Too young for potty training?

[forfuckssake23]

Sorry for using AIBU but I'm just needing some advice.

DD will be 2 in April. So far she has shown very little interest in the potty I bought for her. She will stand inside, place toys in it etc, and play with it. But when I remove her nappy and try sitting her on it (usually I say "can you do a wee wee / poo poo on the potty for mummy?"), she just says "no!" and gets off again.

She will tell me when she's just about to do or in the process of doing a poo - she says "poo poo". So she knows it's happening. She just doesn't want to sit on the potty.

I've tried to get her used to it by saying "where's your potty?" and bringing it out etc, she calls it a "poppy"😂, so she will engage with it. But no interest in it other than as a toy, if that makes sense.

Is she too young for potty training just yet? I don't want to force the issue too soon, but equally I don't want to miss an opportunity to get her started with it, if that makes sense.

Any thoughts?

Hi @forfuckssake23

www.mumsnet.com/talk/_chat/3398079-Potty-training-is-27-months-too-young

www.mumsnet.com/talk/potty_training/3228847-2-year-old-too-young

www.mumsnet.com/talk/potty_training/1417951-Is-2-too-early-to-potty-train-my-ds

Never has a username matched a poster so perfectly

YABU.

I'm not sure if this is relevant but she also doesn't know the difference between "wee wee" and "poo poo" yet - I've been trying to teach her. So sometimes in the bath she will stand up and do a wee and say "poo poo", and I correct her gently and say "no darling that's wee wee" etc. so she hasn't got the vocabulary just yet to distinguish between the two and calls everything "poo poo". Would that suggest she's not ready? Or is that not relevant?

Never has a username matched a poster so perfectly

Excuse me?

She's not even 2 yet honestly I'd say she's too young. Yes I know some people will have trained their child by 2 but they will be in the minority. Most children train between 2 1/2 and 3 ish.

I'd definitely not force the issue. Waiting until they show an interest and taking your lead from them makes the whole thing a billion times easier and is less likely to lead to them having lots of accidents, holding or constipation.

Thank you. I had an inkling she was a tad too young.

She's too young.

Mine all trained as soon as they turned 2, and were able to manage fairly quickly. However, this was aided by them being in creche, and that they had turned 2, so language-wise & intellectually they were able to comprehend the process.

I had 2 friends who competitively potty trained their daughters at just over 2. However my main memory of the time is them going to the bathroom non stop as they couldn’t hold it for long periods and there were a fair few accidents and they still had to have nappies for car journeys.
I think if you are mostly at home it’s okay but I think if you go out a lot it doesn’t always work.

Get the Oh Crap book, read it, see what you think and then decide. Despite what’s often said on here, I trained my youngest at nearly 2 and whilst it takes time for them to understand, overall it was very easy going because he didn’t try to fight me. Massive contrast to my eldest who was almost 3 and quite frankly a nightmare.

Far too young to expect it. Maybe some kids are ready but the vast majority wouldn't be at that age.

Maybe just keep.showing her the potty and encouraging ,but she's very young so.I wouldn't force issue if she's reluctant.

My dd started using the potty sporadically from about 2. Going for a wee before bath time and occasionally through the day but just as and when she wanted. We never forced the issue, other than to have a potty in her playroom and 1 in the bathroom.

Then all of a sudden she began to use it more regularly. She turned 3 in December and has been pretty much totally dry during the day since November. She still wears a night time pull up because she sleeps so deeply that she doesn't wake up to go to the toilet so that's our next challenge

Thank you. She's not quite there yet with the language I don't think. Like I say she can tell me when she's doing a poo but it's literally the very second she does it, or in the process of, so not enough prior warning to get her on the potty.

Thanks but I really wasn't looking for advice on how I engage with my child. I have no concerns about that and I'm confident I engage with her in a way that's appropriate to her social, developmental and emotional level.

I'm asking about readiness for potty training.

You can try if you want to but it will probably be a long haul. I trained both mine to poop in the toilet at about 18m, I always knew when they needed it so started sitting them on the toilet and they didn't have a dirty nappy from then on. Both were 2.5-3 before they trained for urine. To be honest I delayed the youngest because he was slower to speak.

Like I say she can tell me when she's doing a poo but it's literally the very second she does it, or in the process of, so not enough prior warning to get her on the potty.

That’s the learning process of recognising the feeling of needing to go before it happens, basically the crux of potty training. That has nothing to do with the language side of things which it sounds like she already has if she’s already telling you as she goes. The learning process will take longer if she’s under 2 though and it’s not a race so it’s fine to wait. Definitely easier in the warmer weather too if you go down the bare bum method too!

Depends on the child. My 3 were all trained and in pants well before 2

And I really don't see how saying in a positive, upbeat, smiley way "no that's a wee wee darling ", when she wees and says "poo poo" is in any way the wrong thing to do. 🤷‍♀️

It's teaching her the correct term whilst engaging in a positive way with her. She literally smiles and laughs back at me, AND the other night she even copied me and said "wee wee" straight afterwards. So job well done I'd say! Happy child plus learned a new word.

People will literally pick you apart for anything on here won't they? I only wanted advice on the correct age for potty training and here I am being patronisingly told how to talk to my child. Ffs.

This is helpful, thank you!

Mine was nearly 3 before she fully embraced it but almost skipped the potty stage and went straight onto the toilet.

The book… ‘Bing.. all aboard the toilet train’ was recommended to me and my DD loved it. It’s on Amazon.

Oh wow. That's young.

It depends on the children but honestly it's not a race and it's worth remembering that starting too young can lead to it taking so much longer. My kid couldn't even walk at 18 months so being potty trained before 2 was just never going to happen.

No i think it's culturally normal in most of the world. Lots of countries you can't get the nappies in the bigger sizes.

They all do it when they are ready but readiness depends on both nature and nurture influences if that makes sense

I think she's too young.

My eldest wasn't ready until almost 3 though we did try at 2.5 for him.

My youngest was ready at 2, but we delayed it a few months to allow us to move back home after some renovations.

From those experiences, if you wait until they're ready, then there are less accidents and it goes quicker.

Keep playing with the potty. Let her put her dolls on it etc. it's all good learning for her.

Night time dryness is entirely hormonal so don't worry if that comes later than day time.

I didn’t bother with a potty really (we had one for the first but she didn’t use it more than a couple of times). She sounds more than ready to potty train to me. Annoying that it’s cold but you might as well try. Just put her on the potty/toilet every time and say “well done” if any of it gets in there. You can explain wee/poo separately, what she means is “something is coming out”. ⭐️