How to potty train a 4-year-old?

My suggestion is to find & note her natural toilet patterns throughout the day (esp in relation to time after last drinks or meals etc) and around those times bring your chair into toilet area and read her a book she loves, until the business is done, to make the experience positive, rewarding & regular. Or alternatively, give her a book or puzzle to do while she is on the loo.

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The way I did it, it worked with a few accidents but here it is. The first thing you do before she put her feet on the floor is to carry her to her potty chair and put her on it. After that take her to the potty every 2 hours throughout the day. Let her see you sitting on the toilet without fussing at her. Talk to her and tell her what you are doing. No spanking or aggressive behavior each time will help the process. Good luck.

Make sure she is evaluated by a doctor.

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Keep using positive reinforcement and when her body is ready she will.

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Our daycare lady had a bell on back of toliet and used mini M &Ms as a treat. Our last child we used a poster board drew a giant toliet and used a sticker that thry picked out everytime he used potty along with a mini m&m.
Oldest child every morning she woke up off with diaper, sippy cup and a book in living room (potty chair can be any where) sitting on potty til she went.

Start with potty chair before just jumping to big toilet.
Potty chair can be in any room.
Allow child to read a book or watch tv.
Run water to spark the urge to pee.
Reward for using potty every time.

Usually this is about the child needing some kind of control on decisions. I’m not saying that in a bad way. Let her make a choice on what to wear that day. Offer 2 different options. Then maybe she will potty train because she gets to choose what outfit to wear.

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I told my child they couldn’t be 4 if they didn’t use the potty… :woman_shrugging: 4 yr olds are big kids… they cannot be a big kid and need diapers, therefore child cannot be 4… It worked. My child immediately started using potty and never had an accident.

Pray and ask GOD to help you

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My first kid was trained at daycare. My second kid was not trained. She just started doing it on her own.

My granddaughter got a mini mouse potty and a potty watch. It was like night and day. She’s very excited and now loves to use the potty. She also has a sticker chart
Try and keep it a fun positive experience
Accidents are bound to happen
She also loves picking out her own big girl panties and her outfit for the day

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Every kid is different. Can she express why she won’t go in the toilet? Is she afraid?

Don’t stress it they will go when they are ready

I never used stickers or prizes I just have my daughter go when I do and most of the time she does but to calm your nerves a little my youngest brothers weren’t potty trained till 4 and neither was I lol sometimes it takes some kids longer to catch on

Some kids just take longer my daughter was trained just before school after her 4th birthday. Hang in there

Also my son is 3 and has no ambition to go on the potty he won’t even tell us when he has to pee yet I’m sacred for him tho because he goes to school I Sept and won’t be 4 till December so he’s gunna be a little bit behind the rest

I used a special potty training watch with my daughter. I set it so it would go off every hr & then I would say time for a wee & I would sit her on the toilet regardless of whether she said she needed to go or not. A few weeks of this & it worked

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When getting a toy / treat didn’t work for my son, I got a large glass bowl / jar and set it on the kitchen counter and anytime he didn’t go in the potty he had to pick one of his toys to put in the bowl. He couldn’t have it back until he went in the potty. It took him giving up 2 matchbox cars and he was trained.

(This was after trying everything else and we communicated through the entire process. It took FOREVER for him to choose which car went in the bowl. But he was big and did it. Then he’d walk through the kitchen and see it and tell me when he used the potty he could get it back… he did and he did).

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I wish I could help… but I had to bribe my son to use the potty and - if worked.

I would piss & poop everywhere if you left me naked too !!! I never gave my kids any treats if they peed or pooped at 2 yrs old on their potty. I clapped & hugged them & they did real well. Your 4 yr old really should have been trained a while ago. But I wouldn’t leave her naked, Put pull ups on her & she will not like to feel the wet & poop against her…hopefully. And she will start using the potty, Also let her see you do it.

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I went through the same thing with my daughter. We did a chart with stickers and once she filled up a row she got a “big prize” like a $10 toy from Walmart. But during the week we had a treasure box (filled with candy and dollar tree toys) if she went pee she got to pick one thing and if she went poo she got to pick two things. I swear 30 minutes later she went and took a poop on the toilet picked a race car and a sucker got to put a sticker up on her chart and something clicked inside her head. Never even had to refill the treasure box by the time she got to the end of it I put a nice toy in there she really wanted with a card that said “congratulations you’re fully potty trained now” and all that jazz. That with A LOT of praise for using the toilet went really far for us.

Dress it up like a throne, let her be her fav character BUT she has to use her throne to make any decisions. So make up some “questions” and send her in there to “think” about the answers every 20/30 minutes. Set a timer to make her sit for 5 minutes or so.

