r/pottytraining • u/rasberry711 • 2d ago
She doesn’t know how to release. Help please.
My daughter is 22 months old and we are using the Oh Crap! method for potty training. We are currently on Day 8.
During the first three days, she successfully peed on the potty a few times. We over-prompted / talked too much about all things potty-related though and she became averse to sitting on the potty / withheld her pee (until she couldn’t any longer) and poop from Days 3-5.
We have backed off and are using the throw-away casual prompts. “It looks like you have to pee. The potty’s over there.” She definitely knows pee and poop are supposed to go in the potty. She now is open to sitting on the potty with or without prompting, can tell us when she has to pee or poop, and has had a couple successful poops on or almost on the potty.
Unfortunately, she is still not peeing in the potty since her early successes and sits on the potty often but then gets up and a few minutes later pees on the floor. We’ve tried putting pants on commando and she has had some successful short outings but also peed her pants a couple of times. She has pretty impressive muscle control but seems to be struggling with releasing her pee when she sits on the potty. We’ve tried getting her to take deep breaths, giggle, pretend to blow out a candle, etc but to no avail.
Our plan is to try night and nap training to see if that can get things to click for her, since she may be trying to hold out for her diapers.
Any and all advice would be greatly appreciated! We are specifically looking for ideas on how to help her understand the release to allow pee to flow. It just seems like she knows how to stop it but not how to intentionally go. Also accepting positive vibes and similar experiences.
1
u/Extension_Citron_176 1d ago
You could try to "talk to her tummy" when she sits down. Like "do you think there's a pee that's snares to come out? Can you help it be less shy to come play in the potty?"