Getting started Potty Training

Nichole - posted on 06/10/2009

It's more about training yourself! Keep the potty accessible and put them on it regularly. Just don't push it. It should never be forced.

Rachael - posted on 06/09/2009

Thanx for this thread! My daughter is nearly 15mnths. I see no harm in giving it a go for all the advice thats been given. Saying that i can aso see that she may not fully understand till shes a bit older :) Even just to familiarise her with the toilet or potty sounds like a good idea to me.

Mschelseamac - posted on 06/09/2009

I've tried with my Son he was born March 27/08. I've know from 2 months when he's needed to go poopies because he's had really bad constipation to the point of tearing and fears going #2 now :( He's 14months and still when he knows he needs to #2 he freezes and looks horrified or even cries for me to hold him.

Since he clearly shows when he needs to go I've tried putting him on the potty when he freezes up but that just makes matter worse and he starts freaking out. Really as great as it would be to be rid of diapers I think it's going to be awhile before he has the confidence to. They're only kids once and I think society puts waaay too much pressure on them to grow up so quickly anymore before they're ready.



I AGREE with you on the 3+ year olds who aren't potty trained though! At that point it's ridiculous!

Richelle - posted on 06/09/2009

Thankyou all so much! Im taking it all in keep it comin!

Elizabeth - posted on 06/09/2009

Potty training is a controvercial subject for most. Personally, I have started training my 15 month old. There was actually an article on this, in my local paper. They suggest potty times. If your child normally poops around the same time of the day, aim for that time ie: after a meal. But ya, before and after their nap, before and or after meals, periodically during the day. Eventually you will catch them at the right moment and in time it will become a habit for them. Make it fun, turn it into a parade of cheering when they do something. I use it as an opportunity to read with my son and teach him words, using his books and stuff. My personal goal for right now is to poop train my son, if I can get him to use the pot to poop things will be easier on me since he hates changing his diaper.

Good luck!

Cheryl - posted on 06/04/2009

when she is ready youll know! i started my daughter when she could walk without falling alot. we started with sitting on the potty before going into the bath before bed and sitting on the potty whenever mommy goes. she got the hang of it really quick and all i did was make her comfortable. she isnt compleatly potty traind yet but she will let me know when she is wet my grabbing at herself or she will bang on my leg untill i follow her into the bathroom and help her sit on the potty. i think at this point i just need to train MYSELF to take her every hour or so.

Teresa - posted on 05/30/2009

I was wrong. I wouldn't (and still will not) actually try to potty train at this age, but my son pooped in the potty last night!!!! Wow!

Karon - posted on 05/30/2009

i am not even trying yet, they are too young , most babies this age cant even say wee and poo never mind telling us when they need to go.
i read in a book that they dont understand the need to wee with actually doing it untill they are around two year old. i started melissa when she was two and it went perfectly, by two and a half she was dry day and night ever since

Anna - posted on 05/28/2009

My dd is telling me before she actually does poop and say wet when she has gone pee. My ds who is now 3 did not start verbalizing this until age 2. I am starting to train her this week in real undies. I agree that pull ups are just expensive diapers, they wick away the moisture so they don't get the "wet" feeling. We are on day 3 and so far she is obviously still wetting her undies, but she is pooping on the potty 1x per day and peeing up to 4x daily. It is a process, so be patient. I am going to try for 3 weeks and if it doesn't work out, I am going to hold off another 4 months. At this point, I am not quite certain whether or not she has developed the muscle that controls bladder function yet. But it's worth a try! I helped my dd learn to say "poop" everytime I changed a messy diaper I repeated teh word and just kept up w/ the repetition and whenever I caught her squating /grunting. I also taught her the word "wet" by letting her touch things that were wet, eg. water in the bath, running water, etc. Then teaching her the word dry. All our little one's will get there with patience, repetition/consistency and kind guidance. Good Luck to you!

Louise - posted on 05/27/2009

I had my third son in March 2008. With my first two boys (who are now 5 and 3) I waited till they indicated to me that they were ready. I always made sure the potty was around and familiar to them from a younger age, but at about 18 months they would actually tell me that they wanted to go, find the potty, and try to take off their nappies. Until about 2 years of age they were not fans of the big toilet, but happy to use the potty. Because my kids were ready, training was no effort at all, with very few accidents. I think that might be the secret. Good luck!

Teresa - posted on 05/27/2009

I should have said that it is too young for MOST kids. :) Some kids do know what's going on, but 'typically' they don't start to have a clue til at least 18 months. :) And for my girls... they had to be naked on their bottoms or they would pee. Didn't matter what bottoms they had (diaper, pull up, panties) they would pee in it. For the first several months anyway, but we took it really slow.

Amber - posted on 05/27/2009

My son was born March 18th, 2008 and just recently I've been thinking of potty training. I know it's awfully young these days, in our culture, but for the most part, he seems to know when it'll happen. The past week, after all the water has emptied from the tub, he squats down, touches his penis just a sec, and goes......I think it's worth trying! For those w/ girls - my mom swears by dresses and big girl underpants for faster training. She had 4 g, 2b. Good Luck!

Ally - posted on 05/26/2009

I had thought about it ...then I was reading a book about the duggars (the ones with 18 kids on tlc) and the mom said she never starts anymore until the kids can take their pants on and off by themselves and climb up on the "big potty" because otherwise you are bound to have a lot more accidents. She said if you wait until those milestones are reached it usually doesn't take long at all and they will probably be potty trained about the same time as all the "early starters" but with a lot less time and energy and stress involved. that seemed to make sense to me so we will be waiting a while longer.

Teresa - posted on 05/26/2009

IMO they are way too young. We spend a lot of time around a couple of 2 year old boys that are potty training right now. Because of that my son really likes to sit on the toilet, but he has NO idea what he is doing. When I started w/ my girls they were a few months older than this and I started in a very similar way to what Sarah has mentioned.... it took us over a year before they were consistently dry during the day. They did fully poop train by 2 though. That was nice.

Sarah - posted on 05/26/2009

I have started slowly potty training and I truly believe they are a little too young to tell us when they need to go. So what has worked for me is just getting my son to go to the bathroom on the potty. I take him there right after he wakes up from naps, in the morning and then like every 45 mins to an hour after that. This way he gets used to going to the potty and sitting on it. When I get the timing down right and he goes in the potty I make this HUGE deal about it. I clap, and say, "Good boy!" I just keep going so he knows he did someone WONDERFUL! This makes them want to do it again. I looked into the books and such and took bits and pieces out of them and this is what works for me. I wish you all the luck!! I am happy to see other moms that are potty training at this age. I hate seeing children that are like 3 and 4 not potty trained. I hope this helps. :)

Shaunta - posted on 05/20/2009

Good question. My daughter is 14 months old, too & I am playing around with the idea of potty training soon. Can't wait to see the advice!