What Is a Good Age to Start Potty Training a Girl?

Hi!
I started potty train my daughter when she was 18 mo. and I'm so glad I did because now she 2 yr. 6 mo. and at this time she says no to everything so I'm glad I started before this attitude started!

I didn't read the other responses so I hope this is not a repeat.
In my personal opinion I think 18-24 months is a great age to potty train. Although some would strongly disagree. They must posess certain readiness skills first though. For instance being able to pull up and down their own pants. If you are interested in potty training "early" I would suggets looking on Amazon.com for the book "toilet training in less than a day" by Simon & Scheuster. We toilet trained my son using this book in 1 week end at 25 months. At the end of the weekend he was completely trained meaning- self initiating potty both #1 and #2 with no accidents and no reminders. (Not just only going when we make him sit down.) He is also completely dry over night and wears big boy underwear to bed. This method is based on praise, fun and repitition/muscle memory and always works. Good luck!

A big toilet is a scary thing to babies. Their minds are still in the Piaget stage where size difference doesn't compute - - so they think they could fall in and disappear down the hole with the water. Some babies even fear going down bath-tub drains. (Look up Piaget's stages of development. His theories of brain development can help you parent all the way through teenage years.) My advice: Buy a tiny training potty that sits on the floor. Place next to where you change diapers. Any morning you wake her up and she has a DRY diaper, sit her on her tiny potty to go pee-pee. A dry diaper at night is the BIG SIGN. I also noticed when my children were starting to stay dry at night - - is when night terrors starting waking them up. My first-born son's first night terror - - he screamed hysterically about "a big bee in the room," but his eyes were closed. I discovered that if I sleep-walked him to the potty and gently said, "Go pee-pee, honey," that he'd pee like a race horse and then, back in bed, he'd sweetly drift off to a peaceful sleep. I started to make sure to sit him on his little potty at night right before putting on his night diaper and pajamas. ((This was 25 years ago, so PULL-UPS did not exist. Those would have been nice to use.))

If she doesn't want to sit on it, then yes.

This isn't really a "what age" question; it's more a matter of spotting the readiness when it DOES come - which varies GREATLY from kid to kid. My oldest was painlessly 100% potty trained by the time she *turned* two; my middle one finally stopped trying to hide in the corner to poop in her pullups when she was 3-1/2! :p

Try to make the potty seem like this awesome magical thing that big girls get to use, but whatever you do, do not pressure her to start sitting on it - it needs to be SO great, not this thing that Mom keeps bugging her about! Trust me, now that it's in your head, it might seem like forever until she's interested... but you will make your life a whole lot easier if she's not fed up with the whole subject by the time you start for real.

And don't forget the potty parties - wooohooo over every tiny speck of pee, call Daddy to let her tell him on the phone (clue him in that he needs to be all "WOW!! That is SOOO great!!!" about it), do a little dance or make up a song to do together - this needs to be BIG. They get so proud & happy! This can be (strangely enough) really fun family time.

Oh, and I'll just come right out & say it: stock up on bribery tools - marshmallows (minis) worked for me; one for trying, two for peepee and THREE for poopoo. Seriously, not the time to stand on your principles. :D

I believe arround age 2 is a good time to start. However, introducing her to the potty and reading potty books to her at this age are good ideas.

I have a boy. But at 2 1/2 he is totally potty trained and I started (little by little) when he turned 1. I would put him on the seat when I ran the water for his bath and then in the morning when he was about 18 months - nothing ever happened but at least he got comfortable sitting there.

I recall reading a article that said don't even begin to try until your child is 28 months. If you wait longer, success will come more quickly.

***ADD***
When I was potty training my oldest, Dr. Phil had a show that was dedicated to the topic. Might want to check his website for it. It was informational.

I started mine around 2 1/2. She was diaper free within 3 months.
M.

You want to follow her lead as far as her interest in the potty. Mine started at 17 months but she could tell me when she peed and when she went poo so I went with what she was telling me and got her a potty chair for each bathroom that way it was easily accessible for her. I started taking her on a regular basis and she was/is excited to go. She's 21 months now and almost never has a poo accident but still is learning to control her bladder. We are basically diaper free at home except nap and night. Just follow her lead.

