Anyone potty train at 9 months (as per Baby Whisperer)

[houmousandcarrotsandwich]

Title kind of says it all really.

I've read Baby Whisperer but never really followed her EASY routine. I just wonder if anyone has actually followed her advice of starting at 9 months & being able to ditch nappies by a year?
It seems unbelieveable that this would even be possible if baby cant walk or talk!

If anyone has managed this, I'd love to hear your story!

[JingleJangle7]

We're trying it and DD is nearly 15 months now.
We started putting her on the potty every morning from when she was 4 months old because she predictably pooed explosively up her back every morning after her milk. From about 9 months we made more of an effort to do more poos on the potty or toilet and we'd put her on the potty after waking up too as this was a good time to catch a wee. She'd be going onto the potty about 5 or 6 times a day. All good practice and she liked sitting there having books read to her and we sometimes got a poo or a wee and she got loads of praise! As a bonus it is much easier to wipe her bum after the potty then after a poo in a nappy too and she was beginning to hate the changing table at this stage so standing was more popular.
At about 13 months I bought a load of trainer pants (towelling inners and a plastic lining, some mothercare and some brightbots) and we went for broke and she started wearing them during the day and only wore nappies at naps, bed time, on long car trips or outings where finding enough toilets would be a problem. We were averaging 5 or 6 accidents a day for the first month or so but now we often manage 1 or 2 a day though we've still not had the magic no accidents yet. She goes to creche and we've had quite a few no accidents at creche days in the last few weeks! Public toilets can be a bit of a pain but if I go first she usually gets the idea and is quite obliging.
She definitely tries to wee or poo when I ask her to because the wee usually comes straight away or not at all (I'm not that good at guessing when).
The mornings are hardest when she's had a big drink of milk it is hard to guess when next. She only manages about 30 mins between wees then, the rest of the day she lasts longer. She's not been in a nappy for naps for the last few weeks either.
Good luck if you do try, it is not going to happen in a week and even if it takes months and months it is definitely better practice then allowing a child to soil them self till they are two.

[frakkinstein]

I agree that it's going to be longer and slower but it also makes it seem more normal if you introduce a potty early and make the transition smoother than if suddenly over 2 weeks you go 'no more nappies, pants all the way'. It depends what works for your family...

I see the logic in what she says but I've never done it with any on my charges.

[JingleJangle7]

Have you looked on the Baby Whisperer website forums? They have a lot more info on early toilet training than you'll find here. Most of the people on this site seem to go with the wait till 2 method and are generally unsupportive and unhelpful if you think about starting earlier.

[mummytime]

I found waiting until mine were ready (in one case a while after 2) was best for me. I couldn't be bothered with cleaning potties, or carrying them around in a bag, as well as nappies and lots of pants. Actually the best experience was the DD who went straight from nappies to toilet, so much less effort for me.

But if something else is better for you then try it. Hopefully it works.

[MoonFaceMama]

I know very little of bw (enough to know i don't want to know any more! ) but do elimination communication with ds. (sorry, on phone so can't link but google or search on here for more info). It isn't conventional potty training, doesn't rely on "readyness" but is used by people worldwide.

[shirley123]

"moonfacemama" was intrigued about EC mentioned above and am pleased to say it's the method my parents and grandparents used, I was "trained" with it and was clean by 12 months, I used to scoff at my mum telling her it's ridiculous, and now realise that there was method behind her madness, my little one is now 30 months and we are suffering with the first round of serious potty training, I wish I had know about EC and will be doing that with new one due in January. Any links or resources you have come across or forums, could you please let me know.

[MoonFaceMamaaaaargh]

hi shirley (and thanks for the pm )

There are some great sites out there for ec. My favourites are //www.nappyfreebaby.org (sorry if that link is wrong. I'm on phone so can't copy and paste so that's from memory. If it doesn't work try google. The site is called nappy free baby, there,s an american diaper free site too. Nb, you do not need to to do without nappies to do ec! It's ment more in the sense of getting the baby free from a need of nappies iyswim)

There's also a forum called born ready which is great (google born ready forum) and recently has a web site added.

Lastly there is an ec yahoo group you can join too. And a us one and a late starters us one two (in ec terms this is generally considered after six months, but don't be put off, so called late starters still have great success.)

Some areas have ec meets.

Your intro to ec sounds pretty typical to me! Alot of people do scoff at first, but as you point out it was common practice here till quite recently, and still is practiced around the world.

[Kiwiinkits]

Hi I have just read the bit on potty training in the Baby Whisperer and decided to look up on Mumsnet to see what the consensus was. And lo and behold, there was your post. Just wanted to say thanks for your question.
I think I'll try starting at 9 months as suggested. Can't hurt.

By the way the Baby Whisperer book has been absolutely brilliant for us. Baby girl almost sleeps through from 11pm to 7am at 9 weeks, and she has been a dream to deal with since day 1. Thanks to the BW book my husband and I have always felt confident in what we are doing with our daughter and have gotten into a very happy rhythm. I'm a fan.

