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Hoosiermommy - I'm so there. This week, with three houseguests, we backed way off the potty training. She's adamant she not use the potty now. A total regression, and it's pure will! DD completely understands the concepts and has the skills, because she went a few days with no accidents. We originally went directly from diapers to underpants, no problemo. Now, back to square one, except we're using pull-ups. Oh well, I can wait until she turns 3.

Anything else I need to know about this strong willed child? I'm all ears...

JJ'sMom, thanks for the idea on boo-hooing about missing the "big girl." I will definitely try that one. I'm trying very hard to figure out the messages we are sending her that make her want to remain a baby.

You'll fit right in at my house!

DS3 has been trying out various ways to *slide* bathroom humor into mealtime conversations. "Toilet Talk" isn't acceptable in our house during mealtimes. So, he's been trying various tacticts like telling a story about a train that "toot-toots" all the way home, etc. That explains why he and his sister spent an hour giggling over the thesaurus the other day. They are also working to combine words into a sort of code so they can weave words into the conversation that might otherwise not be allowed. "Furt" is one example. An example of the word used in a sentence would be, "At the park the other day, some kid did a furt". In fact my kids used that sentence quite a bit at the dinner table the other night, giggling often, until finally DH and I asked them what it meant. We waited until after dinner for the answer per their request.

Turns out that "furt" is short hand for "fruit fart". As DD explained it it's when a person "passes gas" and leaves "a mess" ..."like when you squeeze a grape". She didn't use the word fart in her definition, because "Mom, it's dumb to define something by using it's own name. I don't know why people do that. It's not helpful at all!"

I have two with strong wills DD8 and DD4. I'm certainly not an expert since the school did most of the work; however, we had problems with transition to home with both girls. With DD8 it was a pure fight, kicking, screaming to put her on the potty. We finally took the pullups and she had some accidents and then it was good. With DD4 we didn't have kicking and screaming, she just wouldn't go potty often for us at home, she'd wait for about 5 minutes after trying and then go in the pullup. The added bonus with her was that instead of merely takign the pullups away we had to hide them where she could not get them otherwise she would go put one on herself to go potty. If I recall this was all +/-3 yo. I don't remember exactly, CRS on dates.....Also, DD4 was pretty stubborn in holding #2 for the hope of finding a pullup, luckily no infections

(groan) I'm so sorry to read this! Must have been hard. It does make me feel better, though. I'd bet you a dollar our DD would be using the potty at school and not at home, too.

I think she's just determined to be in control of exactly when and how she is a baby and when and how she is a big girl. It's kind of fascinating to watch, once I stand back and stop feeling emotional about it, like I'm failing.

Now we are doing a lot of role playing with her baby dolls, and I'm making sure she knows how to dress and undress herself, thanks to suggestions from this thread. We are also having conversations about what a baby is able to do compared with a big girl. Big girls, for example, have teeth to eat jelly beans after they use the potty, unlike babies. That makes the gears turn in her head, lol.

As for the "furt" ... DH and I have a few other choice terms for that. In our household, the F word for gas is banned, in favor of the word "gas" for both ends of the digestive tube. I'm hoping that takes the forbidden-fruitishness out of using it - for awhile at least.

Thanks, all. You can't imagine how often I think of your stories as I am changing my DD's diapers. lol

So it is all about power! DS3 *can* use the potty. He knows perfectly well when he needs to go and can, even, do it all by himself. (He doesn't even need a step stool!) He proved it this weekend. Not one accident while visiting his grandparents for a full day. Now, at home, is a whole other story. I asked him, today, why didn't he use the potty. He looked me in the eye, shrugged, said "What for?" and laughed.

Can you believe it? "What for?"

HEH!

I'd start calling it the What-for instead of the toilet!!

When DD was potty was about 2 and we were potty training she refused to stop playing to use the toilet. DH was the stay at home parent at the time, so I figured they ahd gotten some thing to work for her to use the toilet while I was at work, until one Saturday when we were arguing with her about the body's need to use the toilet. She then informaed us that it was ok, she had already used the toilet and had gone number 2 and was all set! Wow, we thought this is great, maybe our fights are over. DH went into her room, where she was playing to congratulate her for going without being asked to etc when all of the sudden he starts yelling at her and she starts crying - She had indeed gone number 2 in the toilet - her dolls' play toilet! right there in the middle of her room. (It's funny now, but DH was not amused at the time.)

we had ds7 all trained at 2.5 (I thought)! It was great, I remember the day, my DH came home and I was so happy, "He's trained", I whispered. It had been raining and thundering all day.

Well, DS went on the potty all proud wanted to show off to DH..... and wouldn't you know the minute he sat on the potty a huge clap of thunder hit outside with flashy lightening. He would go near the potty for weeks!

So somewhere are 3.5 he was actually trained.....lol

Poor kid! This reminds me of a friend's kid who was finally potty trained when they went somewhere that had automatic flushing toilets. The toilet flushed while she was on it, so she refused to go anywhere but at home for about a year. Note: you can stick a post-it note or a little bit of toilet paper over the "eye" so that it won't automatically flush. Highly recommended for those newly potty-trained kids!