughout the day, and of course, before bed. Whether she tinkles or poops or not, I take her. Clearly, she has processed somewhat what supposed to go in the bowl as she makes an attempt to push. I often smile with joy to see her lil tummy going in and out! smiles Nonetheless, since putting her on the toilet she has made herself tinkle every time I've placed her on there, although at times she gets very distracted by the tissue role and the flush handle-smiles. Overall, JoleneLS patience is obviously the key! As with experience, every child displays his/her own unique developmental abilities and readiness. I know my son, who is now 11 started using the potty round 2, and never wet the bed. My 8yr old daughter, was potty trained round 18months....but guess what? She wet the bed and had frequent accidents thereafter. It was like she regressed or something! At best, we cannot and should not rush or compare our lil ones to those of others. Let your tot grow as her lil body and mind has been predetermined as so set forth by her originator! She and you will be just fine in the process!!! Just remember be very expressive in your praise-besides it will bring a huge smile on your tot's face and an incentive to use the potty! I normally clap and say, "Yeah....You did it! (about 2x) then I go into the Barney's "I love you" song! And she just loves it!

TO Mom1623: As for fuzzi bunz training pants, is there a distinctive thing that sets them apart from Pull-Ups?

TO SarahBClark: Did you initially limit you tot's intake throughout the day just to introduce a consistent pattern for using the potty?

Today she was cruising around in just her diaper right after lunch, and she is cutting her sixth tooth so she has had the runs, and suddenly she ran to the washroom, sat on her toilet, and pooped in her diaper!

But when I put her on it without the diaper, she runs like hell! As soon as her bare bottom touches that seat she is off like a blue streak, she seems terrified to do it naked.

So I guess for now we are gonna just take what we have! And maybe eventually she will just do it naked! Thanks for all the advice guys.

When I was potty training years ago, everything I read said to wait til they were at least 2 yrs 3 mos. It worked, as my daughter wanted to b4 then, but her muscles weren't ready even though emotionally she was.

Now, with my granddaughter, we're putting that piece on top of the toilet and she goes there. We simply reward her with clapping, and I also got her the same book about going to the potty with Prudence and her mother. There's one for girls and one for boys. We also take it into the bathroom and she gets to press the sound button of praise when she goes! At night, we use nighttime pull-ups.

Oh, and we're taking her about every 30 mins for starters. And we never, ever fuss at her if she messes up. It takes time. They really don't like it when they've wet all over themselves or worse.

Good luck.