Potty Training a Toddler

My daughter actually did the exact same thing at that age, so I attempted to start potty training. She went a few times in the potty and then COMPLETELY lost interest. She recently potty-trained at 32 months. At that age, she had actually reached the point where she was asking to go and deliberately holding her pee/poop so that she could use the potty. To me, that is a much bigger sign of 'readiness' than some of the other signs that doctors say to look for. That's great that she's showing inerest, but you may not want to go TOO excited yet :) .

Let her sit on the potty and see if she will accomplish anything... also, dont let her walk around with a sippy cup. what goes in must come back out! timing is everything most toddlers systems are as fast as like 15 minutes!... so unless you plan on making the extra effort to ask her if she has to go or even encourage her to try will be a HUGE help! get her excited about it! but don't be too forceful! and have patience! i potty trained soooo many when i worked at a daycare! takes time! but they will let you know when they are ready!

Both of mine showed interest in the potty (and in copying me when I used it) at this age. It's normal, but doesn't mean she's ready for potty training. Potty training is more of an experience in independence than in bowel and bladder control. A lot of kids can have the interest, have the bowel and bladder control, but not have the desire or the ability to use the toilet independently until they're nearly 3. When she's able to sit on the floor and put both legs through a pair of shorts, then pull them up on her own, she'll be at a good place for introducing the potty.

I wouldn't even approach it until she's 2, even better to wait until she's 2 1/2.

My sister, I, and my daughter were all potty trained at 18 months. My daughter regressed when my son was born at 22 months but was successful again about 2 months later. It all depends on the child, both physical and emotional development come into play. I would advise not to push the issue at this age, but if you give it a try and it works, HOORAY!

Again I join the rest in saying that it is never too early. You just want' to make sure not to use pressure tactics. Make a huge dael of it when se goes in the toilet and try to make a game of it, but then should se not make it just clean it up and remind here to tell you she needs to go potty and that potty goes in the toilet.

I'm not a mother yet, but I can tell you that my niece took her first "p" at 16months. Now, she wasn't "trained" but she did make known when she had just peed and would sit on the potty afterward with a big grin. She subsequently was fully potty trained to #1 within a month after her second birthday. #2 took about three more months. She has had a total of three accidents since (she is almost four) and that is no exageration. I personally think that if your daughter is interested, by all means, nuture that interest. She will know when she is ready.

Hi K.,

In my opinion it is not too early. If she is ready may be she has very keen sense of feeling. My daughter was poop trained by 9 months.

My daughter went through this at your daughter's age. At this age, it is a new and fun thing she has learned-to take take off the diaper. As for the potty, I bought my daughter a little seat that fits into the real potty. She thought that was sooo cool to seat up there like a big girl. Then the newness wore off and it all came to a holt. Probably once a month she thought is was fun to sit up there, but again it passed. She is now 2 1/2 and truly shows signs now-wanting to wear underwear around the house and is able to go potty in the toilet. This was all her doing. Don't push it otherwise it will lead to frustration for everyone.

The fact that she shows interest in the toilet is great. This is the first step to what a friend of mine calls "potty learning". The pulling the diaper thing is probably not be a true indicater that she's ready to make the transition, but rather a typical toddler thing. Mine liked to do that and so did his friends at that age, but none of them were anywhere where near ready at the time.

At 15 months, it's probably a bit too soon for your daughter, but you can of course start introducing the concepts to her. Just try not to pressure her or feel down hearted about it. Her muscles and other physical aspects are probaly not there yet so be patient. Usually a child will begin waking up dry and this will be a good sign that maybe she's getting ready. Also, I don't know where her verbal skills are at but it really really helps if they can communicate their need to go potty. At 15 months, most kiddos just don't have the language skills yet.

Typically it seems that the sooner you push potty training, the more they push back or the longer it takes. It really needs to be their idea and they need to be physically ready which can be anywhere from 2 yrs to 4 yrs. It's a broad range of normal and just because your kid is early/late to pick up on it doesn't mean they're smart/stupid or that you're a better/worse parent. Also, once they do potty learn, it doesn't necessarily make your life easier. Au contraire! You might find yourself in every bathroom, port-a-potty or urinal in town (if you're lucky) at the most inconvenient times. Nobody tells you this. :)

I'd start very low key by giving her a potty book that you can read to her. Start reading it so she has an idea what the potty is for, etc. Let her come with you to the bathroom so she can see what you do. There are also books especially for girls (and boys). We didn't get a little potty but just one of those inserts for the toilet. We didn't get these for my son until he was a little over two and only at his insistence (it has to be their idea imo). He loved reading the book and would occasionally sit on the potty with his clothes off or on.

Early this summer we transitioned to underpants and this helped my son. We actually put him in these not to potty train him, but to help his horrible itchy prickly heat. He had been going in the toilet on a fairly consistent basis but not 100%. We decided to see how he would take things and over a week we had to be careful timing our trips outside the home, but to his credit we had no accidents. We've actually had very few which, i think, also indicates his readiness to potty learn. He also wakes up dry consistently (a BIG indicator that your child is ready to potty learn). Occasionally he would ask for a diaper and we always obliged. This is normal to and we just didn't make a big deal of it since we had originally figured he wouldn't potty train until next year anyway. I think the lack of pressure really helped too.

Keep in mind, my son will be 3 in Nov and he is only the second or so in his peer group to make this transition and certainly the youngest. I know many very very bright children who are older and have great parents who are still not doing the potty thing. It's ok. Like I said before, this is normal. They'll pick it up eventually, on their own and then you'll be making all the wonderful and frequent pit stops that we're getting to make.

K., It is never too early to start if they show interest. I'd just talk to her about using the potty, get a couple of potties that are her size, tell her that big people put their pp and poop in the potty etc. If you can tell when she needs to go or is about to go sit her on the potty before hand and praise her when she goes. Talk to her about how it feels when you need to go etc. But don't push it. She may loose interest and she may not, let her lead the way. I trained my daughter using the $75 method (grin). I left her but nekked and put potties around so she had easy access. If she started p'ing, I'd encourage her to use the potty and mention it every 30 to 45 minutes. Once she was trained (a month or so), I paid someone $75 to clean the carpets. The main thing is not to stress yourself over it, she will train when she is ready.

Good luck,
T.