Should I start now?

[dorisbonkers]

My DD (almost 20 months) has been announcing she is 'doing a poo' (which is sometimes a fart) and saying she's 'doing a tinkle' for a while now.

I'm not in a huge rush and have picked up that rushing it can cause problems. But it's occurred to me that she's telling me for a reason and that I should get a potty for the home and try her on it when she asks.

I've not even thought about it (first child)

How do you go about it?

I've had her nappy off times at home and if she's announced a poo or started 'grunting' (sorry, not what you want to envisage in the morning) she just gone there and there and I've not been able to catch her. Thank goodness for wooden floors....

[sockonmyhead]

she is pooing on the floor! yes, buy a potty, now!

just do what you have been doing, put with the results appearing in the potty and not on the floor

[dorisbonkers]

oh, it was an accident once or twice -- not intentional and just about caught! No big fuss.

Just thought 18/19 months was early.

[peasandbeans]

18-19 months old may seem a bit early compared to the average age children are potty trained in the UK, but that does not mean she is not ready.
Some children really don't like having wet and dirty nappies and would rather go on the potty.

DD2 was 12 months when she kicked up such a fuss while I was trying to get her nappy on that I just put her down on the floor in exasperation, and told her that we would try again in 5 minutes when she had calmed down. She promptly went through to the bathroom and sat down on DD1's potty and did a wee. She did the same thing the next day, so I soon started letting her wear pants and just dealt with the accidents.
She wasn't actually reliably dry any earlier than dd1 (about 2.5), but her success rate was good enough for us to carry on.

DS1 is 21 months old and will happily wee or poo in the potty if I put him on, but his language skills are fairly minimal, he never asks, and I really can't be bothered at the moment to deal with accidents left right and centre (am 7 months pregnant), so we are leaving it for another day.

I would say that if she can tell you before she wants to do a wee or a poo that she is about to do one, and she looks interested in the potty, then she may well be ready. When you have got a bit of time you can take her nappy off and see what happens. Be delighted if anything goes in the potty; clean it up with no fuss if it doesn't and take it from there. If she is not getting the hang of it at all, then wait a couple of months and try again!