No!

Ahhh the joys of having a 2-yr-old in the home, how I missed them! Tantrums at the slightest disappointments, waking during the middle of the night, and the late late night, and the so very early morning, and 30 min before the alarm goes off, refusing to eat, refusing to dress, suddenly developing "hearing loss," the ability to make any room in the house look like a tornado has blown through in a mere 10 seconds, and my absolute favorite- when they answer every question with "NO!!"


I did not forget about potty training, this is the topic Sydni says "no!" to the most. I have waffled on which potty training technique to use and settled with the "no technique at all let them do it themselves" technique. I know a few people who have done it this way and had great success. The appeal is overwhelming- no sticker charts, no constant trips to the bathroom, no need to have goodies around the house all the time, you just wait until they are ready and they just suddenly start doing it one day. I introduced the whole potty scene when Sydni was a little over 2-yr-old. Just showed her the seat gave her the basics, no pressure. We read "No More Diapers" practically every night and Sydni tells me she wants to say good-bye to her diapers in the morning, but every morning when I ask if she's ready the reply is the same, "NO!!!" I just kept telling myself, no big deal! She's young, she'll show interest when she's ready. Sydni will be 3 in October, and she still has absolutely no desire to go potty. I'm not even sure she is truly aware of what goes on down there. She was excited about wearing panties and even went all day (twice) wearing them without an accident. She has never gone potty anywhere but in her diaper. She's hopped up on the toilet all excited about going, but then hops right off to wash her hands. I've really tried my best not to pressure her in to this because I didn't want a battle of wills, but am I being too relaxed? Where am I going wrong? I really didn't think it was possible to fail at this non-technique, but some how I have managed it. Maybe it's just the environment here, I started babysitting for my friend recently. She has two little girls one is 6 mo younger than Sydni and the other is 2 months old. The 2-yr-old Hannah, is potty trained, but won't go potty for me, even with the special Dora seat and chocolate rewards. Maybe it's me! I don't know. Potty training was a nightmare with Julia too. She wanted to at 17-mo though, so I thought this time around if the child were older it would be easier. Any potty experts out there? Any help at all??? I'm open to all advice/encouragement!