Hi everyone. I have a 20 month old boy who is very interested in potty training. I think he is ahead of the curve b/c I have a 3 year old as well, and he watches his brother go.
Anyway, for the past 3 days or so he's been asking to go on the potty, and reguarly going potty and poop when I put him on there. He's also, of course, gone in his diapers a few times without telling me. I am wondering if I should take advantage of this interest, and just try to forge ahead? I didn't potty train my older son until a bit after two, so obviously the maturity levels were different. I have a new baby coming in about 2-3 months, so it would be very nice to have potty training out of the way by then!
Does anyone have any tips for potty training a younger child?
Thanks!
K
Heck yeah - go for it!! Encourage him - sounds like he is ready!
I would say to let him go when he tells you but not get too excited about it right yet. He is probably mimicking his brother, but doesn't really know the sensation of needing to go. They say most kids don't really understand the physical need until around 22 months. Just let him lead the transition and it will probably go faster than you think.
He is showing signs of interest, so I say go with it! Keep with what you are doing...let him go when he asks and you be way observant and ask him if he has to go when you think he does have to go. Don't push, keep it light and go BIG on celebration after the fact...high fives all the way around...and make sure to make a big deal out of telling his older sibling that he went "potty like a big boy" in front of him! When accidents happen (which they will) don't make a big deal out of it..."no biggie, lets clean you up"...and that's it.
Is he waking up dry in the morning? If he is, he is totally ready! If not, no biggie, some kids have a harder time with night time dryness.
It does help to have older siblings to watch and learn from.
Don't be worried about his age, not all kids are the same. All 3 (2 boys and 1 girl) of my kids were fully potty trained (night and day) right after they each turned 2...so it does happen :)
Potty training doesn't have to be hard...I was lucky enough to not have a problem with any of my kids (they all woke up dry in the mornings VERY young)...I just kept it light!
If he is showing interest jump on it asap!! LOL! I have three myself and once my middle one showed interest we acted quiclky. For us all it took was alowing my son to pick out his very own big boy underwear in the store. But please don't get frustrated if he regresses or has accidents. 20 months is still really young. My daughter was 2 1/2 when she potty trained and my son just turned three when he was trained day and night.
However, be encouraged and see if some big boy underwear might do the trick! Good Luck
My son started asking about the potty at this age, and I let him take the lead. After a bit, it seemed that he backed off it again. He was ready a little later. I would let him take the lead and don't push, he will do it in his own time. I don't know if it was because I didn't push or not, but he was 24 months when sister was born and he didn't regress at all.
