Potty Training a 1 1/2 Year Old

My daughter was fully potty trained at 20 months, it took 1 week to train her. 1st of all DO NOT use Pull ups they are a waste of $. If you are going to do it then you need to spend 1 week at home just potty training and using big girl underwear. There will be accidents but it will be over quickly. My daughter is 3 1/2 and we have not had an accident since she was 2 years old. If you want the specifics on how to do this in a week email me - ____@____.com

We started potty training my daughter around the same age. She was very curious about the potty and loved sitting on her potty seat. We noticed she always went before baths so that is when we started putting her on the potty seat. We made a huge deal of it when she went in the potty. After a few weeks we started using the pull-ups but didn't make a big deal about her having accidents. We did make a big deal about the pull-ups being for big girls who were learning to go in the potty and diapers were for the night. At 2 years old we switched her to underwear which we call her big girl pants for during the day with a rubber pant cover. She gets to pick the big girl pant for the day. She still uses a pull-up at nap time and a diaper over night. I would let her determine it and make a game of the potty training. It was a slow process but I think she did great and we are proud that our now 2 1/2 year old has only 1 accident every couple weeks when we watch others with 3 and 4 year olds still in diapers.
The other thing I would recommend is a portable potty seat to take with you. We found a padded potty seat that folds into quarters and comes in a white bag. We carry it in the diaper bag and use it at restaurants, stores, etc. My daughter is also afraid of the adult seat, but the portable toddler seat has been invaluable in helping to train her. She still uses it. Here is one link for the seat http://www.pottytrainingconcepts.com/Cushie-Traveler-z.html

I'm another mom that says forget the pull ups. They're a waste of time and money and are too much like diapers. Use cloth training pants so she'll really know she's wet when she's wet. She's not too young for potty training and will do great, and quicker than you think. Both of our girls were totally potty trained "early", the first at 17 months, the second at 18 months.

I think the problem is, babies are ready to be potty trained before we think they are. Perhaps it's the moms that haven't been ready till the kids are 2 or 3 years old, but as we're learning now, babies learn much earlier and much faster than we give them credit for. They truly are little sponges, ready to soak up and learn anything and everything we take the time to teach them!

Good luck!

You're going to hear a lot of things on both sides of the topic. My experience is this: try it for a couple of days. If it doesn't work, go back to to diapers, but keep trying. I say only a couple of days, because only you will know if it's a good idea to keep pushing or wait. Only you will know if she's starting to get or not. My daughter also started showing a real interest in potty at about 18 months. We did for 2 days and she was doing great, but the 3rd day was always wet. She didn't seem to be getting it. But, since that time, I have only changed about 12 or so poopy diapers. She is getting that down VERY well. She is almost 23 months now. So, I put her back in diapers, she goes with me almost everytime, and I try to get her to go before bed. So, I figure that for her, this is great. I don't believe in rushing the potty training. They will get it, at their own pace. I believe that time and lots of patience is the key.
Good luck.

Well, potty training does not have to mean you are pushing your child. My son started with infant potty training at 4 months. As long as you are listening to your baby's cues and making it a fun learning process you don't have to worry about pushing. In the US we are used to potty training at age 2. You should know that this is based on our culture more than anything. Many other cultures potty train from birth. Children are very aware of there elimination needs. If you nurture that awareness then your child will respond. Get her a good potty chair and start making a certain sound when she goes peepee or poop. She will have fun going on her potty while you cue her and eventually she will start making the sound herself. if she doesn't want the potty chair you can always hold her in arms over a basin or toilet. Make it fun and change locations when she gets bored with the same routine. Good luck!

I think she's trying to tell you she's ready to learn to use the potty. I had one child who kept taking off his diapers and running around naked. He was fascinated with the potty and had an older brother to imitate. He was out of diapers at 19 months. Once you decide to teach her to use the potty, put her into underpants, and use diapers only at night. If her undies are pretty, she'll love them and not want to get them soiled. Be prepared for a few accidents,but treat them as no big deal. Praise her when she goes and tell her how grown up she is. Good Luck!

Pull-ups are expensive, I'd stick with diapers. We were all trained without pull-ups and we seem to have made it! lol
Seriously, all those chemicals that make the diaper "cool" so the child know's s/he's gone scare me. I'm going to get cloth trainers when the time comes.

I'd say let her go naked from the waist down for a few days and see how she does. I never had luck potty training with pull ups - my kids used them as a diaper. I just read that in 1957 92% of kids were potty trained by 18 months, so it is definitely possible. Good luck!

I had the same situation with my just 1 year old. She saw the girls at the sitter's house doing it, so she wanted to do it too! So, we bought the chair and did princess pull ups. My advice to you is to let her do as much as she wants when she wants. We've had lots of ups and downs -- she'll be really interested for several weeks and then none at all. I think that when she got started, she was just too young to really understand and really feel the need to go. She just wanted to do what the big girls were doing. We were just getting good luck by putting her on the potty at the right time. A year and a half later - which seems likes FOREVER to be potty training - she is really starting to get the hang of things. We rarely change anything poopy these days and she can tell us when she needs to go. Just trust your instincts and know that it's ok to not push. Your daughter is very young and it may take awhile, but she'll let you know when she is truly ready!

I used diapers for the first couple of months (but I used cloth so there wasn't any waste involved. Then went to panties during the day when we had a fairly good routine going. Still used diapers at night.
Pull ups are really a better idea than underwear until your child is fairly trained just because of the mess involved in cleaning up the accidents that do happen.
Good Luck!

I would try to use pull-ups. This way you still get the safety net of a diaper and she gets the "big girl" feel of undies. ;) I didn't do underware full-time until my son was telling me several times a day. And no he never had confusion between pull-ups and undies.

Hello C.. My 25 month old went potty last week for 4 whole days and I bought her princess pull-ups which she loved. Then Saturday came and the older kids were home and the schedule was different and she hasn't used the potty since. Ergo, I can use some of your advice as well :)
My only problem with the pull-ups was when she lost interest and she was still wearing them she got a huge red diaper rash. The pull-ups (we got the feel and learn) are not designed for obsorbency (sp). Just be careful that the pull-up gets changed very often so you can avoid the diaper rash that we now have :( I had to put my little one back in diapers but she doesn't really care which is so sad b.c she would get sooo excited when she heard herself pee :(
Best of Luck! Let me know how it goes because I could use some help over here too.

You have a window of opportunity here that will not last forever. I say go for it. Almost all kids show interest at this age and can be potty trained-which is why way back when kids were potty trained much younger, but people usually wait till they are older and then the kids are close to 3 before getting trained. I would put her in pullups. Does she stay dry all night? If so, that's great. If not, you'll definitely need a pullup at night until she can get through the night dry. Good luck!