Has anyone tried to potty train a 6 MONTH old?

Terry - posted on 11/21/2009

Babies usually train @ 2 1/2 yrs old...Once in awhile one will train before that, but lots of work. I overhear a lady telling the doctor she had her little girl trained @ 18mo as she took her to the potty every 45 min... I laughed when I heard him say the only one trained was her!

Michele - posted on 11/21/2009

my son was potty trained by 12 months, every time your babay wakes up and is dry put them on the pot, same before bed, that gets them used to going on the pot, if you can get them before they go in the diaper the better you are, and dont let them sit in there diapers that are wet, some people do then the kid gets used to it and that makes it harder . good luck

Lyndsay - posted on 11/21/2009

I gotta say... I can't see why you'd even try. They're still babies at that age... if they can't stand and walk around, I don't think he should be going on a potty.

Cassandra - posted on 11/21/2009

If you try to potty train at 6 months, you are training yourself not your child. There is no way that your child is physically able to be potty trained now. Just be patient, it will happen when they are ready.

And if you think they are ready I would talk to your childs doctor.

Helen - posted on 11/21/2009

Hi Heidi,
I know that it might seem crazy to say this but, your window of opportunity to potty train your infant has closed. There is a method that is called "elimination communication" or simply infant potty training. From beginning of times mothers have been training their infants to go potty, or better yet, mothers have been able to be more in tune with their babies elimination needs. I am a mother of 3 and only learned about this before my 3rd one was born. I am now in the process of learning my baby's cues when she has to pee-pee (which is harder to identify than the forceful red face they give when they are making poo-pee). I started from the moment she was born. She is now 6 months old and I am finding many dry diapers between feedings...It is a really interesting method to learn about but I have to be honest with you, it is not for everyone since it entitles a lot of time, commitment and consistency. You can read more about it here: http://www.mommy2mommyonline.com/index.p...
good luck :)

Jennifer - posted on 11/21/2009

I think tryna potty train a 6month old is to soon they have no control of themselves yet, i have a 1 year old who will b 2 n feb he ready to be potty trained but he cant sit down long enough to do it in the pot. as soon as i take off his diaper he goes to the pot hisself!

Krista - posted on 11/21/2009

Did you honestly just ask about potty training a 6 month old?! Seriously?!

Tiare - posted on 11/21/2009

my baby sitter had all 4 of her children potty trained by the age of 1.....but i believe that starting at 6 months is a bit too early, maybe wait a couple months to introduce it.... but my son was interested in it at 11 months but i wasnt consistent enough for it to work but by 2 he was completely done and it only took 3 days!! if you start talking to them about it then i think they will be more receptive...... good luck, would love to see if you make it work!

Li - posted on 11/21/2009

My ma had me totally trained by 11 months and i was night clean by 12 months.....this made me try early with my children. My girl was clean 100% by 24 months night and day, my boy is 2 and 1/2 and has been 100% days for approx 5 months, but only just gone nights about 1 months ago (still has accidents if hubby puts to bed and forgets to make him wee first). My ma reakons I started to late, she reakons you just puts bubs on when they can crawl (about 6 months like u ask) after each meal. Mum says when they can walk it is actually harder because they don't want to keep still to go potty...it takes time at any age, but go for it....Good Luck!

Haleh - posted on 11/21/2009

I potty trained both my boys and trust me it works wonders after a couple of days.
Make sure they are busy with a toy or book when you put them on the pot and also always put them on the pot when theyhave just finished drinking milk juice or water.
We grown ups also need to pee when we drink any liquid. After a few days it works and you dont need to buy diapers anymore

Danielle - posted on 11/21/2009

i heard that u shouldnt start potting train them untill they start to walk that way they can do it them selves

Tsvety - posted on 11/21/2009

I know a few moms that have started early on, one even at 4 months!

However, it is not correct to say and I cannot say that they started to "potty train" since a child so young would not sit on a potty (on its own) and you will not be able to train it for a long time. What you can do, if you want to, with so young a baby is to hold him over the toilet, a potty or whatever and see if it wants to pee. Generally you are more likely to succeed in the bathroom with the tap running. ;o) Or peeing together. ;o) (Baby on the potty, if it can sit on its own without falling off, you - on the toilet.)

