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Behaviour/development

Talk to others about child development and behaviour stages here. You can find more information on our development calendar.

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Original poster

How old were your dc's when you started potty training?

28 replies

cantpickyourfamily · 11/01/2009 10:40

dd Is 18months old, she hates wearing nappies and sometimes when she wees or poos she says bum bum. So I feel she understands that she is going to the toilet.

What signs made you think it is time to potty train? And how old were the dc's at the time?

OP posts:

Are your children’s vaccines up to date?

Set a reminder

Hulababy · 11/01/2009 10:44

DD was PT at 24 months. She led it, asked for big girl pants, and took the led in it all really. Had very few accidents and was dry within 3 days and clean well within the week.

DD showed signs of "readiness" for a few months before that but the timing was never quite right to try it. TBH I am now glad I waited anyway. I think the fact that she led the process meant it was such a shorter process.

NomDePlume · 11/01/2009 10:45

DD was 2 when I first tried. Failure (3 frustrating weeks).

Then 2.5. Failure (another 2 frustrating weeks).

Then 3. Success within 4 days (only about 3 accidents in that time).

She is 6y5m & still struggles at night (not something you can 'train', you just have to wait for them to be ready).

I know people who have successfully trained at 20mo - 2yrs old.

It can't hurt to try her with the potty, at the very least it will get her used to it being around. But try not to be too despondent/frustrated if she doesn't 'get it' this time around. Just leave it for another few months and try again

Hulababy · 11/01/2009 10:47

Re. night time. DD is now 6y9m and still not completely dry at night. She can go weeks, and then has accidents. So night time and day time def not always linked.

LucyEllensmummy · 11/01/2009 10:50

cantpickyourfamily, if you have a nice warm house, you could try leaving her with no nappy on. I actually never did get round to potty training my DD, every time i tried so it went tits up. Then, at about 3.4, she was about to start nursery and i thought, oh bugger - so i bit the bullet sent her with panties and no nappy, the nursery were aware of the situation and never looked back. We have had a few accidents but mostly due to not being able to wait on occasions.

Some children are clean much earlier and thats great if you can achieve it, but i favour the road of least resistance - but then when i add up the amount ive spent on nappies i do wonder

Original poster

cantpickyourfamily · 11/01/2009 10:59

maybe I will just get a potty so she can get used to it for now. I was thinking of leaving it for a few months anyway, but good to get an idea of when others potty trained.

OP posts:

ilovelovemydog · 11/01/2009 11:01

We're doing it now - DD is 2.6. Have triumphs and failures....

She saw a friend (same age) use the potty, so she wanted to use it.

Got her big girl pants which she loves.

dietstartstomorrow · 11/01/2009 11:03

Both my boys were 2.5, and it worked well straight away.

On DS2 I took the night nappies away 2 weeks later, and he never wet the bed once.

stillenacht · 11/01/2009 11:03

DS1 was 3- all done and dusted in one day - no problems at all

DS2 is 5 and a half and still not trained (he has severe autism) - i am hoping he will be before 8.

stillenacht · 11/01/2009 11:05

oh yes night times - my DS1 was in nappies until just about 6 i think at night. He still occasionally wets bed now (he's 9)

Poppycake · 11/01/2009 11:16

my oldest (4.5) is still not wholly "there" and she's found the whole thing a bit tricky. But dd2, now 20m, has been very aware for a while and will come and tell us "pooo!" if she has, or has a wet nappy. I must admit I'm not rushing to try actual potty training with her, even so, just getting her used to what the potty is for and making it clear what I'm doing when I go. I'm hoping that dd2 will find it easier then.

dd1 never did worry about being wet/dirty and she suddenly decided she wanted big girl pants when she was 3 ( I was going to wait til a bit longer after dd2 was born cos the books say that would upset things). So I'm hoping the very fact dd2 is bothered about wetness at all is a good sign.

Lionstar · 11/01/2009 11:27

Totally possible if she is showing signs of discomfort. I would introduce a potty at nappy change times and let her go from there. Take it at her pace though, no forcing or coercion, accidents should be dealt with without fuss.

My DD has been using the potty since 10 months, was quickly poo continent, but still sometimes used nappies for pee - right up to Boxing Day when she voluntarily started asking for the toilet - she is 22 months. Bar the odd dribble when she hasn't got there quick enough we have been in pants ever since (except at night). Even going out shopping etc. have been fine as she is happy using an adult loo. Nursery have been supportive too, they just take her hourly - no accidents there so far.

