I keep putting off potty training - help!

I found the more you pressured the more resistance...

This is why we need to stick with clothe nappies, the plastic ones are too comfortable...

She's still young, school is 5!

I didn't bother i have a very stubborn DC so just let him work it out himself. He did at 3.5

Potty learning should start at around 6 months…..that’s the new thinking being endorsed by health professionals now…..too many children starting school in nappies….and far easier for send children to establish routines from an early age …..so as soon as they can sit up with support really

2y4m would have been too young for my eldest son. We tried at 2y6m (because I thought he was ready) and it was a complete disaster for a whole week which just stressed everyone out. We tried again at 2y9m and he cracked it in a weekend. So I would wait and make your life easier. Our youngest is 1y5m and has a February birthday so unless he shows strong signs of readiness when we’re at my parents for summer holidays next year (when he is 2y6m) we will likely wait for October half term next year (when he’s 2y8m). At this age there’s REALLY no rush.

also make a big fuss when you use the loo!

Just make it into a game and give choices. I’d say ok, potty or toilet because we don’t wear nappies anymore do we.

I trained my DS at 22 months. The hard, boring part was staying in for most of a weekend watching a half naked child potter about 😅. After that, he had the basic idea but still had semi-frequent accidents for a couple of weeks.

It was worth it for me, but I was well and truly done changing nappies by that point.

I’m glad I waited until she was ready and didn’t force it tbh. It was the easiest bit of parenting for me (she’s a terrible sleeper and eater though so I was due something 🤣)

We recommend this as well. Also, when going commando I used pj shorts for my son, as these were much looser and easier to quickly pull up and down compared to some more fitted clothes!

The ERIC website has good tips. People only seem to mention them where there's a problem but they've got good guidance.

I waited until after 3 and they were ready, and then they did it easily

Ok fair enough.

I started potty training at 2. So for the most part nappies were only needed at nursery and bed time.

Nursery offered the 3yr old rate to any children who were potty trained by 2.5, so they could move to the big room where less support was needed. They asked us to provide a few pairs of underwear for accidents so they could support the training there too.

When she turned 3 she asked to stop wearing nappies to bed too. There will be accidents, but that's the point of perseverance.

What's the problem @twotonine they offered we said yes. Why does that upset you? They were clearly ready and had no accidents at nursery unlike friends of ours who started early and had loads of accidents at nursery. Ours were far less bother in the end!

wtf

It’s very much about your child, girls typically can be ready earlier and the younger you do it the less they’re going to resist (in my experience anyway). I potty trained my daughter at 2y4m, poo wasn’t as straightforward but she was dry very quickly. I bought the ‘oh crap’ potty training book as I didn’t have a clue and wanted something to refer back to and give me some structure. It’s not for everyone but I liked it.

Your child is still young and have over 2 years before they are due to start primary school…

just take a few days off and get it done. Look at the oh crap method, my daughter was trained at 2y3m but we did follow it loosely

I just got nursery to do it! They'd done a good foundation of a few months of taking them to the toilet and so the next step was just taking off the pull ups. Both of mine were closer to 3 though but were done within a week with minimal effort from us...

Yep. Do this. I took this approach with both of mine (I think they were both around 2.5)

This is almost exactly what happened with my DS2 at one week past his third birthday - except I’d bought the pants and the only accident was at nursery when he didn’t push his pants down far enough.

He wasn’t ready when I tried at 27 months as I did with DS1. But basically it was the easiest toilet training ever.

It's not young, a lot of people are just lazy nowadays. Most children are ready before age 3 but people just don't want the inconvenience. Obviously if they're not ready they're not ready, but it's a good thing to try, the earlier they're potty trained the better.

Good for you. Like I said I managed. But it was more challenging.

I've definitely been putting it off with DD2, with DD1 we potty trained at 2.5 over the summer, but as DD2 was 2.5 in deepest winter, I couldn't face dealing with the mess and stress when we're indoors/all bundled up. Tried again at Easter, she was very resistant. About 4 weeks ago she turned 3 and I spoke to her nursery, they were very supportive of it, so we just decided to go cold turkey, no more nappies.

I haven't been able to take any extra time off to do the whole week bare bum method, but we've stayed very close to home in the early days so we'd be close to a toilet. In the first couple of weeks she had daily accidents at nursery, but they're very patient, and her success rate is improving. She's now better with wees, and will tell you 75% of the time when she needs one, but she gets distressed by the idea of having a poo on the toilet.

At this stage, I don't think there's really much in terms of advice, it's just a matter of decide to go for it, and commit to it. Be prepared to do lots of laundry and throw away pants that are beyond redemption.

Can you use the bank holiday at the end of August and a couple of days of annual leave to have 5 days off in a row and get started? If nursery are supportive then once you've had a head start it might be okay.

Just to tell you anecdotally this is NOT what I have seen.

its a smallish sample set (maybe 15 children) but the ones in our group that are 3+ and aren’t trained are giving pushback and there’s a lot more poo based accidents 🤢 It’s a longer harder process from what I see and hear.

we did my Dd at 2y 2m and had 3 poo accidents total.
1 was on day 2, 1 on day 3 (and arguably my “fault” and 1 about 2 weeks in with the childminder.

my friends just turned 3 year old who is “doing it when they are ready” has shat on her living room rug at least 4 times….

As an fyi my Dd still has nappies at night which is pretty common