Sit her on the potty every 30 minutes after a meal/snack. Give her a book (one she can ONLY read on the potty) if she goes potty give her lots of praise and hugs. Stay consistent.

My 3 year old I had to fine show him big boys get tablets and electronics not babies. And a criteria for being a big boy is going on the potty. He picked it up in a week. I didn’t give in. He knew when he was just too busy playing on his games to go to the bathroom.

She might just not be ready to and that’s ok my daughter was potty trained by 3 and I honestly don’t even know how that happened one day I gave her undies with her favorite character and told her to keep them dry and she did :woman_shrugging:t4: on the other hand my son didn’t get the hang of it as much as I tried to do rewards and naked time making it “fun” he just didn’t would have accidents everyday so I gave up and went back to diapers cuz he clearly wasn’t ready and it was stressing me and him out… tried again when he turned 5 and it went a little better sat him down every 20 min and had a mini celebration after every pee or poo till he eventually just started going on his own when he needed to

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Damn naked for hours !?

One day my daughter was naked after a bath and she asked for a diaper to pee in. I said nah girl let’s go to the potty. The rest was history

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My son was a different story. He absolutely refused. I eventually made him try to change his own poopy diaper. After he made a mess and needed a shower I explained to him that big boys who don’t want poop on them use the potty.

My 3 year old daughter is the same way

Put a nappy back on her and stop pressuring her
She is not ready and won’t be if you continue like this

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Watch tips from Super Nanny Jo Frost. She is incredible. The only way her techniques work is if you stick to all her steps. But check her. She’s amazing

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Potty watch on Amazon

Don’t feel bad my 3yo refuses… He will scream like he is terrified and I don’t want to scar him. I have tried any and every trick in the book. My older 2 potty trained basically instantly.

Don’t force her! I know it’s frustrating. My daughter will be 4 in September and we’re at a standstill. The more you force it, the more scared and reluctant she will be.

When I had to bring my newborn baby to the doctor, I brought my 2 1/2 year old boy to a babysitter. I told him that she would have to change his diapers. He decided right then and there that he’d rather use the potty!! He never wanted diapers again!

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Oh crap potty training

There’s a book, Facebook page, YouTube videos etc

Get pee doll put it on potty

Im going to take a wild guess here and presume she is not in a creche? :relaxed: my daughter was the same untill she saw her friends do it and wala one day she just started going by herself. Dont pressure her though - it will make her scared and then it will take way more longer. Mine is still in a sleeping pants nappy though. I havent mastered that skill yet​:woman_facepalming:t2: she just turned 5​:relaxed: im just leaving it until her nappies is dry at least 4 nights in a row. My daughter loves drinking water or tea before bed so i wont tell her she cant have that just because im too scared she is going to wet the bed​:pensive:

sometimes a child’s bladder develops a bit slower.

Stop giving out rewards for things they should be doing period. Stop pushing it if she’s screaming and crying, she’s not ready and you’re gonna make it worse

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I taught my son who also was a problem. He did not like looking down into the toilet bowl so I got some toys,mini cars,trucks,etc and put them on the back on top of the water closet,put him on the toilet backwards,facing the new toys and voila,it worked. No new toys until you sit on the toilet and peed or pooped. Stand ur ground he crying and fits are a way of training you not the other way around. Stick to your guns and tell them you stink,peeee! Didn’t like that!

Talk to pediatrician
Time when she wets. Is there a pattern. Only put her on the toilet a few minutes before this. Maybe it’s where the potty chair is. Read potty books to her

I’m sorry all kids are different but 4 is beyond old enough to be using the potty. With that being said I have 4 (3 girls and a boy) all were potty trained by 2! I’ll be the bad guy here…definitely force her. She’s too old to be in diapers! Some tips…Don’t let her drink anything after 6 and stick to it. Even if she says she doesn’t need to go take her frequently, sit her on the potty and turn the sink water on. Be very consistent! If she has a training potty you go pee while she’s on hers.

Talk to her about being a big girl and going to school. Remind her babies wear diapers and those aren’t allowed at school. My grandson 4 before he started going to the bathroom. My daughter got him one the the pee turtles you hang on a wall for boys. She started taking him every hour to make him try. Now he goes on his own. But he also non verbal so we keep checking with him. He does understand us mostly. He is 4 1/2 now and starts PreK in August.

Please, do not listen to the person that told you to force your child to become potty trained. You can not physically force someone’s body to do something that its not fully developed and ready to do. If so, you’re going to cause more damage than good. All kids are different… your child will do it when they’re ready. Forcing is going to prolong it. Do not spank her. Do not yell at her. Reassure her that she will get the hang of it in time.