You can do that as often you wish in a day (reasonably) and if you do succeed in any of those say 4-5 times a day or more you should be happy. ;o)
Usually it is done just after the baby wakes up after sleep or really whenever you have noticed that your baby generally wants to pee. There is a pattern to it if you take the time and follow your babies peeing schedule ;o) you will have more success and more dry nappies. But this is why at this age you can't say it is training - because you are merely trying to guess when your baby will want to pee and try to catch the right moment. ;o))

Your baby will become uneasy and fret when it wants to pee (also when it is somewhat able to hold back), may cry etc. You have to learn to recognize this crying from its other crying and quickly offer him to pee. It is important to try to catch the right moment, especially with a young baby, because if you simply sit the baby on the potty every half hour of the day it is very likely that the baby will start to resent this and will make it more difficult later on or even early on.

And it is important to act quickly, because as soon as they start holding back it actually hurts them to hold the pee and they haven't learned yet how to let it go. (they learn holding back quicker than letting it go and this frustrates them, because even on the potty it may take time until they learn to pee there). Have you ever had to hold peeing for a long time - you will know it is very unpleasant and you feel like you will burst. Well, this is not pleasant for your baby either - they feel like a baloon about to burst on the inside and they don't know how to make it go away. So be kind to them even if they fret, moan or cry. It's not their fault they don't know how to do it yet. They will figure it out in time with your help.

The older the baby grows the more it will understand what is required from it and will do it. You can start talking about training when your baby actually starts holding back and "asks" you to help it pee. How do you know it "asks you"? It's their time to pee (a time of the day or after sleep or other event after which they usually pee), they fret, cry or whatever they usually do.

If you do overdo it at one point and find yourself that your baby refuses to go to the toilet, even though it has done so for a while. Don't force - leave it at that for a while. Go back to nappies if you need to. Give the baby a break and then try once in a while and start again, more gently. ;o)

I've written pee, but either will do. Usually it is easier to make the baby poo first. Reusable nappies are better for training since they give a damp feeling, which stimulates the baby to want to keep itself dry. ;o) Summer months (warm whether) are better for removing the nappies for panties. Get more pairs and change them if they get peed on. (with bigger children you don't need change it imediately - give them some time to realize what they have done, what has happened to them. Time to decide, whether they want to pee in their pants and stay wet or warn you and do it in the toilet.)

My baby is a year and 3 months. We started trying to pee at about 6 months. My baby could sit on its own at that time on a potty and we started with that. At first most of the pee was in the nappes, maybe once or twice at best in the potty a day. A month-two later it was warm enough to take the plastic nappies and exchange them for reusable ones. I also left him with regular pants during the day if he's not sleeping. (Important: if you have a child who has not control yet of pee and poo, don't leave it to sleep with panties. I did once that, because I thought he's very tiered and I'll go quickly when he wakes. Well, I wasn't quick enough. The whole bed was in pee and poo when I got there! And he had that look on his face - like he was saying "Oh, mom, there's poo everywhere." Not the puppy look - the POOPY look!!!)

We did overdo it a little and he refused at one point to do anything in a potty. Now we have restarted our training.
We go to the toilet together and he's more comfortable like that. He started hiding behind the curtans to poop though. I don't know why. I think he just finds it amusing and then he screams when you try to clean the poo. He's starting to grow out of it though. I think it's just some silly stage though, because he started to do all sorts of other silly things that noone has taught him. So most of our nappies during the day are dry, except poopy ones, and during the night he wakes up (crying) to pee and it is kind of frustrating for him. But he already hold it back and he just doesn't pee until we put him on the potty. I guess he just doesn't like the idea of getting out of bed in the middle of the night to pee, but this is normal. My nephew who is now six, still frets when he has to get out of bed to go and pee.
Anyway, I hope this helps someone! I've tried to remember everything I know and everything I was told by other early moms.

