"Potty Training"

E.,

She might be a little young. But the best thing that I learned through potty training my little girl was that once the task (potting) is mastered they forget about it and move on to something else to master. So, you need to find something that she likes to keep her attention on it. My daughter was doing GREAT for about 2 months and then all the sudden she started having accidents and never would go in the potty. So, one morning, I put her on the potty and said "we are going to play a game. Every time you go potty in the potty, you can have an m&m." She's been going ever since and that was about 6 months ago. She is only 2.5 years old. Be consistent and DO NOT get onto her if she has an accident!!! Good luck.

She probably was just distracted by all her new walking skills! The big thing is to make sure she is ready now. There is a good article here about readiness: http://www.burbmom.net/potty-training-in-less-than-a-day/
I found that with two of my boys I had to wait until they were older - 2 1/2 in one case and 3 in the other. My youngest was ready at 18 months, but I was too tired to start. That is also a big thing...wait until YOU have the energy and time to commit to it or it won't work either and both of you will be frustrated.
Good luck!

Make sure she is showing the signs of readiness. Check out the information on webmd.com, http://children.webmd.com/tc/toilet-training-topic-overview. Otherwise, it will be a long a frustrating process for both of you.

My 28 month old daughter shows all of the physical readiness but emotionally she isn't there yet. She wakes up dry, can go several hours with a dry diaper, her bowel movements are about the same time each day, she knows how to undress herself, etc. BUT, she absolutely refuses to acknowledge her bodily functions and gets very upset when we do! The first time she pooped and peed in the potty she got completely freaked out, and I mean hysterical crying. If you mention that she has poop or pee in her diaper she gets upset.

Her two older sisters were both potty trained between 2 1/2 - 3 years old, so I'm not that concerned because she seems to be falling along the same timeline.

Good luck! And don't worry if it doesn't happen now. Every child is different, but they all learn!

she started training you and now she's bored of the trick. she's too young! back off for about 3-4 months atleast and see if she won't do it on her own. if she's truly trained to the degree you think, then she'll start very soon.

E.,
Congrats on not allowing you child to be "diaper trained." Have you heard of http://www.diaperfreebaby.org/? You'll get the resources and support you need there. And, it's fine to do what you are doing part time. It sounds like you are doing Elimination Communication (EC). I had also started EC part time when DS was 11 months. We did more on the weekend. Yes, they catch on really quickly; he peed and pooped the first day on the potty. If you are in the Dallas area, you can join: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/DallasDiaperFreeBaby/
This group is online only and is international: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/IPTLateStarters/
You could post your question to those groups once you join and you'll get some help.
As far as your question, I have seen suggestions for books or potty only toys. For us, we usually tried the potty after meals and upon waking, when I knew he really needed to go.
Good luck to you! There is no such thing as too early to potty train. :-)
M.

i have a 22mo boy that has also taken an interest in the potty. He is around my 5 yr old and other children that I take care of. Best advice is not to push this on her but rather just allow her to go to the potty in a very comfortable way. Maybe try going right before a bath since you will have to undress her anyway. Let er sit there and listen to the sound of the water running. You don't want to make it a competion between other children. Really the best time to get a child potty trained is when they can verbally tell you they need to go and can take off /put on their own clothes. Around 2 1/2 yrs is ideally the target age. Some kids do catch on faster, but really there is no rush. Just enjoy your child at each age.

Wow, 17 months! I introduced the potty around 18 months to my toddler - I called it potty 101. Just introducing the words, pretending to go potty, watching mommy, etc. She had a lot of fun and was really into going. Sometimes she would even ask and we had a potty available for her to go. And we had her in a pull up and started at least making it a routine to offer the potty before bath or bed. Sometimes, she would refuse which was fine and other times she would actually go. It was really casual. We could have started potty training then, however, we were not ready to really potty train because i just had her sister. While she was ready, we were not and knew that commitment and time were needed. We just did not have it at that moment. When she turned two and her sister was a little over 6 months we transitioned from potty 101 to potty training. Put her in underwear and reserved pull ups for nap and night. Unfortunately, she was not interested any longer and it really was a lot of work. However, she is now 2 1/2 and fully potty trained. If you feel she is ready and you are committed, then I would put her in underwear and prepare to take her every 30 minutes. The commitment and consistency have to be there and underwear helps with that process for both child and adult. Expect for her to have 3-4 accidents a day the first week and by the 4th week she probably will be down to 0-1 a day. Commitment and consistency are key or it won't work. Additionally, you can't expect perfection at 18 months so prepare yourself to do lots of laundry. Also, encourage her with stickers - that worked for ours as well. A lot of encouragement will be needed. Good luck!!

My advice is to make sure you a both really ready and go for it. I started at 18 months with my daughter and she really got it- until we added underware. Now at 26 months she still has to wear diapers out- and does great at home without pants. I regret starting so early. Her bladder was so small that I was constantly taking her potty everywhere- I couldn't enjoy a meal or complete shopping without 3 or 4 potty visits (and it was always after I had put frozen things in my basket) . My advice is to wait a little longer and then just stop using diapers. I am hoping to really potty train my daughter fully in August now that she is able to pull her pants up and down by herself and lifts her dresses when she pottys. I think we might actually be able to drive 20 minutes now without stopping to potty too- that was a big problem before! It's miserable to wash the car seat often!