Is it to early to start potty training my child?

Lacey - posted on 01/05/2010

It's not going to hurt to give it a try. Take her to the store and let her pick out big girl pants and a seat and see if she is excited about it. Try it, but don't force her and if she is ready it will work. If she is not, like some of the others said wait a little while and try again. She will do it when she is ready just don't force her.

Lisa - posted on 01/05/2010

I think that is she is taking the diapers off then she is ready to start potty training both of my girls started at that age and were totally potty trained by 18 months.

April - posted on 01/04/2010

I would definately start introducing her to the potty. Try sitting her on the potty for a few minutes when you change her diaper. Keep a stack of books in a basket near the potty and read her a book each time she sits on it. It will give you and her a little "mommy daughter" time and she might even go when she is sitting there. Some children have trouble potty training because they simply don't want to sit on the potty long enough to relax and go, especially when it is a bowel movement. A routine of reading a book or singing a song will help to take their mind off the task at hand and make going a little easier for them.

Kathy - posted on 01/04/2010

I say go for it..if she is doing that already and doesn't like being wet or sitting in poop...I think she is definatly telling you something....my son started peeing on the potty at about 18 months...I never pushed it.... I just let him tell me when he needed to go...if she doesn't take to it don't get too upset cause she still is a baby! Good Luck!!

Jamie - posted on 01/03/2010

If she is taking off her diaper, its time =] Its not too early if you are comfortable with it, after all, they are not her mother. I began potty training my daughters at different ages, but when I thought they were ready. I looked for signs like the ones your daughter are showing. If you do decide to potty train now, do it with consistency, confidence, and patience. Praise her for a job well done. One of my daughters began at age 1 and the other was almost 2 before she was showing signs. No one can say "too early" but you, and you know your daughter better than anyone on the internet. If you feel comfortable that she is recognizing the fact that she "goes", then introduce the potty =] Good luck!

Colleen - posted on 01/03/2010

you can try, especially if she's giving you signs like that. I have 2 boys and a girl...girls are so much easier and faster to potty train. I have a friend that had both of her girls fully potty trained by the time they were 18 months old. Its totally worth a try...especially when you don't have to buy diapers anymore...lol. Good Luck :)

Anna - posted on 01/02/2010

The average age is 2.5 - 3.5 years. Google 'elimination communication' or 'freedom diapers' to get some more information on how to work with younger babies. You can start from birth but it's not potty training exactly. You just have to watch your babe closely and learn the signs she gives you when she's getting ready to go.

Lisa - posted on 01/02/2010

I dont think I can really add anything new except to say just be prepared for regression... my daughter got a potty at 11months and loved it, sat in it often (didnt always pee but was really happy to sit on it even with a bare bum) now at 18 months she is frightened to sit on the potty with a bare bum. As with any age the key is patience and persistence, and following your child's cues.

Casey - posted on 01/02/2010

Do it...well, Try it. I have already started on my daughter, since she was 3 months..REALLY, IM NOT LYING! most people say it was toilet Timing, but who really cares what anyone else calls it. my daughter will be 1year old on Jan 15, and she knows exactly what to do when I hold her over the toilet. I used a potty when she first started, which made it so much easier, and I just held her there (as she was not yet sitting on her own lol, obviously). It made it much easier, as I know many of my friends have had difficulty training their children at an older age (not that it's an easy task anyway) because they were so used to going in their nappy or just running away. So I recon Go For It! patience is the key though. If your daughter doesn't want to, it's fine, you can only encourage :)
Good luck

Mandy - posted on 01/02/2010

loving all this advice lol Thanks to all of you!! :)

Delany - posted on 01/02/2010

it's never too early. children are very smart and the sooner the better. I trained my son at two years old. I told him where the toilet was and said don't go poo in diaper you go in the toilet and he did it from that day on. It was awesome. My oldest son on the other hand pee'd his bed till he was 9. It just depends on the kid.

Nicole - posted on 01/02/2010

Hi! I have been doing Elimination Communication with my son. He is now 1 years old and I started when he was 6.5 weeks old. He uses the potty all the time! I keep a diaper on him at night, or when we go out (because I am usually too busy to find a restroom while we are out running errands). You could look into that! With my other 2 children, I noticed that once you start- never look back! just go for it! If you wiffle waffle between diapers and potty, it can be really hard to get them trained! Good luck!!

Stephanie - posted on 01/02/2010

I am training my daughter...she is 13 months. When she was 10 months, we bought a potty chair, and looked for the "poopy face", which you couldn't mistake it...lol...and then we would say, wait, lets go potty! then we took her to the potty, and she went. the only problem now is getting her to tell us she has to go...try putting her on the potty when you know she normally goes, and see if she does it! you might be surprised! kids are ALOT smarter than we give them credit!

