Almost 3-year-old doesn't want to potty train

[Maria101]

My daughter showed signs of 'being ready' for potty training quite early. Just after her first birthday she would hide to have a poo and well before her second birthday she would say she needed to wee. So I got a potty and kept it all quite casual - she used it once or twice and I congratulated her lots. But one day she wet herself and got really upset so I left it for a while. Then we went through a stressful house move - the chain fell through twice so we only moved last month. In the long lead up to the move people kept telling me to potty train her once we'd got to the new house, otherwise it would be too much for her. Anyway, we're now in the new house and once we got settled I decided to try it again but she got a tummy bug. She's now over it and I want to try properly as she's three in June, but she's taken ten steps backwards. She's totally against wearing her Peppa Pig/fairy knickers (she used to love trying them on), her potty (ditto, she used to be happy sitting on it) and the toilet (again, she would sit on it happily six months ago even though she rarely weed on it, but now hates it).

She's very strong willed & when I casually say, 'Let's sit on the toilet darling' she says 'No' very firmly. I always let her watch me wee and she loves hearing about the 'tinkle fairy' (the noise it makes!), but refuses to try herself. I don't want to push it as I've heard this makes it worse, but I'm very aware all her friends and similar aged cousin are either potty trained or training and I want to crack it. Have I left it too late? Any advice? x

[tethersend]

DD1 was like this.

A couple of months after her third birthday, she can downstairs one morning and said "I think I'm going to wee in the potty now", and that was it. No accidents, no training as such, she just decided she was ready. Poos followed about a month later- up up until then she used to ask to put a nappy on to poo in. Then she just decided she was ready to do them on the potty too.

I have no idea how to potty train DD2

[InkleWinkle]

No advice sadly but I would like to benefit from others wisdom too! (DD2 2.5 "no toilet thank you")

[strawberrie]

Similar story to Tethersend here. My DD met most of her milestones early, yet refused to engage in potty training, we had a potty around from the age of 2.5 and she would merrily chat away about how big girls use the loo, wear pretty pants and get a jelly bean if they do a wee in the toilet ( we had a jar sitting on the bathroom shelf in preparation!). But she wouldn't use the loo. If pressed she would say 'I'll do it when I'm 3"

6 days after her 3rd birthday I was changing her nappy at lunchtime and she asked for pants. She didn't quite make it to the potty in time the first time, and had one accident the next day, and that was it. She has literally never had a poo accident.

It did really stress me out, and beforehand I simply couldn't envisage what was going to change to make her willing to toilet train but she just decided she was ready. I'm hoping DS will be similar and definitely don't plan to push it on him before the age of 3.