Is 18 month old DD ready? Opinions welcome....!

[flootshoot]

For the last couple of weeks DD has been sleeping dreadfully. Screeching before bedtime, waking at midnight wanting to play, up for hours at a time.... anyway, the other night she was in our bed and she woke up twice, both times holding her nappy and saying 'poo'. Both times she hadn't pooed, but she had just done a big wee, so I changed her and she eventually went back to sleep. For the last few days she has been saying 'poo' when she wees (she sort of coos it like a pigeon ). Then last night she suddenly held the back of her nappy and screeched 'POO' at me so I decided to whip out the potty. She had a bit of a stress at me while I tried to get her nappy off, had pooed a bit in the nappy but sat on the potty and finished off. She was so chuffed with herself, and then proceeded to sleep through the night. It was also the first time in ages she let me put a nappy on her without a struggle. It seems that me finally working out what she wants has settled her down a bit.

She has sat on the potty a few times over the last couple of months but it's the first time she has performed. She sat on it again this morning after she got up while I was on the loo and I could see her sort of straining as if trying to force out a wee, but I could tell from her nappy that she's just done one.

I trained DS at 2 1/2 by putting him straight into pants and it only took a week. I'm a bit clueless about doing it with a younger child - I would be happy to wait but it seems DD is not!!

Anyway, sorry for rambling - does it sound like she's ready, and is the same method of going straight into pants likely to work with an 18 month old? Or are there other ways that might be better? TIA

[NAR4]

My daughter has been using the potty consistently since about 17 months. I just take my daughter to use the potty every time I use the toilet and have it available so she can sit herself on it if she feels the need at other times. Sometimes she sits on it when she just needs a fart and sometimes she forgets and wets herself whilst rushing over to the potty. You could do what I did to start with, offer her the chance to wear knickers if she does a wee on the potty, but if she wets herself then she has a nappy back on. Don't make a big fuss about it, just let her choose. You can probably expect more accidents due to her young age, but it is possible to potty train this young.