Diane - posted on 11/21/2009

Yes You can start at 3 weeks old because they have already recognised control of the bladder. What you do is stand them up over a towel or nappy and they will have wees repeat this during the day time permitting. At 3 months you can sit baby the potty until they wee. From there on continue when you know they are due especially after waking and after feeding. Good luck you can apply this at 6 months my children were out of nappies by 9months.

Christel - posted on 11/21/2009

Hello I am a mother of 6 chrildren my first was pooty trained at before 3 years old because I worked and had no time for him. My second was potty trained before 2 years old because I was home. My third was pottytrained before she was one years old because I was able to watch the signs. My fourth child was potty trained at one too and the ones who were pottytrained before 2 years old never wet them selves compared to my oldest son who had alot of problem. When My 5th child who is a boy I started him at pottytraining right when he was able to sit up 4 to 6 months old and was pottytrained at 9 months old and never wet him self after that he is 4 years old now going on 5. My 6th child was a little harder because she did't want to sit on the potty until she hit 9 months old she was pottytrained around year and half which is still good. My advice to you is it is possible but is your child ready for sitting on the potty every 20 minutes.and are you ready for all timing and wacthing and during the night shifts when he or she gets up to put them on the potty. You cant miss a pee because if you do the child and you will be off schedule for the whole day. Its albout you and child you do whats right. wish you luck!

Sharalyn - posted on 11/21/2009

I heard of people who did oberving potty trining which means they watched their babys moods, actions before they pottyied and brought them to the potty to do their deed. It can happen, its up to you if you are really dedicated to it. i am potty training my 15 month old right now. Hope this helps.

Noelle - posted on 11/21/2009

trying to train a child who cannot talk, walk or even consistently sit up on one's own is merely training the mother.

Caressa - posted on 11/21/2009

No we aren't kidding which is why I am not joining in the conversation anymore. I have outright talked about people succeeding with this that I personally know twice and yet people still get on here and say it can't be done. That means those people are calling me a liar. Well, why in the world would I lie about that? And too strangers???
And my daughter was showing all the signs of interest in the potty at 9 months and peed in it at nine months but because of my back I couldn't train at that time. I missed my window and now she is 2 1/2, but my other two were trained by 2.
Lastly, the poster asked has anyone tried this, not if they should. Clearly they have energy and an urge to try. It's not detrimental to try. And those of you saying they can't hold it, no, they can't hold it long, but they can hold it from the time they make the cue noise they were taught til someone sits them on a nearby potty. I'm not coming back for anymore replies though. I don't like being told I'm a liar with other words.
Heidi, God be with you, you can do this if you "want to" and I don't think it's a half bad idea. Maybe some people are paranoid of the effects on the child, some think they know it all and some may be jealous and some just concerned but not paranoid...and many other reasons. Mothers are some of the most opinionated people of course;). In the end there is no pressure and I have no issues with people who don't want to try this...besides, it's often to many people more convenient to stick with the diaper and babies are exhausting. Baby is just happy they have mommy! :)

Heather - posted on 11/21/2009

You're kidding right?

Patti - posted on 11/21/2009

in my opinion, 6 months old is way too young to be considering potty training. For starters, the child should be able to walk to the potty or toilet on their own. I don't know of anybody who started walking at 6 months old. With my two boys (both grown now), I let them be the judge of when potty training time was to start. Once they started telling me that they had peed or pooped and needed to be changed, then it was time to start the training. They have to be able to connect the feelings before having to go with actually going. I would wait a while longer. In my case, both boys were completely potty trained by 3 years old, but it's not at all uncommon for kids to take longer.

Susan - posted on 11/21/2009

Agreeing with all of the other results, until a child is aware of her/his own bodily functions, you can not successfully potty train a child. Remember though when you start, you need to stick with it. Don't stop, the child will regress and you will have to start all over.

