Ready to Potty Train?

Dear B.

I have a son who is 20mths and I stay very busy just keeping up with him. I have started when he goes #2 by taking him to the potty and we say bye bye to the poo poo. This might sound gross but I dump it into the toilet and then we wave it bye. So now whenever he does go he says poo poo and I say lets say bye bye and we run to the toilet. I think this is a good start. At least he is learning where it goes. I have heard that boys are harder than girls. Good luck! And I would love to hear any advice you get bc I plan on training even further here soon.
D.
Mother of two, daughter and son

A great book to read is Early Start Potty Training by Linda Sonna. It has advice for teaching babies to be diaper-free at any age. Really, it's only in the last few decades we've started waiting until kids are over 2 before introducing the potty.

I started teaching my son to use the potty at two months old. He's now 9 months old and uses it about half the time (I'm not hard core about getting him out of diapers yet since he's in daycare). Google the terms "elimination communication," "infant potty training," and "diaper-free baby" for more information.

You should have dad taking him into the potty when he goes so he isn't scared of it and know what is going on. BUT GOOD LUCK. Boys are horrible about potty training. I've tried several times with mine he will be 3 in Dec. I didn't activly try until after 2 1/2. The best thing I have heard of though is letting go bare bottom. Outside is preferable. That's something I don't want to do. But I know 3 peoplee who have done it that way and had them potty trained in 2 weeks. But they didn't try until after their little boys were 2 1/2.

Hi B.!

I know you would like for your son to be potty trained, but really, 18 months is too soon. This is just going to be more hassle for you and him both if you start now. And little boys usually take longer to potty train. You should really wait until he is 2 1/2. My son didn't even show interest until this age and wasn't fully potty trained until he was almost four. Good luck.

~Lee

I have four boys and one girl (baby of the house). All my boys were three, or three and one half before they were potty trained, not for lack of not wanting. LOL! I just finished potty training our twin boys who are three, quite an experience. I didn't get them a potty though, I bought one of the toilet rings @ Walmart with a cartoon on them. They liked that because they were using the big potty. I would start introducing the potty to your son, talk about it. Let him sit on it if he wants to start to understand somewhat of the concept and maybe you can start it slowly with him. Our oldest son (now 11) was a big boy and hit the size 5 diaper at 18 months but they didn't have size 6 back then and he regulated after hitting two and stayed at a 5 for that year. Hopefully your son will too. All that walking he is doing, it's like more exercise, some a little baby fat should start coming off soon! Good luck!

Well...have a potty around to get used to the idea, but don't expect him to use it for a while. They should be about 2 when u start and some kids arent ready until they are three. My daughter would sit on the potty everytime I went..so she got used to the idea ....for boys ( my sister-in-law has 5 of them), it took them til 3 and 4 to get fully potty trained....I don't know if that was just her or not. However, I heard if u put cheerios in the bowl and have him aim then he might enjoy going. Also, clothes that are easy to get off are really important. If he can't take his pants off or underwear then he is not ready yet. I did my girls in the summer time with dresses.
Hopefully the six's will last a little while or you might have to get pull ups...and those are on the high end. If he gets too big for the pull ups ....good nights work really well too.
Also, my daughters used pullups like a diaper, what worked best for them is to wear panties or being naked under their dresses course that would be harder for a boy lol.

Thats real early. My son just decided to be potty trained 2 months after he turned 3. If you think he might be ready..try pull-ups maybe

My son started being interested at 17 months mainly because he has an older brother who is fully potty trained. My oldest was completely potty trained at 33 months and I expect my youngest will be in a few months. He is 23 months. He goes during the day on the potty (big potty) if we are at home he is naked and when we make short trips he wears the thick underwear and I put a doggy training pad under him in his car seat. I ask him every 15 minutes or so if he needs to go potty. When he started showing interst I was like NO, NOT YET!!! But, he is ready. you have to make sure you don't force!

Potty seats. With my first we used the Royal Potty by Fisher Price. It makes a sound effect if they go. DO NOT GET IT!!! THE SOUND EFFECT THINGY IS IN THE CUP THAT HOLDS THE WASTE AND THEY CAN'T KEEP THEIR HANDS OFF OF IT. They want to make it go off with their hands. It is gross. You can't hide it from them because they need it. Just my opinion! I took the batteries out finally and he forgot in a few days that it made noise. Second one uses a Dora ring on the the big potty and a step stool to get on.

GOOD LUCK!!!

Try using pullups. We had to do that with both of our children, and it worked great. 18 months is awful young to potty train. I'm not saying it can't be done, but most boys are around 2 1/2 or 3 before they train. My sons were 2 years and 3 1/2! Luckily when I potty trained my oldest, my youngest son caught on so they trained at the same time (one nice thing about the competitive streak in my youngest! lol).