Hi Moms!
I am a little confused as what to do with my daughter. She is 20 months old and very verbal, but thinks she is 3 like her brother. I also do home daycare so she is around a 3 kids ages 2 and 3(including her brother) who are all potty trained. I put the small potty out a couple months ago for her and she is obsessed. Once I started taking her diaper off she starting using it. The thing is she only wants to do it when SHE wants to--she is very stubborn. This was fine until this week she has decided she hates a wet diaper and takes her pants and diaper off once she goes potty in it---even in the daycare at the gym. Yesterday I put her in underwear and started potty training her. She had 3 accidents and went many times in the potty. My husband is really not "on board" with starting already. I started potty training my son when he turned 2 and he was done in a couple months.
Do I keep trying? Am I pushing her too much?? She just really seems to want to wear underwear..
Any tips for training at this age?? Tips for being "on the go" and potty training(my son was potty trained in the winter!)???
Thanks!
L.
Thanks for all the positive encouragement. We have worked on it all weekend and today she was dry all morning in her underwear! It will be a lot of work, but she is read (I think :))!
I trained my girls at 26 months in less than two weeks. The little girl I babysit at 19 months in about a month.
She's not too young. I would spend the day naked so she fully understands what potty is and then insist that she be a big girl. Give her a couple of chocolate chips when she goes potty. If she makes a mess, make her help you clean it up and explain that she needs to go on the potty. She can't mess up her big girl panties.
I will keep doing it. Obviously she wants to do it. My daughter started at 2 years and 3 month and she was done by 2.5 years. Girls are early usually and I heard before about kids who were potty trained before they were 2.
No you're not pushing her too much. Tell your husband that boys are slower learners than girls. My daughter was trained in a week and she was 11 months old. She dragged her little potty thru the house to show me she had to go then I would empty, clean it, and praise her beyond belief. Her daddy couldn't believe it night after night, no accidents. Your daughter is with many children already trained. If you stick with it she'll be trained quickly also. She wants to be like the other kids.
My daughter will be 3 in july. My problem came in two ways 1. was that her teacher at daycare(where I also work) was too lazy to sit her on the potty long enough for her to learn. 2. Was several months back she's start going in the bathroom on her own when the teacher wasn't paying attention (scary I know) and take her diaper off to go "potty". The problem w/ this was she couldn't get her diaper back on and she wouldn't tell anyone she needed help. So I would leave work not knowing she didn't have a diaper on and by the time we got home she would have an accident and cry.
So grinning and bearing it I went to pullups. I hate pullups for all they are worth. But pullups were better than accidents. So a few months go by she's telling me when she's wet and poopy but still no help from teacher dear who i had begged and pleaded w/ to help. After all I am there 5 days a week 9 hours a day! So a month ago I told her teacher this is her last pack of pullups. I will be bringing in underwear and pants and she said well I guess she's gonna be wet alot, and I said well I guess your gonna be changing her alot. Two weeks ago tomorrow I finally did it and took in 3 pairs of underwear and pants. Her teacher was ticked I didn't care. She had 1 accident the first day, none the second, 1 the 3rd, 2 w/ daddy on 4(he wasn't used to it lol) and none since.
She's been accident free since the 5th day. She still wears pullups to nap and bed but that's it,, oh and when we are at church or out shopping cause for some reason she's terrified of the big peoples potty lol but I can deal w/ that.
So stick w/ it go for it and she will get it!! Good luck and I know some of this was ranting but I hoped it helped.
H.
Because she is younger, she will have more accidents as it will take longer for her to associate the feeling with needing to go. I would save yourself some heartache though and put her in waterproof training pants instead of underpants so the messes aren't as hard to clean up and if you get good ones, then you won't have as much laundry.
The couple books I would recommend is Jill Lekovic's Diaper Free Before 3 as well as Azrin and Foxx's Toilet Train in a Day. It probably won't be a day since she is so young, but the strategies they say will work for a 20 month old.
It's great that she is shtarting the lead, but you will need a lot more patience with the younger age.
On the go, you definitely want to have plastic pants to contain any accidents as well as cloth wipes to pick them up. Grocery bags to hold the wet accidents. I also used to have 1 change of clothes per hour we were gone, as well as a toilet topper or something that she is willing to go in while you are out and about.
It's hard not to push, but as long as she is showing signs, I would go with it, but you need to make it as easy on yourself as possible as to not be frustrated with the accidents.
Good Luck!!!
Btw- for what it's worth, in other countries, they think we are crazy for waiting so long. Most Asian babies are trained by 1 year, and African babies even younger. There is a big benefit to starting younger before they get into the "no" stage.
Good for you, I think it may take a little longer but it is defintely worth it. One of my friend's daughter did it at 19 mos. so it is possible. As long as you are patience enough I would say why not.
My daughter was also 20 months when SHE decided to be potty trained. I was surprised at first thinking I would try around 2 1/2 like my first daughter. She did great and we never looked back! Like another responder stated, don't be disappointed or discipline her if she regresses and doesn't end up potty trained. She'll still probably be really easy to train later on.
I just always had my kids go potty before we went anywhere and then told them how "sad" Dora or Cinderella (whoever is on the underwear that day) they would be if they got peepee on them. It seemed to work.
Good Luck!
Never too young to start. Every kiddo's going to have accidents when they're starting to learn. Just keep encouraging her and talk up the pros to your husband (no more expensive diapers!!) If underwear are really motivating for her and she's verbal enough to understand, I'd let her know, when she goes on the potty she can have the underwear, if she goes in her underwear/diaper then she has to stay in diapers/training pants. You will still end up having to wash a lot of underwear unfortunately, but she should be getting the idea. If there's anyway you can put her in training pants until she has potty training down pat I would do that too. I'm assuming the undies you have her in have Dora or some character on them? Keep her in plain training pants until she is consistently going on the potty. Also, take her to try to use the potty (which I'm sure you do with your other kids) regularly.
I would invest in a travel potty especially if you are planning trips, but it can be a life saver even if you are just out and aren't able to get to a restroom in time. I also threw a potty seat in the diaper bag when my daughter and I are on the go.
Feel lucky that your daughter is so interested at such a young age!
I would keep training, she is leading you. Keep the underwear for a week and see what happens. If she is truly ready, the number of accidents will decrease each day. Only three accidents the first day is awesome. Use plastic pants over her undies for naps and night times to save the bed. I never go back to diapers during training as I think that confuses the child. If after a week she doesn't seem to have any days or sleep time totally dry, then I would say she needs a bit more time. I would then put her back in diapers full time and try again in a few months. She could still use the potty when she has her diaper off if she wants.
Yikes, that is really young. But I hear girls do it earlier than boys. My 31/2 year old ds trained himself in one day. No accidents. He was truly ready.
I think when you do it this early, you should expect regression and mistakes. She may all of a sudden decide she is using diapers again, and that is fine. Just BE OKAY with whatever she does, and she will get it herself. Don't push at this age or you are asking for a battle. Personally, I think she is way too young. I have a son about her age, and there is no way he is even close to ready. He showed interest when his brother started using the potty, (which I was very positive about), but then went right back to his diaper (which I am also totally okay with). You can't get in to a power struggle with potty training, just let her do as she wants. I would NOT do the underwear yet, but that is just me.
