If you toilet-trained your child really young...

[MeadowHay]

What prompted you to do it? What were their readiness signs? How did you start the process? How did you manage consistency etc if your child was pre-verbal and in various different childcare arrangements on different days of the week?

I always thought DD wouldn't be toilet trained til fairly late, 3+ because I hardly know any toddlers and those that I do have all been in nappies til they were well over the age of 3. However did some reading and can see the NHS says most toddlers are dry most days by the age of 2! I am thinking ahead - DD is 16m and HATES getting her nappy changed. It is SO SO bad we both dread it and it's so stressful. I feel so embarrassed and anxious if I have to do it outside of the house. Having her out of nappies sooner rather than later would be an absolute dream...! So was just wondering about other people's stories who toilet trained around 2-2 and a half or maybe even younger?

DD was toilet trained at 22 months- we didn’t plan to start until later but she showed an interest in her cousin’s potty and seemed to know what to do so we just went with it... I would recommend ‘Oh Crap...’ by Jamie Glowacki (bestseller on amazon)- its an easy method to follow with some good background info and troubleshooting. She actually recommends starting potty training between 20-30 months and I think there’s a section on early training. I’d say go for it as soon as you think she’s ready and if it doesn’t seem to be working try again in a few months.

I toilet trained DD just before her second birthday (used the ‘Oh Crap!’ book as a guide.) Daytime only as I don’t want to be waking her up in the night - she would never go back to sleep!

Within a few days she was dry with wees, poos were a bit more hit and miss (she still has the odd accident now, aged 2.5). It was really very straightforward and much less stressful / difficult than I had imagined!

The key for us was staying at home for a couple of days doing nothing but potty training, and being clear that we were not going back to nappies!

The idea of staying at home for ONE day makes me shudder...DD is a nightmare at home, she just cries and whinges all the time, think partly boredom, and doesn't nap properly. She's so much better out and about. I would like to hope she will be better in 6 months time but she's the same on that front as she was 6 months ago.

When do they move from potty to toilet if you train with a potty? Def only thinking about daytime dry btw, I agree night time can wait. I read on the NHS website it suggested having a think about night dryness when their nappy isn't very wet first thing in the morning. DD's is so full first thing that it has been leaking a lot the last few weeks! How do you navigate early training if they are mostly pre-verbal? DD's communication skills are apparently a bit behind where she should be, I'm thinking the benefit of training an older toddler is they understand and can express themselves easier too.

Anecdotally I think they 2.5-3.5 years old seems to be the age that most kids nail it.

Ds trained at 24 months. He'd been squatting behind the sofa to poo in his nappy for weeks and despite being non-verbal, wanted his nappy changed as soon as he was done. (Tugging on trousers)

I thought that wees would be more complicated but we hung out in the garden and he'd be surprised when he started weeing. He started holding his wee mid flow to go to the potty.

With my other 2 we never used a potty - straight ti the toilet with trainer seat,

Yep we never normally stay in either and that was really hard for me! Luckily it was summer so we were outside with garden bits and the paddling pool too. DD could talk a bit, but realistically for some time I was just pre-empting her needing the loo - taking her every couple of hours once I had learnt her times / little signs.

We started using the toilet sometimes after a few weeks as carrying the travel potty was driving me nuts!

In a way I think it is sometimes easier with a younger child as they are less ‘used to’ nappies, and more inclined to try something new.

DD stops whatever she is doing to look at me and sits/stands still when she's doing a poo apart from sometimes rubbing her head a bit too. If she's sitting she will often stand up to do her poo too. But she doesn't seem bothered by the poo at all once it's done and starts crying as soon as I say I'm going to change her nappy, or if I try to take off her trousers or go near her bum at all. She weed on herself once a few days ago when I was in the middle of changing her nappy whilst she was standing and she seemed to get a huge shock as she suddenly got very upset and started crying at that too!