Potty Training

I agree that it may be too early to actually 'train' him. But introducing him now is a good idea. My daughter loves to follow me to the bathroom so much that sometimes I have to have my husband come to get her. She likes to watch what I do and she figured out how to flush. So I let her flush for me. I tell her to make the caca go away. She flushes and even waves 'bye' sometimes. Then I bring her to the sink to wash her hands. When I change her diaper, I remind her that it's 'caca'. She seems to get the idea so far. I did buy her a potty chair. When we move next month, I will set it up for her so that she is comfortable with it. But I don't expect to start her until at least 18 months. I was fully trained by two years, so I think that I'll try what my parents did and see how that goes. I would suggest just getting him used to the potty now. Some kids will actually show fear of the thing.
Some signs of when they are ready are telling you that they are going, having a dry diaper for a few hours, going somewhere (like a corner or bothroom) to go in thier diaper, etc. Remember that boys generally train slower than girls, usually around age 3. You can start now, just go very slowly. Whoever mentioned pressure was right. If you pressure him, he will get frustrated and it will go slower. Then you will get frustrated and that is just not fun.

eeek! all kids are different and perhaps yours is much more mature than mine, but I think you are starting too early and are bound to get frustrated. Mine never were ready to train until after 2 years old and even then were not interested at first. I know they have these people potty training their infants now, but I'm not in that camp.

16 months old is WAY to young to start potty training. You may end up making the training harder down the line. Potty training should be done between 2 1/2 and 3 usually. What does your pediatrician say?

Your child is really young to be potty training, unless he is showing signs that he is interested, I would wait for a little while.

If you can't wait start to intro him to it by having your hubby take him in the bathroom when he goes so he knows what to do.You cna put him on the potty every hour or two or if you have noticed a pattern of when he goes follow that.

If you start and it's not working, don't get frustrated or upset he may not be ready yet, leave him in diapers (and I know it's expensive) for a few more months and try again. Don't put that kind of pressure on either of you, it will only make it harder.

Good luck!

When my daughter started to potty train i got her some underwear with dora on them and told her that dora didn't like to be peed on it seen to work

Hi A.-
It may be a little too early to fully potty train your son. I have 2 boys ages 3 & 5. They both did not fully train until they were almost 3. I started trying with them at age 2 and it took almost a year until they were accident free. If you are having any success this early then keep it going. But don't get frustrated if your son is having accidents. Boys take a little longer. Good Luck!!!

Hi, I just read some of the posts and I COMPLETELY DISAGREE!!! 16 months is NOT too young to start potty training. My son is also 16 months and started potty training on his own. Granted, we use cloth diapers and he tells us when he is wet and wants a new one and has been pooping on the toilet about 2 months. It was completely motivated in my case by my son, and we took the cues and he pottys in the toilet 5-6 times a day.

What we are doing:
When he first wakes up, he sits on the toilet right away and goes potty.
At home, he wears training pants (they are thicker than underwear so if there is an accident, it won't run down his leg). And when we are out or sleeping, he is in a diaper.
Every hour or so we will ask if he has to go potty and he will say yes or shake his head no. It is as simple as that.
He has a seat on the big person toilet that he sits on, then after he goes, he claps and cheers for himself and gets to flush the toilet.

There are signs of readiness:
He can stay dry for 2 hours or more
He understands when he goes and when he needs to go
He can somehow "tell" you (my son will just walk into the bathroom if he needs to go and stand by the toilet)

Yes, 16 months is early, but if he is ready and you don't go ahead with it, you will have to retrain him and it will take longer. One reason kids take longer to potty train now is becasue the diapers are so good, that they never learn that they are wet. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise. Also, if you read the montissori books, they say that the optimal time to start potty training is between 12 and 18 months, so you are right on time!!!

If you have any more questions, just let me know!!!

Good luck!