Dear Adina,
We have a problem with our 4 year old. We need help getting her out of the bathroom in a decent amount of time. I fully understand that potty training is a very sensitive issue for children so we’ve treaded carefully. Our daughter finally has been potty trained for about 7-8 months now, (despite my fears that she just might be that first one to high school in a diaper!) … but… we can literally all finish dinner (including our 2 yr old) by the time she is done in there! We’ve given up on waiting for her but… what should we be doing? Limit-setting just gets us frustrated because it doesn’t seem to work and we HAVE to walk away after a while if we don’t want to stand there scolding her… and we really don’t want to do that.
Thank you so much for your question.
I know it is frustrating to have a child take her time on the potty but she might need that time. She is just trying to figure things out. Kids that age have a fascination with bathrooms and the potty.
You also need to know that the more you argue with her the more she will stay put. Some kids are like that.
At 4 years she can be in the bathroom herself. Give her a book to read and some toys to play with and leave her to do her thing. You might see that once you stop fighting with her, give it at least a week, she might not be so interested in staying in there so long.
If she continues to hog the bathroom, just know that she will join the ranks of a large group of people, many of my family members are included, who enjoy their time in the bathroom and find it the most relaxing room in the house.
I hope this helps,
Good Luck,
Adina