This article about potty training is the biggest pile of poo I have ever read

[emkana]

yes yes I know it's the Daily Mail

but really.

How many seven year olds do you know who are still in nappies (apart from SN of course)???

And I really really think trying to potty train at 18 months is doomed to failure in 99% of cases. Why bother?

I trained both my dd's at just under three years, took 2 to 3 days, only a handful of accidents since. Easy.

If there are children aged seven wearing nappies to school (and I seriously doubt that the average seven year old would submit to such humiliation If he/she could avoid it), I wonder if we can blame our old friend inclusion? Ds (with ASD) wasn't out of nappies until he was six and if we hadn't been lucky enough to get him into a special school no doubt he would have been adding to these statistics.

DS1 was toilet trained at 3.5. It took 24 hours and he has never had an accident outside.

My friends who trained their DDs at 2 to 2.5 were regularly having accidents every day until approx 3.5. In the park, all over my floor - you name it, they've peed and pooped there!

There is no rush to toilet train.

I agree - it just makes extra work. My 2 were both potty trained at 3.3 - they just were not interesed/ready before. It took 24 hours and they never once had an accident after that.

Jesus. My ds is only 9mo so this is a subject I have yet to pay much attention to. It does tick a lot of the DM boxes - nurseries, working mums etc.

I have to admit now that I was thinking abotu trying to potty train early purely because I wince when I think of the environmental effect of nappies - either disposable or reusables aren't great from that perspective. We use a mixture of both.

Please don't shout me down here because I genuinely don't know, hence the post. The Baby Whisperer who I have to say I think is godlike because her techniques for sleep worked so well on ds, recommends starting at 9 months.

On MN, it seems the norm to wait until at least 2 - if not later.

Why the difference? It isn't too big a leap to think that disposable nappy manufacturers have an interest in keeping babies in nappies for as long as poss.

Thoughts?

wasabipeanut - I have found the baby whisperer very good in some areas eg. pick up put down sleep routine.

Unfortunately I didn't read her section on potty training until my DD was almost 3..I was horrified to read the potty training timeframe she suggests (I think 9 months to 2 yrs) as my DD was already past that age the first time I tried training - age 2.2 which failed. My attempt at 3 also failed..DD is now 3.3 and has potty phobia..so is still in nappies..and I'm feeling very guilty about the environmental damage I'm causing..although do try to buy Nature nappies which are more biodegradable I think.

It is really hard to know what one should be doing as I left my daughter past 2 before attempting as she did not show any "signs" of being ready before then..now she has the signs but won't wee or poo on the potty or toilet even for chocolate buttons.

i have been cheered to read the stories here of people who have suddenly had success at 3.4 or 3.5 - keeping everything crossed I will suddenly have a breakthrough with my daughter.

I am feeling frustrated with the cost of nappies, the environmental damage and the tut tutting of other mums. I am a SAHM so I feel even more guilty that I have so far failed in this area with my children. Nevertheless I feel cheered by the posts on this thread and it is good to know I'm not alone in having problems with the potty training.

I suppose you could try the baby whisperers potty training suggestions with your baby and see if they work..if they don't maybe you should wait until your ds is older and shows the signs of being ready for training..

It would be interesting to know if there is anyone on mumsnet has tried the baby whisperers techniques and had success..although I'm too late for her methods as according to the BW my DD should have been out of nappies years ago!

Aw Katybee you sound really down. I guess guilt just comes with the territory doesn't it? I hope things turn a corner for you soon.

I genuinely don't have a blardy clue on this one. The implication from a lot of MN'ers is that if you try too soon you risk not only making life difficult for both you and your dc but that you can also do a lot of psychological damage.

I'm reluctant to just crack on and have a go as the stakes seem so high.

I'm sure our parents never found it this difficult.

My last dd was 3y4m before she came out of nappies in the day. She was in reusables so I don't believe it makes much difference which nappies you use. She just wasn't ready until then. When she decided that she wasn't wearing a nappy anymore, it took her just 3 days to become reliably dry and she never had a potty, she went straight to the toilet. Most of my children have taken about 2 weeks to come out of nappies and usually around the age of 2 and half. 1 dd was out of nappies at just 2y and she was in pull-ups another was just over 2y. Some of them weren't bothered by being wet at all. When I took the nappies off in the summer and put knickers/undies on them (as advised) they just ran around in wet clothes.[hmm
I really do believe that children should be reminded and encouraged that no nappy/potty/toilet is an option but there is no need to force them with child and parent getting hot and bothered in the meantime.
Katebee my dd who came out of nappies at 3y4m was adamant that she wanted her nappy at 3y3m and nothing was going to persuade her otherwise. A month later she changed her mind.