when is the best time to potty train??

Hendyne - posted on 08/18/2010

My daughter is going to be on the 11th of sept. and I've been working with her since she has been 13mths. She's been doing good so far. I just need to test her out on panties. She is now able to tell me when she wees and poops in her pants =(...she is showing an effort to tell me when she has to go. Some days are better than others.
Like Jennifer Smith stated.

Ellen - posted on 08/14/2010

Sounds like you're ready & she's ready, so give it a 'go'! Our 22m. old is what I am calling officially 'potty trained' after just over a month. This is after successfully completing 2 'leak-free' days of air travel, and not having had a leak at home or at daycare for weeks. Actually, she never had a leak at daycare, so that might help reassure your partner's mother. :) I was able to start when I had a long weekend to be at home with her, and she had a leak on day 2 while we were out, and just a couple other leaks the next 2 days. I agree with all the good advice about putting her on the pot as soon as she wakes up, etc. She probably actually already goes at regular times, & it'll be obvious when once she's out of the diaper. That way you're not stuck asking her to sit on the potty every 30 min or something. Honestly, my daughter was going #1 & #2 in the pot since 8 months because we notice she would wake up from nap dry, and was going #2 the same time every day. I'm calling her 'officially' trained now b/c she tells us when she has to go and is working on getting her pants on and off by herself. We are also starting to leave off the diaper at night (my last concern!) because she's only been wet in the morning about 3 times since we ditched the diapers during the day just over a month ago. My DD sometimes goes as much as 6xs/day and occasionally as few as 3xs if she's been stubborn about drinking enough.
The book that helped us most: "Diaper-Free Before 3: The Healthier Way to Toilet Train and Help Your Child Out of Diapers Sooner" by Jill M. Lekovic. Good luck!

Erika - posted on 08/13/2010

It depends on the child. I trained both of my first 2 boys at around 2 1/2 and didn't have much trouble at all so that is my plan for my third who will be 2 on 9/30. Usually when they start waking up dry in the am you know they are ready. I have never trained a girl so that may be different. Good luck!

Christina - posted on 08/11/2010

Courtney: If she tends to go around the same time everyday, after having a drink or 15 minues after eating, take her to the potty then. If you make it before she goes then she'll go in the potty and you can praise or reward her for that. She might eventually decide that she enjoys that and want to go there on her own.

Corrina - posted on 08/10/2010

My son will be 2 on the 2nd! I am so happy to say he is pottty trained! We used the 3 day potty training method. I will say it took about a week, not 3 days but we followed the program to a T and it worked great for us! Not even 2 and 100% potty trained!!!

Courtney - posted on 08/09/2010

My daughter will be 2 the 12th of Sept..she takes her diaper off all the time..tells me when she is wet or pooped..but when she takes her diaper off i take to sit on the potty but she dont go..she just wants to wipe herself..she has that part down..but its the concept of going pee and poop in the potty..i tell her no wiping til she goes pee and she laughs and gets down off the potty...is she ready to be potty trained and whats the best way to get her to pee and poop in the potty with her already taking her diaper off

Jeanette - posted on 08/08/2010

My Mom's advice to me (And it was wildly successful!) was to start off potty training by waking my daughter up in the morning and sitting her directly on her potty. Everyone has to pee when they first wake up. The key is to get her onto the potty before she has a chance to relieve herself in her diaper. Then cheer and reward the heck out of her. This should start out each day with a success and demonstration of what behavior you are looking for throughout the day. Remember, for this to work you have to wake her up. If you wait for her to alert you that she is awake, she will have already peed in her diaper.

And a kids' book about using the potty can't hurt either. :)

Good luck!!