Ashley - posted on 01/02/2010

go for it..i started when my daughter was 9mos (very casually when i would use the restroom i would take her in with me) and she was completely potty trained day and night by 2..i would start with pooping in the pot cause they are more aware of that before it happens

Renae - posted on 01/01/2010

Quoting Sabrina:

Go for it. Many other countries don't wait as long as we do in the US. Try googling Elimination Communication for some ideas.

I'm not agreeing with it or disagreeing. I just found the whole idea of elimination communication especially when its done with young newborns a bit bizzare! But who am I to judge, I haven't tried it (nor do I know anyone who has) so maybe it works!

Renae - posted on 01/01/2010

I am pretty sure that the right time to start is when baby is aware that they have done something in their nappy. Your baby sounds like she is well aware of when her nappy needs changing and she knows what it is she has done. Sounds like she is ready. I dont think it does any harm to start early, so try and see how she goes. If there is no progress then give her a few more months.

Avery - posted on 01/01/2010

my friend has a 10 month old, she has been working on the potty training for a couple of months now and it is going well, he will com running to her and say yuck yuck yuck and point to his bum, she has a pretty cool reward system for him to she has a calender on the wall next to his potty and every time he goes potty he gets to pick a sticker to put on the wall, and then she praises him and gets him excited about using the potty

Jessica - posted on 01/01/2010

My daughter was intersted when she was about 11 months. We set out her potty and told her about it, let her use it when she wanted and really didn't push it since she was so young. She was fully potty trianed by about 19 months. I would let your daughter try but not push too much. Good Luck!

Amber - posted on 01/01/2010

My son is almost 15 months and ive also been told it dont hurt to try...we havent really yet, but he dont even seem interested yet so we will wait little bit longer!

Robin - posted on 01/01/2010

Quoting Becky:

I tend to agree with most of the advice you've been given. The only problem I have is terminology. I didn't "train" my children to go to the bathroom. I simply watched until they showed signs of realizing what was happening when their bladder or bowel was full and needed to be emptied. They all were going to the bathroom by at least 2 1/2 years old. There seemed to be a lot of pressure from my parents' generation to force them to go and spank them if they messed up. I made sure that I didn't let that happen. Each child comes to realize what is going on in their own time, and as I told my Mom, "I promise they will not wear a diaper to school!" I never have quite grasped what is so important about going to the bathroom early, unless of course, the child wants to. Learning to go to the bathroom on their own can take a little while, but it goes much quicker if the child is ready and not fearful of mistakes. Good luck to your daughter and to you. God Bless!

I agree with Becky.  There should not be pressure for using the potty.  The kids will get it in there own time and it is a lot eaier if they WANT to learn to potty. 

Robin - posted on 01/01/2010

I Agree. If she is already taking her diaper off when she is wet. Go ahead and try. Watch her closely to determine if she has a special spot/postion/etc when she poops. Start there. Every time she goes to poop, take her to the toliet. It can sometimes be scary for her the first couple of time and probably won't work but she will get it eventually. Because I am at home all the time, I was able to really work with my daughters, they both caught on quickly...within a month and rarely have accidents.



For reward, we took a picture of them on the potty glued it to a piece of paper and stuck it on the 'fridge. Every time she "made a deposit" we would let her pick out a sticker and place it on the paper.

LauraBeth - posted on 01/01/2010

We are starting the process now and my son is 8mo. when you ask him if his diaper is wet he will smile, Since day one everytime I changed his diaper I would say you peeped or you pooped. this week we are going to start sitting him on the toilet every hour and once he starts walking better than he does now we are going to be in full blown potty training time. My Mom had all four of her children potty trained by 16mo. So I am following how she did it. But your little girl sounds ready to me!!

Sabrina - posted on 01/01/2010

Go for it. Many other countries don't wait as long as we do in the US. Try googling Elimination Communication for some ideas.

Karla - posted on 12/31/2009

if she is recognising when she is wet etc than i think she is ready. i was a qualified childcare teacher before i had my daughter (who is 3 months) and we would be putting the toddlers on the toilet as soon as they started walking to get them use to it and many were trained before they were two if they got the encoragement at home too. i found it was best to put them in undies during the day and allow for the wet cloths rather than use nappies or pullups as they can get confused or lazy and just go in trheir nappy even though thay do wees on the toilet. if you do do it than you need to do it every day for several weeks or more before giving up if it doesent work. she wont learn as easily if you only try every now and again...but mostly go with what you think she is ready for and if it dont work than you can try again later.