Our daughter will be 2 next week and has only developed an interest in sitting on the toilet in the past week. She has yet to go to the bathroom. She does not go for extended periods without wetting her diaper, so we're taking her cues that she's just not ready yet. Hopefully in the next few months!

Here's what the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends:
http://www.healthychildren.org/English/ages-stages/toddle...

My daugher is 2.5 and almost fully potty trained. I bought a potty around the same time you did and a book. I just waited to follow her lead. One day she was interested in going, so we went with that. I got really excited and started asking her to go all the time and she lost interest. As soon as I quit asking her about it, sure enough her interest peaked again. So when she was going all the time on the potty we went with the underwear. She has been in underwear almost two months and still has the occasionally accident. I agree with the other mom that said just to follow her lead. If she has no interest in sitting on it, I would just wait it out until she does. She will eventually.

My daughter is 38 months and we just did it this week. She got a potty for her 2nd birthday but showed no interest. I'd get a potty for her but wait until sometime when she is atleast 2 1/2 (or 3) to really start.

when she is ready it is time. not likely now if she doesn't want to sit on it. i'd get her a small potty and leave it available to her. if she wants to sit let her. about the 2 year mark, you can try to actively train her, but before then i doubt it will work. what happens is they train you to run them to the potty at that early age. why not wait till they are old enough to run themselves, even if it is 3 or 4 years old? and that "potty training in one day" book is only good for a huge laugh. it totally doesn't work as a complete method only as a starting point, which the authors will never admit. sure my boys trained at the 4 year mark, but they did it on their own and without a huge fight. much easier on me!

When she says, "mommy, no diaper today, I want to go on the potty"

Wow -- everyone trained their kids really young! I waited until a few weeks before my daughter turned 3. She was 100% completely trained in 4 days. Not a single Pull-Up was worn -- straight to underwear. No accidents since. It was SO easy! There's a huge benefit to waiting until they are slightly more mature and are self-motivated.

It is easier if you wait until she is ready. The best way to know is she will hide or squat when pooping.

not sure if you have other kids but my daughter on her own started around 18 months. she's 22 months and only needs diapers at night.

it was all her.

i just let her run around nakid and she decided.
kinda cool : )

It just depends on the child. Everyone is different. The most important thing is to let them go at their own pace and don't force it because it can prolong things. My daughter is 22 months old and has been using the potty since she was 13 months old. I haven't actively tried to fully potty train her yet, but I do keep her in big girl undies occasionally and when she tells me she needs to go I bring her and if she has an accident I don't get upset. I think the easiest thing to do (this is what I did) is to put her potty seat in the bathroom where you go and every time you have to go take her with you and have her sit on her seat while you sit on yours. At first mine would sit on hers with her clothes on and all, but after a day or two she was wanting to take her diaper off to sit on it. Children always like to be like mommy.

I would wait longer. 17 months is really quite early. Some kids are ready that early... but not many. My own daughter trained fairly early (by today's standards - but not by 2 generations ago standards) around 20 months. She was done pretty quick. But she is VERY internally motivated. Not all kids are. She would ask to flush for ME when I used the potty... so I started telling her that if she wanted to flush, then she needed to put some pee or poop in there.... she was all happy...
My son took a little longer... but he also had some interest and was able to help quite a bit with his clothes. It is harder for boys to get their clothes undone in time to not have an accident. With girls, you can just have them in a little dress and just pull down the undies and they are set. With boys, there are 2 things to pull down, and often the pants/shorts have buttons and zips, that are VERY time consuming for little boys... lol
Don't push... just talk to her about it whenever it seems "natural".
Let her come into the bathroom with you. Tell her what you are doing.
Let her know that one day she'll use the toilets too. And when she finally has an "accident" in a potty, be jubilant and congratulate her. That is really what motivates them. Stickers are fine, but high fives and "potty dances" and "potty songs" are where it is at... lol
Good luck.