Jaime - posted on 08/03/2010

cheers i think im gonna start the beginning ov sept!! weve got a busy couple ov weekends ahead so sont wanna confuse her!!
my partners mum has her while im at work which is y i think im a bit more worried than if she was in a nursary seen as tho she didnt potty train her youngest untill he was nearly 4 so panic incase she takes the same attitude with olivia!! thanks xxxxxxxx

Jennifer - posted on 08/03/2010

now is a great time to start. If you want the quick and eas(ier) then I would pick 3 FULL days of having her in just underwear and letting her wee on herself, when she starts to go rush her to the toilet. Does she hide when she goes poo? when you see her get quiet or hide rush her to the toilet. Give her lots of praise, hugs and kisses when she does a good job. If she doesn't make it, then show her where to go and tell her that she needs to tell you when she has to go potty. Eventually she will figure it out. I bought about 20 pairs of underwear. The first day of cotton underwear, just in the first hour in the morning I went through 6 pairs as they are so used to just going in their diaper, as time goes on they start to use their PC muscle to stop the urine. The baby will start to go and then catch them selves and when you rush them to the toilet they will finish and then you give them LOTS of praise. This is a marathon not a sprint..some toddlers will be very successful really quick and some like my daughter will take forever to figure it out, so you just have to stay positive and know that this won't be forever. Oh and lots of books for poo training. Make it fun for them...and it is a great way to get in a teaching lesson.



I am on the SLOW potty training movement as I don't have the patients to do a FULL 3 days, So it seems to be more successful for me and less frustrating, (some days =) ) if I do it in stages. I started getting Mikayla used to going into the toilet by putting her on after she wakes up from a sleep, night night time or naps. but you have to be right there to take her when she JUST wakes up, otherwise she will go in her diaper. I needed a crutch and bought pull ups and call them big underwear, I use cotton underwear when we are home and allow her to have accidents, when we are out I put pull up on and when she goes to sleep. I have no patience for changing sheets in the middle of the night.



At night I give her, her last milk about 1-2 hours before bed to give time for it to pass, I take her to the toilet before bed usually 2x, before getting ready for bed and right before I lay her down. I take her to the toilet about every hour during the day and in the last 2 months of doing this we go through an average of 2 pull ups a day and sometimes 2 cotton underwear. but there is a lot of savings on the diapers =)....She is now able to tell me when she wees and poops in her pants =(...she is showing an effort to tell me when she has to go. Some days are better than others.



You just have to have a lot of patients and a lot of positive praise. When she makes a mistake I ask her "what happened and tell her that she needs to tell me when she needs to go" during the day I ask her if she is DRY and tell her to tell Mommy when she has to go potty.



I have to say, this is one the most frustrating training processes for ME as my LO doesn't really show that much interest in using the toilet. There are a lot of kids that move into potty training much easier. But I just have to tell myself that one day, it will click and she will be completely potty trained. I think in a week or 2 we will go back to 3 full days of just the cotton underwear and see if that will speed things up, it is just finding the time to clear my schedule of all responsibility for 3 full days... also you want to inform your care giver of how you are training so they can follow the same routine with her....good luck!

Donna - posted on 08/03/2010

My little girl is 2 on the 2nd - She sounds exactly the same as yours! We bought the potty not long after her 1st birthday, not assuming she would be a super baby or anything, just so she got familiar with it & could ask what it was etc. She fully understands what it is & what you're supposed to do with it...she even says 'Mummy go wee wee on potty' when I got in the bathroom...so she definately does know lol But so far all she is interested in is using it as a chair to watch TV!
I think kids this age, mine at least, have a problem making the connection between needing to use the potty and being able to let you know before they actually do it...if that makes sense.

I think 2 is a great age to go for it potty training wise, you're certainly not pushing her! And let's face it, it's one of those things that are good to learn sooner rather than later so you can't be wrong for trying!

I think as far as you working goes, you need to make sure whoever looks after your little girl while you're there knows your thoughts & intentions on the subject so that they can take over while you're working. The nursery we send Layla to has a chart you fill in so the staff know exactly how you encourage and reward, what times to try & what you do when they have an accident etc - And when she is with her grandparents etc we take the potty and they do the same. As long as she feels safe in the enviroment she's in, it shouldn't be a problem to carry the training on.