to think 20 months is too early to potty train?

[notagainffffffffs]

My ds is very talkative about toilets and needing a poo etc etc at the moment, all my relatives and friends have said he must be ready and dh has bought him a potty today.
Im just a bit :s.
It just seems way too early! He is my first so i dont have any experience, dont want to force him to do things that arent necessary tbh.
Aibu to tell dh (and everyone else!) To back off for a while?

that's when I started with ds and he was day trained by age 2. He did show signs he was ready and I had an idea of what to do/expect as I had an older child. I did it slowly and used pull ups until he was reliable at letting me know he needed to go and then I used pants.

My DD carefully removed her nappy, folded it up, taped down the sticky tape, popped it in the nappy bin and said, "no more nappy" when she was 22 months. A week later she was potty trained and only had two accidents.

It is possible.

It used to be far more common when naps weren't as good abd cheap add they are now.

I trained mine both at just 2. could have easily trained dd at 20 months but was 8 months pg so didn't bother.

We started at that age - potty first thing, after meals and before bath. Always available, lots of talk about wet and dry, nappy free time at home with the expectation DD would wee on the floor. Day trained by two, now 2.3 and not wetting overnight.

No harm in having it available

I don't think it's too early, at all. My mum has a theory that you often have this window at about 20 months and, in my experience, she's right: my daughter was potty-trained at about the same age.

Of course everyone has a different experience and some children definitely won't be ready then, but if he's interested, why not give it a try? It's really just the start of a conversation about where these things go... Saying that, if you're not up for it YADNBU to leave it; it wouldn't be a good start if you're heart's not in it.

Started with both DC's (1 boy 1 girl) at 18 months. Just got them to sit on the potty once clothes were off while I was running a bath in the evening.

After a couple of weeks, there was a wee there. Big congratulations, no pressure, no stress.

DD marched off to potty at that age, took off all her clothes and produced a wee and a poo apropos of nothing at that age. We rolled with it and it's been fine.

If your DS talks about it, he must be ready to start. If he attends a nursery or other childcare, he might see other children succeeding and wants to be like them.

Based on my own experience and that of friends, it's fine and may well work providing it's child led (ie as in some of the examples posted, where child says 'no more nappy' etc).

If adult led and initiated (and,say, pushed by a member of the older generation implying that all DC should be out of nappies by age 2!) then quite likely far too early and likely to fail.

Personally I'd say no harm in having potty around at bathtime etc at around this age, but wouldn't attempt any formal proper potty training prior to the age of about 2.5 unless a child point blank refused to wear a nappy.

My DS was potty trained day and night by 2 years old. His choice, I hadn't planned on even thinking about it for a year or so!

I think there's no harm in having a potty available and encouraging a child to have a go, but the let the child move at his own pace. And it might not work out how you expect - I let DS run around naked with access to a potty just before he was two. Within three days he was doing all his wees in the potty. It took another two and three quarter years before he was out of daytime nappies. Clothes and poos turned out to be a lot trickier than I anticipated.

Thanks everyone!i wasnt sure if it was just a case of him being aware of toileting and things. Feel a bit clueless sometimes . Also a bit of a shock that it has come around so quickly!

Same as what everyone has said. DD was potty trained at 20 months. If he's ready, give it a go, why not?

DS was 22 months, I was 36 weeks pregnant, it was not part of my master plan but it worked. He initiated it so I just went with it. Had a week or so of bare bum at home as pants seemed to confuse him but he's been fine since and was dry at night just before he turned 3.

It works for some children not for others.

DD1 refused nappies at 22 months (she had spotted the Tweenies pants in the drawer and the Noddy potty in the cupboard, bought in the sales and put away for later) and was clean and dry day and night within 3 days.

DD2.... was most certainly not. 27 months in the day and over a year later at night.

They do it at their own pace. I was surprised by DD1 to be honest.

You should keep your son in nappies until he is at least 16.

You're not forcing him at all just by having the option of a potty available. Get the potty in, chat about it, see how he goes. He seems to have started the discussion already.

Well mine were trained at about that age, but I hadn't really planned it, DS1 got chicken pox and had loads of spots on his bottom and it was the summer so we gave it a go.

I did use cloth nappies though and I think they help children be more aware of wetting (and probably more keen to be rid of them!)

Also my lot all seem to take after DH and have enormous bladder capacity (think transatlantic flight without having to pee).

It is so the done thing to leave training 'til nearly three that I almost feel embarrassed admitting mine were trained by two.

I disagree with you OP - my eldest child was reliably out of nappies at 17 months - she just seemed to know what to do, and within the month she was out of nappies at night too. We had 1 wet bed not long after her brother arrived and after than we never had another. Her brother was barely over 2 when his nappies were dispensed with but DC 3 ( a girl) was still in nappies at 30 months - she had no interest in the potty or toilet at all and simply asked for a nappy whenever she wanted to go.

If your DS is showing an interest, encourage it and see where it takes you....IMHO his age is immaterial

Absolutely fine age wise. Especially if DC show an awareness. I won't add to the boasts ('cos really, it's nothing I influenced). But 20 months is well within the bell curve I'm sure!

Thanks everyone! Tbh i think its me feeling a bit sad that he is growing up so quickly, last 2 years have flown by!
Are there any books etc for toddlers that you can recommend?

Go for it, he sounds interested and ready. Give it a couple of weeks, if he's not getting it, put him back in nappies.

Not too early at all,many countries potty train earlier then that,my own DC was out of nappies by 18 months,and the other one before 2.

YABU. 20 months is definitely not too young to start potty training.

My DS at 3.5 still had the potty in the living room for convenience when one day my DD at 18 months decided she was going to start using it too. She never wore a day nappy again and was reliably out of night nappies within a couple of months. I had started training my DS at 2 but it took nearly a year before he was reliable.

to all those early potty trainers, my Ds is nearly 3 and still not interested. I sit him on the toilet every napoy change and bath time. Will go cold turkey when he's just over 3.