A 3-Year-Old Refuses To Be Toilet Trained, And The Daycare Program Will Not Take Him. What Should A Parent Do?

July 1, 2009— -- Question: A 3-year-old refuses to be toilet trained, and the daycare program will not take a child who is not potty trained. What should a parent do?

Answer: It's important to determine if your child is ready for potty training because if you push them too early you may actually create a situation where potty training is more difficult or even worse you may create a child who becomes resistant to potty training for months. Most often the signs of readiness for potty training emerge somewhere between 18 months and three years and these are signs such as: the child being able to be dry for more than two hours, having regular bowel movements, being cooperative and willing to follow instructions and not being comfortable in wet or soiled diapers.

Once you determine that your child is ready for potty training the most important thing to do is to be positive -- giving them positive feedback, allowing them to participate when you change them from their wet or soiled clothing and at some point actually moving them to real underwear or big girl or big boy underwear which they are much more likely not to want to wet. In the end if you're patient and consistent your child will be potty trained.