To ask about potty training?

[lancsgirl85]

Sorry posting for traffic.

What age is ideal to introduce a potty? DD is almost 15 months. She is starting to squat down when she is trying to poo, sort of in the position she would be in on a potty. Is she too old enough to introduce one now and see how she gets on, or is this too young?

That should read:

Is she old enough to introduce one now and see how she gets on, or is this too young?

I wouldn't bother before two, they just don't have the nervous system/ muscle control before then, so it will just be frustration all round, and possibly leave her feeling negative towards the potty.

Ah ok, thank you! I don't want to introduce it too early and create problems. Definitely don't want her to feel negatively towards it.

I'd say 15 months is a bit early, though I know some people who have done it! Not sure I agree about them not having enough control before then, we potty train much later than we used to because we don't have to wrestle with terry nappies any more.

See this article if you're interested!
www.salon.com/2010/07/09/extreme_potty_training/

You can prepare the ground a bit by talking about potties and toilets, getting books about it, explaining about where wees and poos come from and how we need to keep clean etc. You could also have a potty around and be very casual about it but let her go on before the bath or playing out in the garden etc.

All this 'they can't control their bladder' stuff is an unfounded modern mantra, there is no medical evidence to support that. (If I am wrong, please supply papers). At best unfounded, at worst pushed by the nappy industry.
Traditional potty training age was around 1 year old in many countries (many of the countries/societies that get loosely referencd on here when posters want to support attachment parenting). In China babies are potty trained from birth.
I potty trained at 15months, using the 'oh crap!' book, loosely. Downsides: it took 2.5 months to get it, and the lack of language makes it harder. But he could hold his wee for 1.5hrs from the very start, and by 19 months could go 3+hrs. It wasn't easy but I willl personally definitely do it again.

I don't care how late/early people potty train, but I do resent these unfounded mantras that may put parents off listening to their own child's cues. Another pet peeve of mine is night time training: saying that a child who wets is not ready to come out of nappies. It's like saying a toddler who falls down is not ready to learn to walk, it makes no sense. Failure is an essential part of learning, we cannot sanitise that out of life.

Bravo! All the potty training when they're old enough to ask I'm sure is formulated by Pampers, etc! The age range for disposable nappies etc has gone prograssively higher and higher. Another post refers to parents not liking wrestling with soggy terry nappies, I think they were the best incentive for a child to start using the potty, who enjoyed carrying one of those along??

Depends on the child but you can give it a go. Mine were both toilet trained at about 21 months and "got it" within a couple of days. So they certainly don't have to be over 2 to achieve it physically.

Mine did use cloth nappies which apparently helps them understand younger (they feel wet after urinating, rather than immediately having the wee soaked up) so that could have contributed.

We waited til DD was 2y 9mos, which coincided with us being on leave for the long Jubilee Weekend and (we hoped) good weather. She got it pretty much immediately. Her understanding and speech having come on in the interim made it easier- same goes for most aspects of parenting tbf. I think being in nursery and seeing the older ones in her room successfully using the loo was also helpful to her, plus DD’s got the physical coordination now to get pants and bottoms down herself. I wasn’t looking forward to it but it’s been very straightforward.

Certainly people do it earlier, but from the ones I know from my circle that attempted it before 2yo it seems like a much more drawn out affair. They were however all disposable nappy users, which may be a factor, and I think some were doing under pressure from grandparents rather than because they were seeing cues from the kids themselves.