[horseymum]

yes it is possible, you will get very little support on here but just go with what feels right. ds1 nappy free by 25 months, but clean by about 19 months. dd2 nappy free, day and night by 15 months but clean and dry much earlier - we just kept the nappies on as didn't really believe it! Our method was put on potty at each change to allow opportunity, a bit of praise if something produced but not over the top. ds1 very predictable with poos so very easy to get those. Ignore comments from everyone else about it not being possible for a child to hold on to wee at that age - some can, many cannot, it is not a sign of future intelligence! keep nappies on till you are confident or child makes it clear they don't want them. It is a gradual process and i believe it is much healthier but most people will disagree -that is their right and doesn't bother me. I do not spend my life tied to a potty or chasing round wiping up wees, actually it was far less stressful than many of my friends. I cannot bear to see children (with no other special needs of course) to be still in nappies at three and four years old. baby does not need to walk or talk to communicate with you. It is perfectly acceptable to start before they can undress themselves, tie their shoe laces etc - do not believe that is a valid 'prerequisite' for potty training. Obviously there will be loads who disagree with this, but just adding my experience. With dd3 I will start putting her on potty occassionally when she is 5 or 6 months and see what happens.

[shipsladyg]

I've just bought the Diaper Free Baby book. My mum & M-I-L think it's funny that early training is so controversial. I'm starting to give it a go. First time she wasn't impressed at being sat on the potty. Second time & more toys made it better. However, I think I might buy a toilet seat insert rather than use the potty. Why introduce an extra stage unnecessarily. I'm not expecting it to be a quick change over as we're out most days & thus using nappies. My DD has just turned 6m so I'm not going to make a big issue of it all - just see what happens but I certainly don't intend to still be changing nappies on a frequent basis in 2 years! Unless it's for DC2....

I gather using washable nappies encourages the process along as the child is more aware of being wet.

[mumoverseas]

bloody hell, and there was me very chuffed that DS has been using a potty for a few weeks now at age 21 months

[TheNextMrsClaus]

I think it depends a lot on the temperament of the child. My niece was potty trained from a really young age (can't remember exactly, but it was well before 2), but she was a very placid thing who was quite happy to sit on a potty for relatively long stretches. My dcs would have been up and down like Jack-in-a-boxes!

[mumoverseas]

DS is like a Jack in the box! how he hasn't missed I don't know

[Symirna]

I totally agree that is is unacceptable to have babies over 3 still in nappies (unless the child has special needs) because of the envrionmental impact. The thing about children not being ready before 2.5 is I think mostly PR from the companies making hefty profits from sales of nappies, but I can also see us parents being complicit since we subconsciously want to make the process as easy as possible for ourselves too, and perhaps feel it'll be easier as the child grows older.

My mum also keeps saying I was dry by 12 months, and the method they used at the time (in Turkey) was to use a high chair that was also a potty. She would sit us on this highchair for all our feeds, and we learned to associate pee-ing and poo-ing with it in time.

With my second child I got quite enthusiastic about trying this method, I fould an old carpenter in Turkey who knew about those potty high chairs and he agreed to make one for us. It is basically a chair with a table in front that lifts up to let the child sit in. We started using it from about 20 months. My daughter loves watching CBeebies sitting there, or playing with play-doh, and from about 22 months she would do a wee there every morning while watching CBeebies. As I work full-time (I know not a great excuse), I haven't managed to get her to use it regularly and with more frequency, so at 2 years and 4 months now she is still not trained. But over the Christmas break I have been getting her to sit on it about every two hours, and she almost always did a wee as soon as she sat there. I am hoping I'll manage to start training with no nappies pretty soon, and get her dry by age 2 1/2.

[mylifewithmangers]

Does depend on the temprament of the child.

Started DD at 10 months, clean by just over a year, clean and dry by 22 months in the day and totally gave up nappies a month before her 2nd birthday

DS started at 9 months, he can pee and poo on the potty, but he isn't going to be clean or dry any time soon I think (now 15 months), his heart just isn't in it.

However I do think that introducing the potty that early does help, even if it isn't potty training as such. It makes it a common part of their environment so there are no scary issues that can come with training later. It's no biggie to stick them on it for 5 minutes with a book at usual change times.

[Symirna]

It is so encouraging to hear people spending the effort for this, as it is such a big area where we can reduce our carbon footprint with nappies apparently amounting to about 7-11% of the landfill. If everyone made an effort to get their kids dry as early as possible, maybe this could be reduced by 1/3 at least?

And yes, introducing early definitely helps, as it is a matter of association and you also save quite a few nappies along the way - my daughter, though not nappy-free yet, wakes up dry, and will always do a pee on the potty highchair in the morning.

I felt with my first daughter that part of the problem we had during her potty training was she felt it was totally normal thing to soil her nappy as she had never been asked to do anything else before, and couldn't get her body and mind to do something else easily.

