 | we got her a potty more than a yr ago, she used it a few times and we would cheer her on. didn't put any "pressure" on her til this past summer when she was already over 3 yrs old and still soiling her underwear (obviously she wasn't ready for underpants but I thought that would encourage her) she doesn't care about being soiled and will just ignore it until I discover it and change her. I started this past summer asking her several times a day do you need to poo or pee? she would deny the need and just do it in her clothes. the last few weeks have gotten desperate; she will stand there wriggling around while I ask if she needs to go and she will deny the need; than I have to repeatedly order her to go and sit on the potty. Lots of the time I don't even see her wriggling around and just discover her playing, watching a video, eating, whatever, dirty or wet. There are occasional days during which she runs to the potty on her own accord and uses it maybe 3 or 4 times in a day, with perhaps just 1 or 2 accidents. Yesterday she went to the potty by herself maybe 3 times and 4 other times I ordered her to sit there and she didn't have a single accident but that is extremely rare. most of the time I have to change her underwear and pants 4 or 5 times in a day. I refuse to put her back in diapers. She goes to a nursery shcool 2 days a week and is the only kid there who has accidents--the teacher usually winds up changing her at least 1 day a week, often both days. the teacher is nice about it but that is not part of her job description and I am really embarassed--this is beginning to look like an emotional problem. I have another daughter who is 2 years younger and I think that the older one has never been able to give up being the center of attention--she does everything possible to get attention and screams if things don't go the way she wants them too--like if I turn on a light in a room and she was hoping to turn on the light. She has been overly indulged by her father who didn't recognize my pleas for help with discipline until about 3 or 4 months ago; by than it was too little too late (I have had different health problems throughout her toddlerhood, so her dad and various babysitters and daycares did a lot of the caregiving). She is a very willfull and stubborn girl though I am truly dismayed to see this apparently turning into a power struggle. help! |
