The most successful trick I found for potty training was letting my child choose for herself. Over the summer, when we weren't going anywhere too often (other than the pool), and would mostly play in the backyard close to home, I would let her choose whether she wanted a diaper or panties. I was never one to let her roam bare bottomed around the backyard, although I've heard mixed results on that trick. Instead, every morning, I'd hold up a diaper and a pair of cotton panties, and would let her pick.
In the beginning I think it was the novelty of cotton panties that won out. Then eventually it was the comfort, free feeling, and the fact that she was keeping them dry. Because boy did she hate when they got wet! Which was exactly my hope - by letting her have the power and freedom to make the choice, coupled with her desire to stay dry, she was potty training herself and happy about it. Yay!
It was a long process, but because it was relatively passive, I didn't notice the time going by. It wasn't until she started preschool and the booklet said, "please keep your child in a diaper until they have gone 3 days without an accident." Because I couldn't remember if we'd had an accident or not, I put her in a diaper that first day. But when I went to pick her up and her diaper was dry, and her teachers were applauding her initiative of going to the bathroom, I switched her to panties again.
For a couple of days I still gave her the choice, but eventually I stopped offering a diaper and just offered panties instead. By then she didn't notice and happily puts on panties every morning. It was about the only thing that I can say I've done successfully when it comes to potty training. And unfortunately I haven't yet figured out the secret to my success in order to duplicate it on other matters. Maybe someday.
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