To jump straight on the toilet, NO potty?

[whenyouwantalittlesomething]

DS has surprised me by showing an active interest in the loo over the last few days.

It's surprising because he's very 'baby' like despite walking at 8 months. Vocally, he says no other words than 'no' and 'dog'. The no is consistent, the dog word has to be prompted out of him.

I'm wondering if he's still really not ready which is fine, but I've been wondering if it's okay to just put him on a toilet (with a child's seat), and skip the potty stage?

I explained this to SIL who has him a few days a week whilst I'm working and she disagrees, saying not to do that.

We don't have a downstairs loo so I'm supposing it may be harder.

However, the thought of a potty doesn't appeal to me at all and I remember being told I put straight on a toilet... And I was dry by 22 months.

AIBU?

No harm in getting him used to it. But you'll know he's ready when he starts telling you he's about to wee/ poo. Mine's nearly 3 and still in nappies but has been toilet trained for a few months now (nappies are dry most days so I will switch to knickers soon). Never even bought a potty as the thought of cleaning the poo out made me want to heave.

@Singleandproud, I just had a look at your link and snorted as one of the photos says "protects baby's ass". I am considering buying one though because my son is now 2,5 years old and is showing little interest in using a potty but does seem a bit interested in the toilet. I feel like everyone else is dry by now but we're still in nappies!

DD was afraid of the potty, so she went straight to the loo with a smaller seat and a step. It was fine, a potty isn't always necessary.

Wondertweek Hahaha I didn’t read that. It isn’t the exact one we had But I think its the same make. DD is 10 now and long since been trained. Flushing the toilet however still appears to be a mystery!

None of my 4 ever used a potty. I guess I was just lucky. People kept offering to buy me one and I think at one stage we had 3.. all unused. Having said that I didn't rush to toilet train mine so they were able to understand better when the time came. (This was because we lived very rurally and there was no playschool/nursery etc, so no rush)

I started with a toilet seat before my girl was 2. Just to get her used to the idea. At first she cried to get off then started sitting on it more but not doing anything.

She's 26 months and we started potty training a few weeks ago. I tried to do the toilet seat thing but needed something closer to begin with so we did use the potty. She's now doing poos in the toilet (thank god) 🤢😂 and I'm hoping to ditch the potty soon. She'll also go on normal toilets when we r out and I just hold her on. She calls her potty the little baby toilet 😂

I'm not sure how you would get on if your little one can't tell u they need it. My friends little girl started at 2 and a half and she didn't talk much. She can manage to say poo/pee though so that's all u need. There's no harm getting him used to the idea and trying to get him to say the words all good prep for when u want to start properly.

Yes DD went straight to toilet and skipped potty. Made life a lot easier!

It’s much easier generally when they are ready and that they know they need to go to the toilet. We waited for DD to know she needed a wee and for her to be able to tell us, she was 2.5yrs. 3 days later she was fully toilet trained. Our nursery also advised wait until they are ready/as long as you can and it will be much easier. DD’s same age cousin was potty trained 6 months before DD, but was being put on a potty every 30 mins as opposed to knowing when to go himself. Took much longer to transition from potty to toilet too which meant then carrying his potty around everywhere.

We did that with DC2. Straight to toilet seat. It’s basically a higher-up potty anyway once you put that seat on. And bonus is that it all goes straight into the toilet.

My kids went straight to the toilet at that age, no potty - absolutely refused to use it. Loads of toilet seats for kids available and definitely use a step they can plant their feet down on something when they sit and then they can use it to wash their hands. Good luck

No harm trying, but without a downstairs toilet I imagine it's not straightforward.

I can see no benefit in trying to toilet train a child who is non verbal and only 20 months old, especially if the only sign of readiness is interest in the toilet - they all like to mess about with toilets at that age.

I won't be toilet training him yet. His interest in the loo just provoked my personal thoughts on potty's and I was just wondering about using a toilet and nothing else for when the time does come

Okay, in that case if you can avoid a potty then I would! I don't quite understand why but emptying a potty of poo is so much worse than a nappy or wiping a bum- it's just revolting! We don't have a downstairs loo so our only toilet is a bit far from the playroom for us to risk it in the early days. Some of my friends dc became completely relient on their potty and they were ahaving to carry one around with them for months, much better all round to use the toilet as soon as ppossible,

We never used a potty or took a potty out with us. It's not obligatory! Do whatever you prefer.

Both my boys went straight to the toilet. I didn't even get a child's seat for it, I just held their hand while they sat in it for the first couple of weeks till they got used to it.

We did straight to loo with DS1. Seemed to work fine.

Oh Crap Potty Training recommends 20 months as a good starting time.

My DD has used the potty as she is still tiny, she was 2y 8m when she trained but she'd been sitting on it at bathtime/bedtime for a little while. She was still in 1y-18mo clothes most of the time though!

We take a potty on holiday but out and about i just hold her on the loo. I think she likes having her own special toilet and being able to put her feet on the floor!

Mine went straight to the toilet at 3 and approaching 2.5.

DS1 did one poo on the potty when we were experimenting in the early stages and trying to dispose of it was particularly gross. I have to say I have no idea why anyone would not want to go straight to the toilet if avoidable. It didn't help that a history of food allergies left his output somewhat claggy and awkward to clean up.

DS2 got it quickly after self-initiating and was quite reliable in the daytime after a few weeks. We were careful about not going far from a toilet for the first couple of weeks and with both DCs I can remember sprinting back through the supermarket clutching a small child before he weed I'm guessing the alternative is risking triggering MN threads about whipping the potty out in the supermarket aisles which had no appeal.

My DD never used a potty, straight to toilet but she was late out if nappies. I never toilet trained any of mine. They stayed in pull ups until they showed an interest. I think age 3 ish. And then it sort of happened naturally.

Definitely toilet. My niece went straight on, pottty's are vile

DD didn't use a potty at all, her Nursery potty trained her and they had child sized toilets and I didn't want to undermine that by using a potty at home so straight to toilet it was. She's been absolutely fine.

Although DD used a potty happily DS would panic at the very sight of one. It never occurred to me to go straight to the toilet and I was getting worried that he would forever be in nappies!
One day I thought why not just try the toilet, and he took to that straight away and was out of nappies in a week

We bought my DD a potty, but she had no interest in using it, so we went straight to the toilet, with a child seat on, she only ever used the potty if someone was already on the toilet.

I did it and so did my sis and it was so easy.

Our kids went from nappy to toilet and they got the hang of it pretty fast as I think they saw us using it too whereas a potty can seem alien.

Both mine straight to the toilet, can't stand a potty. Someone put their child on a potty next to us in a cafe and was say "go on darling it's ok, you can go" no no no, not for me. No issue with only an upstairs toilet. If they are ready they should be able to hold for 30 seconds while you walk up the stairs.

I don’t have a downstairs toilet and didn’t use potties. Both my DDs got on fine this way but they were both over 2.5 years when we did it. I was so glad not to have potties to clean! Good luck when the time comes.