What is the next step to pottying on her own?

[beadmama]

Dd is almost 21 months and has been ECd since 3 months and we do pretty well with it as long as she is not having a food reaction. She is to the point that she will go to her potty, sit on it and go when she has no diaper on most of the time. The problem is it is now cold and so she is in pants, diaper cover and diaper so she sits on the potty but goes in her diaper. The connection is definitely there but what is the best way to teach her how to pull down her pants and undies if we move to that next level? She won't wear legs anymore as they are to tight and she has to have on pants as we have no heat at home.

So how do we move from EC to pottying on her own and being able to pull down pants and undies? She does not always come and tell me she has to go she just goes and sits on her potty. I work at home so we are not always in the same room.

Any tips or ideas?

[lisavark]

My daughter is also 21 months and just pulled her pants down by herself for the first time yesterday. It took me completely by surprise as she had never really tried to do that before. But she had been wearing pants, and she went in the other room, and then she came back naked. So I started encouraging her to do it in order to go potty. She LOVES undressing herself now but still wants help with getting dressed.

However, I didn't encourage that--it just came out of the blue--so I'm not sure how to help you. One idea for you in the meantime is to get a couple pairs of split crotch pants, or even cut the seam on a couple of her pants to make them into split crotch pants. Then she can just go sit on the potty and the pants will naturally open so there's a hole for her to pee through.

[pixiepunk]

i agree about the split crotch pants. those might help. lots of online tutorials for making them yourself, i've never done it but if you sew at all the patterns look super easy.

my LO is 19 months and when i put her in a pair of undies and pants with elastic waist she can generally get them off by herself, and she usually does. we've been doing the undies/elastic waist pants at home for several months now and she's gotten very proficient at removing them whenever she wants to, she often disappears and comes back much less clothed than she was a minute or two before she can take her shirt off too, the little stinker, and she much prefers to be naked. so i would say to try undies and elastic waist pants and i'm sure she'll get the hang of it very quickly. if she sits down in the pants, most of the pee will end up in the potty anyway, and then just change the pants and remind her that we pull down our pants before we pee. she'll get the hang of it.

having said that, though, i prefer that she tell me when she needs to go at this point, rather than take herself, because she might be able to pee on her own but she's not quite up to wiping effectively (i do let her wipe herself, but only after i've done so... so she's getting practice but i don't have to worry about irritation from pee). so i encourage her to holler "pee!" or come get me when she has to go. in fact i usually keep the bathroom door closed so that she does come and get me (well, and because she likes to drop things in the toilet sometimes ). and while she is fairly regular in terms of poo, sometimes she surprises me with one, and she's not good at all yet with wiping her bottom. so i feel the need to supervise for a while yet. honestly my older two were at least 3 yo before i felt they could handle going to the potty mostly on their own. and even then, DD1 got lazy about wiping and ended up with some irritation at one point and DS who is now almost 4.5 still sometimes asks for help with a messy poo. so i don't really have any delusions about her being truly independent in that area for a long time. i'm just happy that she tells me whenever she needs to go.