Chloe - posted on 11/21/2009

Potty rules



1. Don't get frustrated/downhearted/angry/disappointed.

- Easier said then done. Number one time when I feel these emotions is when we've had a long streak of almost exclusive pottying and then all of a sudden baby strikes. The problem arises when I get accustomed to the fact that she knows what she's doing. I start taking for granted that she goes in the potty so when she has an accident, I'd freak. Not angry, but it would be like, "Oh Not! and rush to the potty in a big hurried maddening dash. This would greatly upset baby ending in screaming and completely refusing the potty. This would in turn frustrate me more and I'd kinda put her down and very sternly say "You go in the potty." I was lecturing her. All this would lead to was more misses and a very nervous infant. She didn't know what she'd done and I was behaving like what she'd done was wrong (by her not using the potty.) What I'd forgotten was that its not about using the potty, its about communicating about elimination. I'd forgotten to reinforce that eliminating isn't a bad thing, its a good thing. I'd forgotten that I was trying to teach her about recognizing her own signals and communicating them.



2. Accept that there will be misses - LOTS OF THEM!

- I'd been so used to never washing diapers that I thought baby was completely potty trained for a while. Then all of a sudden it seemed like she'd quit, thrown in the towel, full on never would use the potty again. Of course this isn't true, but it felt like it. One day she just refused and refused and refused. I'd recognize the signs, I'd offer her the potty, she'd arch and scream like no tomorrow and then 2 minutes later there would be some sort of mess in a diaper on the floor. I got to the point of just diapering her all the time because I knew that she'd go and I was tired of cleaning up poop off the floor. What I'd forgotten is that poop on the floor is just a learning experience for her. I'd taken to diaper-training her in an effort to keep my floors clean. I'd forgotten that keeping baby's bottom clean was more important than the floors. I'd forgotten that its really about teaching her what is happening. When she has a miss. "oh well, that's a potty." Its good to remind myself that that's all it is, a potty.



3. Know that babies want to learn about their own elimination.

- baby was all too aware of what was happening but wanted to see it. She wanted to watch the poop or pee; something I've only learned recently. I've found that when she won't sit on the potty, sometimes I can turn her around and have her stand/squat on it and watch herself go. I'd forgotten that this is all new to her, that every day is new to her. She is still building those connections in her brain between this is a sensation and it means this and eventually it means tell mommy or go on the potty.



4. Realize the signs get harder to read.

- I had started to take for granted that when baby woke up from a nap she always had to pee. I'd gotten used to any frustrated vocalization meaning a potty was on the way. However, as baby got older and more mobile, these signs no longer held their original meaning. baby would fuss over not being able to reach something or over a new tooth. She'd started fighting sleep, so when she would have snapped awake just to pee, now she'd wake up just to cry about still being tired. Sometimes, there would be no cue to recognize at all. baby would get so into whatever she was doing that she didn't want to break away and would eliminate right where she was.



5. Let babies exercise their free will.

- It seems like one day baby discovered that she could refuse the potty just to do it. She'd even sign to me, "poopy" and then would not sit on the potty at all. She'd tell me over and over just to refuse and eliminate elsewhere. I would sometimes try to force her to stay on the potty because I knew she had to go. Even now when I know for a fact she has to pee, I'll hold her with distraction of a toy or book, but I won't force her like I used to try. Don't get me wrong, I never held her for any length of time, but I would try to keep her seated. I finally learned to accept her freedom of choice and that has benifited us both.



6. Don't punish, do reward!

- It takes a lot to admit that I've gotten angry over ec-ing strikes. I would be very stern with Keller when she wouldn't go on the potty and would go on the floor. I would say things like, "don't do that, don't potty on the floor." I would be angry, I'd rush her to the potty and say, "This is the potty, this is where we go." Baby would cry over this event. This lasted for about a month before I realized what I was doing. I was punishing her for eliminating. And poor baby didn't know why mommy was mad, except that eliminating had led to it. She didn't realize that going in her diaper or on the floor was a mistake. All she knew was she had to go and she went and mom was upset. I feel very sad when I think back on what I had done for those weeks. I'd forgotten my whole purpose. I'd broken rule number 1 and didn't even realize I was doing it. I've never read Diaper Free or any other ECing book, I didn't even plan on ecing, it just happened. I started researching what I was doing after the fact to reassure myself I wasn't crazy, that babies do on the potty. But I'd gotten so caught up in potty training, that I'd forgotten the communication. Punishment isn't a type of communication I believe in for anything, let alone a natural bodily function. Would I punish baby for nursing in the living room? Would I punish her for talking in the car? Why would I punish her for eliminating wherever she happened to be? What I did finally remember is that rewards work better for everything than punishment. I restarted the complete overjoyed reactions at the one catch I could count on, the one first thing in the morning. I started leaving her diaper free ALL THE TIME. I would just stop worrying about the misses and only reward the catches. But I'd never punish the misses. In fact to some extent I would reward those too, if I could get her to communicate what she'd done. I'd sign potty or poopy after a miss and if she'd repeat the sign I'd reward that just as if she'd gone on the potty in the first place. All of a sudden it was like it used to be. Potty catches all the time and hardly ever a miss.