Brittney - posted on 12/31/2009

kids potty train at their own pace anyway its not too early to try, see how she likes it my lil girl jumped all over the idea, my son i tried when he 2 no dice tried again about 6 months later and he had it in a week shes gonna set her own milestones but hey just bc she cant read shakespeare doesnt mean u dont sing her the abc song right?

Nicole - posted on 12/31/2009

It's definitely not too early! My daughter started using the potty at 15 months. I put a potty in the playroom and let her walk around with no pants and she would use the potty on her own - there were a few accidents and it took about 7 months but by her 2nd birthday she no longer needed diapers during the day. I always carried spare clothes for her and even a potty in the trunk of my car but never used pull-ups . It may take longer to potty train than it does with an older child, but if she is showing signs of readiness, let her take control of her body by making it available, show her what to do, and don't stress out or put any pressure on her - just cheer for her success and matter-of-factly help her clean up any accidents- which are a normal part of the learning process. I remember being really worried about accidents when out somewhere- then it happens and you realize it is no big deal at all- you probably carry a huge diaper bag anyway, so just remove the diapers and carry some wipes and extra clothes and you're ready to roll! Best of luck!

Breanne - posted on 12/31/2009

You can try, there is no harm in that. I've heard of early potty training. I don't think it would be wrong to start early, it might me more difficult or it could be really easy! I'd try it.

Becky - posted on 12/31/2009

I tend to agree with most of the advice you've been given. The only problem I have is terminology. I didn't "train" my children to go to the bathroom. I simply watched until they showed signs of realizing what was happening when their bladder or bowel was full and needed to be emptied. They all were going to the bathroom by at least 2 1/2 years old. There seemed to be a lot of pressure from my parents' generation to force them to go and spank them if they messed up. I made sure that I didn't let that happen. Each child comes to realize what is going on in their own time, and as I told my Mom, "I promise they will not wear a diaper to school!" I never have quite grasped what is so important about going to the bathroom early, unless of course, the child wants to. Learning to go to the bathroom on their own can take a little while, but it goes much quicker if the child is ready and not fearful of mistakes. Good luck to your daughter and to you. God Bless!

Jennifer - posted on 12/31/2009

Go ahead and try. Since it is really early, don't push the issue. Get a potty chair and let her play with it (clean or new of course). Let her put her teddies on as if they are going to go pee, and let her sit on it with her pants on if she is uncomfortable with the idea of sitting with her pants off. My pediatrician has always told me to start my kids when that start showing interest, and your daughter is doing that.

Amy - posted on 12/30/2009

No, I dont think it is to early. I started training my son at age 1 and he was going poop on the potty at 15 months. It took a little longer for him to learn to go pee by himself, bu the did by the time he was two. It is important to watch for his cews. If your daughter is giving you the diaper and wipes, then she realizes what she is doing and is probably ready. I wouldn't wait, you might miss this golden opportunity.

Mandy - posted on 12/30/2009

thanks all for the advice.Should be interesting to try :)

Brittany - posted on 12/30/2009

I was a year old when i was potty trained. Don't force it but its never to early to start introducing them to the situation. They will do it when they are ready.

Emily - posted on 12/30/2009

i say give it a try. my son is 10 months old and im going to try to start potty training as soon as i think hes ready. just buy a lil potty and something like stickers or accesories to a baby doll every time she goes potty so she knows its a good thing that she gets rewarded for. good luck

Ashley - posted on 12/30/2009

try an see how it goes it sounds like she is ready she is very young but hey every baby is different an she might take right to it like i tried to potty train my son at 15 months an it was to early for him he would cry everytime he went pee pee in the potty so i stop an now he is almost 21 an ima start again when his box of diapers is gone, now im just going to say this if you use pull ups she will think its a diaper because well they are diapers im very against pull up there to confusing to kid i think but i dunno if she has a favorite show or not but if she does try to get her underwear that has her favorite people on it an then tell her we dont go pee pee on so an so hope this help good luck

Jane - posted on 12/30/2009

it won't hurt to try. maybe she's the exception. they usually tell you to start girls 18-30 months and boys 30-36 months. one of the other signs they tell you to look for is when she separates herself from things to go off to poop, and can pull her pants up and down by herself.

grab a little potty or a top seat at the store and see what happens.



good luck!

Victoria - posted on 12/30/2009

I think that she is taking her nappies off already is a sign that you could at least try potty training. My daughter was about 18 months old when she started doing that & was totally potty trained by 20 months. Give it a go and if she doesn't respond wait a month or so and try again. Won't hurt to try anyway :)