DD, 21 months, thrust potty training on me - not sure how to proceed!

[Ewe]

On NYE, before her bath, DD said wee and as we were in the bathroom she went to potty, I took her nappy off and she did a wee. Thought this would be a one off but the next day, yesterday, she also kept asking for potty and apart from one accident managed it every time - even one poo!

Have kept her nappy on for naps and also for when we went out today. Have read a little about it in the GF book and the MN toddler guide but still not 100% clear on what I should be doing now. Do I keep her in nappies and just use the potty in the house? She seems quite young and not sure she will be able to reliably tell me that she needs the potty when out and about.

If we take her out without nappies, what do we use? She is not a fan of the toilet. Any general tips would be very much appreciated.

[Missus84]

You can get travel potties you can carry around with you.

I don't think there's any harm in using nappies or pull ups out of the house til she's more reliable.

[Ewe]

I was thinking about using pull ups but I recall reading on here that they are a no-no, not sure whether it was just another Mumsnet no-no though!

Travel potty - of course, my brain is still recovering from Christmas, why didn't I think logically!

[Missus84]

I think if you are going for adult led training, then pull ups can be confusing for a child as they're like a nappy. But since it's your DD who has decided she wants to wee in a potty, I don't think it's so much of a problem.

[Batteryhuman]

My DS3 was the same age when he did the same thing. I just did the same as for the previous 2 (at a much later stage) ie take the nappies off and get on with it. I stayed close to home for a couple of days until it was clear that it was working and once we started going out had to be alert for the cry of "wee wee" as he had a very short trigger! (easier with a boy though as they can wee pretty much anywhere!).

I hate pull ups as I think they are unhelpful but I know some swear by them. good luck!

[ches]

Your DD is telling you when she needs to go, so I'd just carry on as you are. When she's reliable then switch out of nappies. You're both doing brilliantly.

[MrsNarcissist]

My dd was out oif nappies completely by this age, all her own doing. You can get little toilet seats that fold up small enough for a bag. Go with it, I happen to think most dcs get ready for this at this age but adults miss it, I certainly missed this window of opportunity with the boys and then ds1 was over three!! Or perhaps it's becasue they're boys?

[MGMidget]

I would continue to support and encourage her because if she wants to to it that's most of the battle! If you ignore it now it may be harder to potty train her later when she has decided that mummy thinks she should be weeing and pooing in her nappy. If you potty train now there will probably be more accidents than if she were older but if you have the patience to deal with it you will be rewarded with a potty trained child by the age of two. Rather than going cold turkey when she is so young, you could do a half-way measure at first - no nappy in the house and encouragement to use the potty and pull-up nappy on when you go out (but take potty with you so you continue to allow her to use it if she wants to). You could then move to washable cloth trainer pants which are absorbant and capture most wee if they are good ones and finally on to normal thin pants. I started my son potty training at 22 months - he didn't take long to get the hang of using a potty indoors with a bare bottom but it took a little longer for him to be consistent in remembering to use the potty/holding on till he got there when he was out at playgroups and fully dressed. However, when he got to that stage (at nearly two) I just stayed close to him and reminded him regularly so we hardly had any accidents. At first he wore cloth trainer pants so if he had an accident it was kept in his pants but by 25 months I had him in thin ordinary pants all the time and few accidents. If you decide to go for it I would get some waterproof backed liners for car seats and buggies - you can get towelling washable ones with waterproof backing from a number of kids retailers. That way it will be less stressful if she has an accident.