[totallyslummymummy]

interesting thread and I would like to start doing this with my 10 month old. I have a 2.2 yo as well and she is dry with maybe one or two accidents a day still, mainly coz i am not always as "on the ball" as I should be. What I would like to know is how u all cope with other parents who have "helpful" opinions as to how early u are starting potty training. The other day my 2 yo had a small accident at a toddler group (after having earlier used the loo successfully) and another mother said loudly "Well that serves you right for potty training too early" !!! I was fuming but not wanting to make a big issue of it in front of my child I said nothing. Also it seems that NONE of the other parents of 2 yos that I know have even thought about potty training, which makes it awkward at people's houses etc, plus I am sure if her peers were all into it she would be even happier about using the potty/loo all the time, we are social animals after all!

[totallyslummymummy]

p.s. where do you get these potty highchairs, looked for one for ages without success!

[bumbly]

not read posts but you have got to be kidding me - 9 months!!!

its a baby!!!!!!

[bumbly]

...but nonetheless good luck with it!

[anonMum2]

I'm going to put my new baby on the toilet EC style as soon as it's born. Never mind feeding it first.. Speaking as a very fed up mum whose DS 2.7 has an extremely bad habit of still wetting himself at least 5 times a day. We know he IS potty trained because he knows exactly what's happening, e.g. tells me "I don't want to stop playing / stop watching Cbeebies..". I'm like "huh? do you need the toilet?" I feel his pants, they are completey dry. Then few minutes later he says "I've just wet mysef and made mummy sad. But I still want to play /watch tv". Grrr...

If he wasn't doing anything exciting then there's no accident. Now if television is on he would even poo in his pants because he would NOT take his eyes off television. He was poo-trained a year ago with no accidents even when he has diarrhoea he can normally hold on.

Wasn't actually being serious with my first sentence obviously... but I will seriously consider doing EC this time if I have the time and patience. 9 months isn't too young to get them into the habit of wee/pooing outside of nappies/clothes.

[Symirna]

I had the potty high chair specially manufactured by an old carpenter in Turkey (who used to produce them long time ago) as they are no longer seem to be in use there too, at least in the urban areas.

I asked a few companies here before, but none was interested enough. One asked about the model, but I didn't know what it would look like until the carpenter completed it.

My parents say we were late to start (because we could not get the potty highchair produced earlier), they say ideally it should be started when the baby is sitting comfortably before even age 1. My expectation is that it will be a bit like the trainer bikes, i.e. will shorten the training period with no diapers on, though we never tried it yet. When we sit my daughter on the potty every two hours, she almost always does a pee in the first minute, so she already knows how to work her bladder, though she doesn't use it for the poos.

I would be keen to see if anyone else would be interested in potty highchairs. If there is enough demand, maybe we could convince a company to produce them.

[Jules2011]

With my first DS, we out him on the toilet from around 10 months old due to reading baby whisperer and a regular before bath poo. I have to say I didn't really follow it to the letter but by 18 months we never had a dirty nappy. It helps if your child does regular poos. Wee's took longer (I wasn't really focussing on wee) but he was fully dry (no accidents) at 2.2 months. My youngest would not go near the loo but has started training himself now at 22 months, he rarely has a dirty nappy.

I had loads of snide comments - one friend said "It would be impossible to train my son as he eats so many vegetables I can't get to the toilet quick enough" as if my child didn't eat fruit or veg grrr!! I too got the looks if he wet himself. And also the smugness when their child trained within a couple of weeks at 2 3/4.

I think it is worth a try, I personally don't care about puddles lots of kitchen roll and patience is all you need. I do have wood floors though lol!!

[roundthehouses]

I am so impressed this op has got to 24 replies of almost all positive support! If you do a search you will find many previous posts on the subject - I agree that in general on MN you will not find a great deal of support and usually sooner vs later any discussion of the subject brings out people shouting about it being abuse etc etc

FWIW ds was clean by 10mths, dry at about 20mths iirc, at nighttime by 22mths. something like that. Nothing THAT extraordinary really but the no pooey nappies was fantastic and it did make the whole process a very natural evolution which did not require any sticker charts, bribing, accidents etc at a later age. we were veerrrrry relaxed and just put him on at change time etc. and he had no more nappy free time than any other baby of a similar age. We did use cloth so not sure if that helped.

[ChessyEvans]

Hi everyone, don't know if OP is still reading this but just wanted to add that my mum says she never had a "dirty" nappy with all 3 of us. By that she meant that we were fully potty "trained" by the time we were on a solid foods diet of 9-12 months. My mum was a SAHM so did have the time to do this but she says her method (as mentioned by others above) was to put us on the potty every time she was changing us, and to be excited with us when our nappies were clean / dry. She did say there were accidents and that it was very calm / relaxed, oh well never mind type thing.

My niece is coming up to 3 and it seems a lot more complicated to be potty training her now as she has her own ideas and everything has to be a discussion! My mum says it seemed like reflex with us after a while, we would automatically wee when put on the potty!

We were cloth nappy babies (this was 30 years ago!!) but my little sis was on disposables and my mum did the same with her. I think it was more common back then but I definitely plan to do the same.

As my mum says now, if the "baby" can ask for 'juice', 'milky' etc then it can also ask for a potty / wee wee etc. Will report back in a year (1st baby due in April) and admit I was wrong maybe