help, accidentally toilet trained baby!

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I know this sounds crazy but its true!

I have heard of EC btw, but wasn't really trying to do it properly.

My 5mo has also been regular with his morning poo and so a couple of weeks ago I started holding him over the toilet first thing, to save a nappy that would otherwise only be on for 20mins. He started poo-ing and weeing, but still going in his nappy as normal the rest of the time.

I then saw him pulling a poo face one day whilst I was in the bathroom so put him over the toilet and he went.

Since then he hasn't pooed in his nappy at all (about 2 weeks), but has wee-ed still. He poos every time I put him on the toilet (about 3 times a day).

A bit of me is pleased, but a lot of me is scared! What if he gets constipated? Can this do any other sort of damage?

Anyone with any experience? Help! thanks.

Golly. No experience. Can't decide if great or pia later on! Neat party trick tho!

Well done

Sorry to disappoint you.... You've trained yourself not him. In the days of cloth nappies and poorer washing and drying facilities this is what most parents did. Including my own.

no bonzo that doesn't disappoint me at all, i don't like the idea of training him.

but i have tried NOT putting him on the toilet and he just doesn't poo. hence my constipation question, and why i think i that something must be going on in his head.

and it is interesting (or obvious?!) that my use of cloth nappies and the onset of wetter weather was in the back of my mind.

Don't worry at all, this is great! Keep going. Read more about EC for reassurance. This stuff about constipation is non-sense.

I did EC with both my children bc my husband is from a "less developed" country where it's the norm and he had told me most children are out of nappies by 18 months.

We weren't as consistent with DD1 bc I had to learn and she also went to full-time nursery from 6 months which constantly through us back but there were no dirty nappies from 10months and she was fully toilet trained by about 18-20 months. With DD2 I started from 2 weeks or so, always holding her for a poo in the morning and at nappy change and she hasn't had a dirty nappy since she was two
months old ( except for the occasional accident once a fortnight or so but that's still much better than changing nappies on a daily basis.

We'll keep her in nappies till next summer when I plan to take care of the wees as well so I expect her to be put of nappies by 18 months as well.

If I were you I would absolutely keep going to avoid dirty nappies and just keep using nappies but of course if you hold him several times a day you will get him used to the idea. What we did once DD1 could sit was to put her on the potty morning and evening and read her stories there, that way she really got to like it.

Good luck and make sure to keep going! Why would you want to spend another 3 years cleaning poo just because some Western books claim
children aren't ready, they actually are ready to learn from birth and they do all around the world!

Thanks Sanam that all sounds very reassuring.

I don't have a potty, but I'm pretty sure he would be able to sit on it (he is a very good sitter). Do you think that is better than the hovering over the toilet thing? Or I have thought about getting one of those toilet inserts (then don't have to clean potty!!) but not sure if he'd just fall through the gap.

Also you say that you put your dd on the potty twice a day, was this often enough to catch all poos? I am only doing more regularly because when he was pooing in his nappy he did 3 or 4 a day.

thanks again

The fisher price frog potty is really good. But from birth i always just held her over the nappy they i was changing. I would usually sit on my bed with my legs stretched out in v-shape, open her previous nappy and then hold her over that nappy.

I do that at every nappy change, but esp morning and evening i wait longer. So you should do it more times, it just happens that after doing this for a while, and also with increase in age, your DS will probably end up pooing only 1-2 a day, esp when you start introducing solids.

fab info, thanks again

Wow, that is brilliant!

I think as long as you keep holding him over the tiolet three or four times a day he won't get constipated. Even if he only pooed once a day he wouldn't get constipated.

If I ever have another child, I'm going to do this.

My Nan was always boasting that my Dad was out of nappies by 8 MONTHS so it does happen!!! God knows how she managed it though - he's been late for everything since I was born!

Hi OP, that was pretty much what happened to me too! I was worried as DD was due to start nursery, and by that time I was starting to recognise her cues for wees as well - which I knew nursery couldn't support.

The constipation thing really wasn't an issue. DD just became a bit more regular with her poos - generally she would go as soon as we got home and it was a standing joke that she never had a dirty nappy at nursery unless she was teething. We fell into a pattern of using nappies at nursery and using the potty at home, with nappy on as backup. It even worked with a D&V bug which probably saved a fortune in nappies..

FWIW and whether or not it's connected I don't know, but doing actual potty training later was quite easy for us; I certainly didn't have to explain what potties were for, just get her to make her own way there without me!

Would definitely do it again; the biggest obstacle was finding a small potty (Boots ones are enormous for babies, John Lewis do a value one which is great for when they can sit unaided)

Agree with Sanam. My brothers and I were toilet trained by 1 year and with my DD she was going in the potty by 5 months and we always had one around so she caught on pretty quick. She did regress a bit at 18 months but took it all in stride. She is 2 now and has the occasional accident but I don't think starting early was a bad thing. Although some friends frown on it.

Good for you. Sounds brilliant!