7. Own your mistakes.

- This is hard to do. Nobody likes to admit when they've made a mistake. I certainly didn't like admitting that I was harsh on baby when I shouldn't have been. I am not proud and am even ashamed of the way I've handled myself at times. But if I didn't admit these errors I could never learn from them and grow. So many times we look at mistakes as a bad thing, we look at catches as winning and at misses as losing. But all of its winning as long as we remember to communicate. The only way we can move forward and remember these rules is to remember what happens when we break them.



8. Love your baby!

- This is the most important rule of all. Of course we all love our babies. I'm not suggesting you don't, but I am suggesting that sometimes we forget that the whole reason we've chosen to EC is because we love our babies. ECing parents have some deep understanding of elimination as another need just like eating or sleeping. Some just forget, like I did, that we are responding to a need out of love, not for a desired outcome. So I hope these rules help remind anyone out there of why they are EC-ing in the first place, and hopefully will remind them to keep the primary goal in mind, COMMUNICATE for LOVE!

Barbara - posted on 11/21/2009

If you are asking, the reply is don't. The infant does not have the muscle cintrol or other developmental readiness necessary for this. The most likely result of early potty training if at best frustration, at worst a lifelong fixation on bathroom issues that will haunt the child to the grave. Relax and let them tell you when they are ready. You will both be much happier.

Fatima - posted on 11/21/2009

oooo yes I hd starting potty training at the age of 6month andnow my 1 yr old daughter does the morning poo inthe potty no matter wat she holds the pee and poo and does it inthe potty... but thats just in the morning... therest ofthe day in the diper

Rhonda - posted on 11/21/2009

Why would you want to? Enjoy them being a baby it goes by so fast! Even if you could get them to go in the potty, which I doubt, they wouldn't really be potty trained, they can't tell you they have to go, they can't go themselves and can't dress and undress themselves. You would be training yourself and adding alot of unnecessary work. Just my opinion.

Sherry - posted on 11/20/2009

I started introducing my daughter to the potty at 5 months old. I didnt expect her to GO but after she pooped or peed in her diaper, I would clean her up and take her to teh bathroom and with a clip on seat, i would sit her on there and talk, sing, or read (The potty Book!) to her for a couple of minutes. Just so that she was familiar with the potty because some children can tend to be afraid of the toilet. I know it seems rediculous but why not introduce it? My daughter was fully potty trained by 2 years old and peed on the potty for the first time when she was 1. Every child is different and a persons patience can only go so far. hahaha. But I do think it is beneficial to start the process early... just dont set high expectations. Make it a fun time!

Clarisse - posted on 11/20/2009

i'm doing elimination communication with my 5 month old and we started when she was 3 months. she pees in the potty 85% of the time at diaper changes, 95% of the time after naps, and if i put her on the potty about every 20 minutes she'll stay dry for a couple of hours. google it and go to your library to look at books on it...from what ive read its easier when they are younger though, because once they have free will they don't want to sit there (if done from younger they accept it more) and they havent been 'trained' to pee in a diaper

Caressa - posted on 11/20/2009

Yes, they can control them more then we think...but it's "very" time consuming. Like I said. I know several people who have done it and if you google you can find it but I don't remember what people are calling it as it has a special name for this early training.