Weegle · 11/01/2009 11:49

Just trained DS at 2.6 years. Was immediately successful. Since day 2 have only had 2 accidents (now 2 weeks), he struggles to ask when out though. Tried previously about 3 months ago and was a disaster. He just was not ready. And to be honest I didn't know that the second time he WAS ready - he was still showing the same "readiness" signs as before it was just a convenient time for me try again and this time it worked.

Weegle · 11/01/2009 11:49

that was meant to be 3 accidents!

brightongirldownunder · 11/01/2009 11:54

Blimey lionstar - that must be a world record for the asrliest potty trained baby! I'm starting DD at 20m as she gets very upset when she's done a we or a poo and tells me what she's done. I've been leaving her nappy off so that she can tell me when she's ready to do something - causes more mess than anything, but she managed a bit in the potty today, so fingers crossed.

pamelat · 11/01/2009 11:59

Its reassuring to read this as my DD is almost 12 months and some of my antenatal friends are already starting potty training and I just feel that DD would not understand

Was going to wait until the summer when she will be 18 months but reading this there does not seem to be any rush.

paddingtonbore · 11/01/2009 12:00

My DD is 22mo, and is IMO not ready for proper potty training as she can't tell me when she needs to go. But nonetheless, she chooses to sit on the potty from time to time, and is very pleased when she delivers the goods.

So while you might not want to try potty training proper, I'm sure a bit of potty familiarisation can't hurt.

Astrophe · 11/01/2009 12:01

DD - started just before 2 and she was dry quickly (withing a week?) - took much longer for poo - she used to hold on and poo in a nappy until she was almost 3.

DS - started training himself at about 16 months, was reasonably sucessful at 18-19 months, and dry and clean by 20ish. The whole thing took much longer than with DD, but as it was led by him we just went with it. Basically he didn't wear pants or trousers in the house for months, and would use the potty himself. In cold weather he wore those 'babylegs' leg warmers, and I would put him in either training pants or a nappy when we went out, depending on where we were going. BIG advantage -we had wooden floors and no carpets!

LaaDeDa · 11/01/2009 12:02

DD started just having a wee on the potty before bathtime for a few months after she'd turned 2. Had a couple of tries during the day but with no success so left it.
Then having noticed she was waking up every morning with a totally dry nappy bought some pants and she said she wanted to wear them and we never looked back! Dry day and night by about 2.4.

Obviously had occasional accidents and she insisted on taking the potty to nursery for a couple of months. Took a while to use the toilet. Still have accidents now as she holds on for aaaaaages then the 'wee comes too quick!' but it's rare and she has never wet herself at night which i cannot believe!
Luckily her brother is making up for it by having many nappy leaks - often poo as well as wee so i'm sure he's gonna give me hell when his time comes!

brightongirldownunder · 11/01/2009 12:04

Can I just apologise for my diabolical spelling.
Pamelat - think its the usual "my baby does everything before everyone else" competition that most antenatal groups have. I just sat back and waited for DD to tell me when she wanted to do things. Much less stress!

ByTheSea · 11/01/2009 12:22

All four of mine were about 2 1/2 give or take a month or two.

ohdearwhatamess · 11/01/2009 14:25

Disastrous attempt at 2.5 with ds1. Going to try again next half term - he'll be 2.9 then.

Original poster

cantpickyourfamily · 11/01/2009 15:00

lionstar - 10months is very early, gosh some babies are so clued up...

OP posts:

MollyCherry · 11/01/2009 16:48

We started sitting DD on the potty while her bath was running at about 14 months, so she knew what it was all about for a long time, and quite often used to do last wee/poo of the day on potty, before she was properly trained at 27 months.

We did it over a long weekend, so she had pants on Friday and Saturday afternoons, all day Sunday, and by Monday I was able to take her out in pants and she was fine.

She was also dry at night more often than not for several weeks after, but then went through a wet phase before dropping the night nappies about 2 1/2 months before she turned 3.

I have to say there is a lot to recommend waiting until they are ready, as my experience with DD was pretty effortless (smug/proud mummy emoticon!)

cory · 11/01/2009 16:51

About 2 1/2. Just in time to get them done before the start of playschool. SO not so much about their cues as about my needs. But they were ready, otherwise it wouldn't have worked. Pheww!

Surfermum · 11/01/2009 16:55

I started with dd a couple of weeks before her 2nd birthday. We had started reading "Molly's Potty Book" to her and sitting her on the potty when she was getting ready for bed. Then one night she went to the potty of her own accord and did a wee and a poo, so I took that as a cue to give it a go. She was dry within a few days.

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