Preparing for potty training and need some help

[Taler]

DD is 20 months and whilst I know she's not properly ready, I personally want to be smile

So, can you let me know the following please:

1. What are the signs to look for to indicate they are ready to start potty training and should you wait for most/all of them?

1. Is the "norm" to do both day and night together? I believe more people are doing this now?? But wonder what advantages are?

1. A concern I have is we have large open plan living area with wooden floors (cellar beneath) and between each floor board underneath are strips of foil (insulation). Therefore if DD wees on that floor it'll go into the foil. I'm not being precious, honest, but we simply can't allow this to happen. I have a garden but can't be out there all the live-long day! So would it be confusing to have her be naked bottom half when in garden and put her in pull-ups when indoors? I'm thinking yes but just don't know what else we can do??

1. How will I know whether to go for the potty or straight to the toilet when we begin? Using the toilet seems better in lots of ways but DD may not like it.

TIA

1. I waited till my DS could communicate generally quite clearly. He was also able to tell me when he had done a wee/poo and wanted changing. It was also clear when he was going to do a poo (going quiet, moving to a particular spot, holding on to the furniture (!) etc). He was also able to pull his own trousers down which is very helpful. I waited until I had a week at home with him, no nursery etc, so that we could get it done at home without having to rely on nursery doing it as well.

1. I haven't done night "training" yet as my understanding is that it's a hormonal developmental thing rather than a matter of training them. If they are waking up with a dry nappy every morning then that's when you can stop the night time nappies/pull ups, I think.

1. I really wouldn't confuse the issue by using nappies in some situations but not in others. I think once you've decided on no nappies in the daytime then that's that. There will be wee accidents, and you will have to modify your living room to cope. So I would get some large cheap rugs eg from Ikea and just cover the whole area for now. We used some of the anti-slip rug matting underneath our rugs to stop them slipping. Or you could get plastic stick down floor protector to cover it. Anything like that will do.

1. Lots of children get scared of the toilet. Plus the logistics of climbing up a stool, using the seat insert and pulling trousers down can be tricky for a little one. A potty is much easier and less scary. We have both options, and several months into no nappies, my DS will use the toilet although sometimes prefers the potty. In the next few weeks we might remove the potty and try for 100% toilet.

Also, a travel potty for journeys is useful. They alway seem to need a wee just when you're nowhere near a loo!

Hi

I'm writing this and can't remember all the points you asked about lol but..

I started potty training my eldest when she started showing signs of knowing she was about to go toilet in her nappy or communicating it to me in some way.

I didn't do day and night together but that was just my choice, like you said some people do. I waited until she was dry during the day before tackling nights but every child is different and some will be dry over night others may take a few weeks before getting the hang of it.

Also, she hated the big girls toilet, even with a Minnie Mouse seat, she refused to go near it so I had potties for a while. If it helps, I had one potty downstairs and one next to her bed so when I started the nights, when I went to bed id go in wake her up to quickly go on the potty then she'd go back off and would usually be dry in the morning. (Also I cut out drinks after 6ish)

My youngest is 17months but is already noticing sometimes when she needs to go so I've bought a potty just to get her used to the idea of it. She's used it a few times and that's when I've left her running round naked as I think they can get confused with pull ups or knickers at the beginning and think it's a nappy so it's ok to do it! Lol.

One more thing which you may already know, make a big deal out of every time they go on the potty, make a little song up or a little celebration dance. They thrive off of praise and i think it helped cheering them on and making a fuss whenever they went on the potty.

Good luck with it all though sorry for the essay! Ha x

I'd recommend waiting until they are close to or just over three years old. Then it takes the guesswork out because you can talk to them about it and it is much clearer if they are ready! It also makes it easier to do no nappies in day and night close together, and also really minimises accidents at home!
I waited and it made the whole process so much easier than I could have ever imagined.

20months is really young still, tbh I'd wait until next summer. By then she will be noticeably ready, and probably collecting a nappy and wipes and asking you to change her

If you're really worried about the floor then call pull ups 'big girls pants' and see if she'll go for it. My DS is almost 3 and now happily uses the toilet 85% of the time. He has the odd wet accident particularly when tired but is happy to wear a pull up and thus a mess is avoided

Disposable pull-ups are really quite like a nappy if you have been using disposable nappies. The old fashioned terry trainer pants with a plastic or vinyl outer are much more like proper "big girl" pants and, I would have thought, less potentially confusing as well as coping with an accident in the early(?) days. Good luck!