Anne - posted on 11/20/2009

seriously??? I don't think it would work. They do not know how to control their bodily functions yet. Give it time when they are about 18 mos or later, then worry about potty training.

Caressa - posted on 11/20/2009

If she hates diapers it will be worth her time and the child will not lose the communication aspect, they will develop the other skills with time. Some people just hate diapers. That's why my mother in law was so quick to get the babies out of them. Of this mother asking about this has all that energy then Kudos to her! :)

Mary - posted on 11/20/2009

Until your child can attend to every aspect of toileting (pulling down training pants, wiping, pulling up and fastening clothes, etc.) you're really only training yourself. The child is ready when (s)he knows when and can communicate the need to go, get him/herself there (as in walk) and do what needs to be done in the bathroom. I had seven children in the space of ten years. I didn't have time for me to have to take each one every time they needed to go. My five younger ones were all potty trained fully within a few *days* of beginning to potty train (at around 2 years of age). They did it *all* all by themselves. I didn't even have to empty the potty or pull up pants when they were finished. I loosely used a concept from a book called Potty Training in One Day. It worked with my kids. But the real key is that they were ready and physically able to do everything they needed to do to go "all by themselves".

Caressa - posted on 11/20/2009

My mother in law did it will all 4 of her children and I have heard of other stories of arabs as well as the spanish doing it. You teach them to make a sound for pee and a sound for poo or just one sound can suffice...I looked it up online and it's true and possible, but you must be full of energy...oh, but the rewards!

Susan - posted on 11/20/2009

Do not try it! Your child is neither cognitively or physically capable of being potty trained at 6 mos. old. You will just create frustration for you and your child.

Belinda - posted on 11/20/2009

you don't train a 6 month they too young to be trained

Vanya - posted on 11/20/2009

Post a reply! if your child can tell you they need the potty do it there is no set age just take your time but dont do it unless they can tell you otherwise here is no point

Correna - posted on 11/20/2009

I'm a first time mom, but I always understood you have to wait until your child gives you the signs that they are ready to be potty trained... which would be anywhere from 1yr to 4yrs. Each child is different.

Good luck in whatever you decide to do!!!

Michele - posted on 11/20/2009

Wow, I guess if ur child is ready then age doesn't matter. Patience is key. THat young they might find it "fun" for a while but loose interest...? Let us all know how that goes. I was just thinkin of training my youngest (21mon). I have 3 boys and he wants to be like them? It's a big step and lot of work no matter what age. Good luck.

Sanjukta - posted on 11/20/2009

my doc told me to make my 7 mnth old sit on a potty for sometime but u can't expect them to give u any indication .they are too small.u have to make them sit maybe evry 2 hrs or so that is totally up to u

Donna - posted on 11/20/2009

My opinion is that at 6 months of age it is you who is being "potty trained", not your child. At that young age they can't even tell you that they have to potty.

How did you plan on doing this exactly?

Cindy - posted on 11/20/2009

Is "it" a boy or a girl?There is a difference.

Personally, if you haven't clued in already, it's too early.

The running theme from the millions of kids potty trained around here, is to wait until around 20 months. That means almost 2 years old.

Until your little one can walk and talk, they aren't being trained - you are. You have to ask your self WHY?

Why are you potty training so early?

Is it a cost issue?

Did your Mom/Friends say you have to?

Were you Potty trained this early?

And you need to know not all kids fit into the same mold.

You also need to be committed to this adventure. So does your entire family. It only takes one adult not on board to DESTROY all your hard work.



I started Potty training my eldest at 9 months - HE WAS ALMOST THERE. Then his dayhome provider quit and we had to find a new one. The new one was NOT ON BOARD. She DESTROYED ALL MY WORK. He was Terrified of going Potty for almost 12 months. It was so frustrating. I quit my Job to prevent this from happening to his little brother.

So good luck.

Joanna - posted on 11/20/2009

At six months you can do something called Cued Potty Training, but it is training you for watching for cues from the baby. And YOU doing all the work until the child becomes completely aware of it's elimination functions. In 3rd world countries a lot of women do this, but it requires you being with your baby 100% of the time and always watching. Too much work in my opinion.

