my daughter is almost 13 months old and she is very interested in the potty. I wasn't planning on starting potty training until she was 18 months but I have noticed a lot of the ready signs now and I don't want to miss out on the opportunity to go with her curiosity. Has anyone else ever started potty training this young? If so what is the best way to start? I don't want to scare her away from it but I also don't want to wait too long.
I decided to get her a little potty to have in the bathroom and I have been letting her in the bathroom when I have to go and she will sit on her potty while I go. I am not expecting her to become potty trained at this age at all but I do think that it is a good idea to keep her interested in it and make her aware of the process so that when the time does come to go diaper free it won't be a surprise and I guess I have high hopes that she will catch on on her own. I think maybe that at this age it should not be called potty training it should be called potty awareness. Thanks for the advice. I also have decided to change her diaper in the bathroom and dump her poop in the toilet and let her flush it herself so that she starts to associate potty with the bathroom. So far so good!
Seems too early to me. I think you would be trained not her. However,
hey why not try if you want to. You will have to spend a lot of time just
putting her on and off the potty. I think control at that age, really just
does not exist.
Another vote for "go for it". My daughter was pretty much finished PT by then (pretty much meaning that if she wore a skirt an undies, she would independently potty herself except wiping--Jeans & overalls were difficult for her to get off until she was almost 3.) We did elimination communication (EC) and started introducing the potty & potty signals when my daughter was about 2 weeks old :D (nothing major--if she woke up dry, we'd sit her over a potty and say "ssss" if she peed great, if not, put the diaper back on)
But start easy, if she's dry after a long stretch or in the morning take her to the potty (kids this age love "potty parties"--you sit on the toilet while she sits on her potty). My girl's system tended to be in sync with mine, so having her join me worked really well. Night time can take a bit extra work if your daughter tends to wetting in the middle of the night; luckily mine would only go late evening (just before hubby went to bed) and early morning, so night potty trips were easy to work into our schedule.
("Diaper Free Baby" is a pretty good introduction to EC and gentle approach to potty learning methods)
You say she is interested, so do it, it's OK. Show her how you do it and sit her down on it and see if she will. Little treats and stickers work great too. She may take it up asap and maybe not so much. She may get scared of it or think its fun. Its all up to every individual child. Just be prepared when you think she is fully trained, for her to still have the occasional accident. Keep those extra clothes in the car or bag for a few more years. I think it's very impressive to have someone that young starting. Good luck!
My son is two and he loves the potty. We started picking up on his curiosity so we got him his own little potty (we also let him flush and put down the seat on the big one) he took it apart. Now he sits on it just to sit on it (he still goes but when I'm in the bathroom getting ready he likes to come in a sit) so maybe you could just get her her own potty and see what happens?
If you are serious about training at this time, I would make the switch to cloth diapers if you're using disposables. CLoth will allow her to feel wet and realize what happens when she pees - and start to recognize how it feels just before that happens. Then take her to the potty regularly on a consistent basis - you must be consistent. Take her every hour or so and see what happens. Keep in mind that being interested in the potty or knowing that she has poop in her diaper doesn't necessarily mean that she's really aware of when she has to go or that she will train quickly. Good luck!
I wouldn't even start thinking about it right now. Not even at 18 months. I suppose there are a few kids out there that can do it at this age, but you're going to wind up having so many accidents and power struggles. It's fine to have her be curious about potties but I wouldn't even begin until at least 2 (I actually waited until mine were 3 and then it took about 2 hours to get them trained!)
GO FOR IT! The rest of the world has their kids fully trained by 18 months! We use to too! Pampers convinced all of us that it isn't possible. IT IS!
You should be able to get books from your public library to help. One great one is "early start potty training." You should also be able to get a book on Elimination Communication.
i started at 12 mo, let me be clear what i mean by started. i feel that PT should be very relaxed and natural going w/ what your DD wants/needs so not to pressure/scare ect. i set up a potty and she sat on it when i did: never expecting her to produce. i talked a lot about what I was doing let her see me/it and let her flush. that went very well. she is 19 mo now and still not fully potty trained but she will almost always poop on the potty, not really peeing but she will tell me when she is wet most of the time. there are days i let her go diaper free, pull up, diapers whatever she askes. now when we are really ready to PT we will deff. go 100% diaper free accidents and all bc this is really the only way to fully train, but we are not there yet we are what I call pre-training going w/ the flow (LOL) good lukc
