When to Potty Train? - Columbia Station,OH

It's never too early to start! It may take longer for her to be fully trained but as long as you're patient then go for it! My daughter is 20 months and is almost completely trained. We casually started around a year old (more of a potty awareness... where to sit what to do kind of a thing) and now we are more serious about it.
Did you do Sign Language with her? This really helps when it come to early potty training since communication is necessary. Perhaps you could teach her the sign for potty and all done.

Here is a list of signs, your child may be ready to potty train. It has been my experience, MOST children really will let you know when they are ready. Spending a year trying to potty train is a waste of everybody's time and energy.

* Your child signals that his or her diaper is wet or soiled.
* Your child seems interested in the potty chair or toilet.
* Your child says that he or she would like to go to the potty.
* Your child understands and follows basic instructions.
* Your child feels uncomfortable if his or her diaper is wet or soiled.
* Your child stays dry for periods of 2 hours or longer during the day.
* Your child wakes up from naps with a dry diaper.
* Your child can pull his or her pants down and then up again.

You may start noticing these signs when your child is 18 to 24 months of age. However, it is not uncommon for a child to still be in diapers at 2 and a half to 3 years of age.

Here is the link to information.
http://familydoctor.org/online/famdocen/home/children/par...

We had our daughter's 2 year well-baby visit this week, and the pediatrician asked about potty-training.

Our son was past his 3rd birthday before he was interested enough to make a concerted effort.
Our daughter is showing no signs of interest or readiness.

If your daughter is interested, I'd strongly advise encouraging it, but she's really young and may revert or have more accidents than if you wait.

Our daughter is not capable of pulling her pants down by herself yet, so that's a big signal to me that she's not ready. Our pediatrician confirmed that kids who are pushed before they're ready tend to have a longer, more frustrating experience than those who do it more on their own terms.

Try it, but don't push it. If she's not interested, wait a few months then try again.

I don't think it hurts to try. My grandmother, who had 7 children in the 1940's-1950's, told me that in those days, mothers routinely potty trained their children around 13-15 months. She said that any mother who hadn't potty trained her child by then was considered a bad mother and lazy! So... it is definitely possible. However she did also tell me that at that age, it is really about training the mommy more than training the child, since they still do need help taking their pants off, climbing up to the potty, etc. In the era of cloth diapers and hand-washing, though, you can see where it would certainly be beneficial to potty train really young. I think us moms started to get lazy about potty training when disposable diapers came along, and we've concocted the "wait until they're ready" concept to justify it. =) (I'm as guilty of that as the next person!)

Both of my girls were potty trained at 2 and it wasn't hard. I definitely don't understand the "wait until the kid feels like it" mentality. I have a friend who did that and her daughter was over 4 by the time she was out of diapers. I can't imagine changing a 4 year old's poopy diaper! Yick. The little girl only started being interested when her friends in preschool made fun of her. Why allow your child to be humiliated like that when there's no good reason? Potty training definitely needs to be a parent-directed activity, no question. When you're ready, go for it.

My daughter trained at 13mths. She was just so happy to sit on the potty and get praised. I would put a diaper on at night just in case but by 18mths. stopped. I think she only wet to bed twice. Make sure she is taking in enough fluids throughout the day and when you decide to give up the nightime diapers I would stop the drinking at around 6 to 7. If she doesn't seem interested don't push for her to potty train. Sometimes they are scared at first. If she appears afraid stop and then try again in a couple of wks. Continue until she is comfortable. My second child would not and I mean not train until he was about 2 1/2. Good luck!!

Sounds like your little one sounds like she's ready. My little one was already 3 when we started, unfortunately some very long trips where in her future so the real "training" didn't start until this past October. She's all dry now, sleeping in big girl panties overnight.

Start slow, get her some pull ups and start taking her to the bathroom every time you go. You go, she goes. Get her used to going. As young as she, when you really get ready, she'll likely to need to go every hour. You'll have to take her and actually sit her down. When she goes, make a huge fuss, a lot of parents use treats, small candies, or stickers. If she doesn't go just smile and try again later. Good luck and take your time.

I think it's too early. Once you start you don't want to go back to diapers or they will get confused. I started my son at 2 1/2 years old during the summer. He showed interest in the potty so we just started right away. He was able to pee in the potty without any accidents after about 2 to 3 weeks. He went poop in the potty after about 5 weeks. I think it took him a little while to get the timing down. I figured out that he went poop about 1/2 hour after we ate dinner, so I sat him on the potty at this time and we read books for about an hour. Finally he went poop. He was so excited, and we made a really big deal out of it. He was potty trained from then on.

Is she having at least 4 wet diapers? Sounds like she's a little too dry to me… especially for this age… but I am no doctor.

There are a lot of opinions out there, but coming from a family of seven kids (I am the oldest) and having friends from large families, I got to see many different methods, and the one that worked the best was to just wait until they are interested. This meant that potty training didn't usually happen until they were about 2-3 years old, but the potty training went so fast and was so easy because the child was old enough to notice when they had to go, in time for them to make it to the bathroom, and they wanted to use the bathroom because they wanted to be 'big kids.'

The parents who tried to potty train at 1-1.5 years always had so much trouble. They were taking the kids to the bathroom every thirty minutes, which was frustrating for both the parent and the child. They had accidents galore, and it took FOREVER.

When you wait till they are older and show an interest in it, the teaching goes much faster and easier. So I guess I would say wait, for your child's peace of mind and your sanity.

I would check to see if she is getting enough fluids, though; dry 90 % of the day and after an entire night of sleep is too dry, I think. Maybe ask your doctor. They are supposed to have at least 4 wet diapers in a 24 hour period.

God bless!
M. D