Lena - posted on 11/20/2009

i dont think that is possible, i agree with Khristine Talactac, they r not yet able to hold their pee or even be able to really even know when they need to go. most kids dont start to potty train until about 18 months when they can comprehend whats going on.. i think it will be very frustrating for u also to try to start this young, it gets frustrating trying with older babies that know whats going on

Melissa - posted on 11/20/2009

My daughter started taking off her diapers at 11 months..and was very advanced and at 14 months old started saying mommy potty me potty too! So I started her at 14 months and she did very well. I still used diapers at night and by 2 she was completly potty trained day and night. She prob was a few months earlier as she was dry overnight but was afraid til she turned 2 to not put a diaper on at night only. My boys however both started at 3 and werent completly potty trained til 3 1/2. My suggestion is that 6 months is too young, wait til the baby can atleast talk and or start taking their diaper off. Good luck in whatever you decide to do. Its really just when the baby wants to do it...believe me, I really wanted my second child to potty train as easily as the first but he just wasnt ready and no matter how hard i tried to make him, he wouldnt do it until HE WAS READY.



Best of Luck,

Melissa

Mom of 3

Shirley - posted on 11/20/2009

i've seen alot of moms talking about the headache of potty training. several moms here have said that it took a year + to potty train their child. i have 3 children. my oldest was the hardest to potty train but i had no experience with children before him. he took about 4 months to potty train after my 2 year old fully potty trained in 2 weeks and that was about 6 months ago. it's up to the parent how they want to raise their child.

Ashley - posted on 11/20/2009

i'm sorry but it's not the child that would be potty trained it's the mother! a child at 6 months does not know what peeing and pooing is. how canyou train a child when they dont even know what it is? my son is 18 months and we havent even tried it yet. i think it's rediculous how ppl these days are trying tomake their children grow up. let them be babies!!

Marssia - posted on 11/20/2009

I read a book called To Train Up a Child by Michael and Debi Pearl and they talk about how you can potty train children when they are that young. It tells you how to do it and it's a good book about raising kids.

Andrea - posted on 11/20/2009

my son started using the potty when he shortly after he started walking around 9months he was fully potty trained by the time he was a year old. He figured out all in his own....my daughter didn't start using the potty until she was 2...I think its really needs to be a kids choice they will show you when they are ready! Good luck!

Tummyruth - posted on 11/19/2009

My son is 1yr 3 months, When I try the potty training, he just want to take the potty and put it on the head. He does not understand why he has to sit on top of it. But I'm not giving up now, he will understand eventually

Siobhan - posted on 11/19/2009

I used the nappy free method for both my boys (no nappies from 3mths). It is a close relationship between mom and baby where you grow the little excremant control they are born with. As far as I've read 6 months is the latest to start the technique. You can look up nappy-free and diaper-free on the web for more information. It is extremely rewarding if the style fits into your parenting style but does take patience and is time consuming at the start - first 2 weeks hell but after that it's a lot easier. In traditional nappy/potty training, the child looses the small voluntary control they are born with. It then means that you have to wait until they are developmentally old enough to learn to control those muscles again - so it If you're looking for traditional potty training then you do have to wait till they are older... good luck

Maria - posted on 11/19/2009

6 months is way too young. Studies have shown that even starting out at 12 months isn't worth it. Wait until they are at least 2. My son started around that time and he got the hang of it a few months later.

Lydia - posted on 11/19/2009

they need to:

a/ be aware of going to the loo

b/ be able to tell you when they are going

c/ be able to get to the potty on their own.



I've just tried to train my daughter at 26 months, but unsuccessfully, as she could/ would not tell me when she wanted the potty (although she was more than happy to go on the potty when I put her on it). I also tried keeping her in wet knickers, but she was as happy as larry to keep them on, which kind of defeated the object! I'm going to wait another couple of months

I can't help feeling that not changing poo-ey nappies when they are so young is bordering on neglect. They have no physical control over their bowels until the age of 18 months so actually can't learn - hard way or not.

"They" do say that the earlier you start, the longer it takes.