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I was wondering if anybody would have any advice on how to get my 6 year old daughter to start potty training. I have tried in the past when she was younger but she would refuse to the toilet and would rather go in her diaper. At the time I thought it was just a phase but she never grew out of it and still uses her diaper during the day time for both needs.if anybody has any advice or tips on how to get her to actually start potty training that would be amazing thank you.

Edit: So I've tried doing a reward system with her and taking her to the toilet every hour but she just doesn't want to use the bathroom no matter what. I have also taken her to see multiple doctors but they say there is nothing physically wrong with her. The only answer I actually got was from a psychologist I took her to but they just told me that she was a late bloomer and might need more time.

When asked, she's said that she prefers diapers because then she doesn't have to stop what she's doing to go. Her school has been okay with the situation this year, as she's not the only one, but said next year it could become a problem.

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  • Hi! Welcome to the site. You'll get better answers if you can provide some information on what you've tried in the past and why it didn't work - especially on urination; while it's not totally uncommon for children to have trouble with their stool by six, it's fairly uncommon to not have potty trained with regards to urine at this age - if nothing else it's uncomfortable to walk around in a wet diaper! Also, if you've talked to your doctor let us know what they think - it's possible this is a medical issue.
    – Joe
    Commented Jul 2, 2020 at 14:58
  • I've also had some family members suggest to me to just take away her diapers but I'm not sure if that's the best way to go about this.
    – Katlyn
    Commented Jul 2, 2020 at 20:59
  • I'd edit that into the question if I were you - best place for details like that. I'd also mention what she says when you talk to her about it - she's certainly old enough to speak for herself as to why she wants to use diapers. Does she go to school? What does the school think?
    – Joe
    Commented Jul 2, 2020 at 21:02
  • Thanks I've added it now and she just tells me that she thinks her diapers are better because she doesn't have to stop what she's doing. And yes she does go to school in diapers. The school doesn't think to much of it at the moment since there are a few other children with potty issues but they told me that this could become a problem if this carries over to the next year.
    – Katlyn
    Commented Jul 2, 2020 at 21:19
  • Hah - sometimes I wish I could do the same! We've all wished for the astronaut suit system before I'm sure... .
    – Joe
    Commented Jul 2, 2020 at 21:23

2 Answers 2

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The obvious answer is to stop buying diapers. Undies only. If she messes her undies, she changes clothes, and rinses the dirty ones. You don't get mad or upset, you just present this as a natural consequence of peeing in her clothes. She'll realize pretty quick that stopping to tinkle is better than stopping to clean up a mess.

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Taking the diapers away is a great suggestion so I would start with that, but I want to offer a next step and slightly more extreme option if she still messes her underwear and it doesn't seem to bother her (like with our stubborn son..)

Granted our son was just shy of 4 years old and not 6, but we ended up finally taking his pants and underwear off and not putting them back on when we noticed him acting like he needed to go. Our fear was that either he would just go on the floor, or that he would make himself constipated by holding it in but neither of those happened.

We did this for a couple of weeks to 'force' him to use the potty and gain some confidence in it and then put underwear back on. We also mixed in incentives. He loves hotwheels so we bought a bunch and taped them to the mirror so he would get to pick one out when he used the potty.

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