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Parenting

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Original poster

How early do you do early potty training?

28 replies

beartime · 12/02/2006 21:38

I met a Mexican in the USA who potty trained her child by 1 year which started me thinking I'd like to do that! then Tracy Hogg said to start at 9 months. then I looked on the internet and a lot of people said start between birth and 4/5 months - but then they said they weren't dry till 18mths - whereas I would prefer them to be dry by 1 year at least.

What is the best time to start if you're doing early training - has anyone done it? And what time can you get dry by, and how?

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Latz · 12/02/2006 21:39

ask cod - she is the guru

Hattie05 · 12/02/2006 21:41

Do a search on the subject here and i think you'll see the general consesus is never before 2.

At 1 they are nowhere near developed enough for it to be possible.

Remember its about what your child can do, not what you would prefer.

Hulababy · 12/02/2006 21:41

I think trying at such a young age means an awful lot of hard work for you and it will take ages no doubt.

I waited until DD was ready - well, a little after as I waited till it was also a convenient time for me. She was 24 months and was potty trained within 3 days, with no accidents after 2 days.

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bangersandmash · 12/02/2006 21:43

generally after 2 - although my SIL's youngest (who was 2 at the beginning of this month) went abroad with her mum for a month in December , and came back dry during the day, and only occasional accidents at night !

my DS1 was nearly 3, and DS2 isn't there yet (he was 2 in November

Hulababy · 12/02/2006 21:43

Gina Ford and others suggest that a baby's bladder is not ready to hold on until at least 18 months, and that a child needs to have a certain level of understanding and language to be able to cope.

Before 1 you are not really training the child to go - you are simply training yourself to take the baby to the potty regularly and looking for cues from your baby.

Many babies are not even walking at 1 years old, some not crawling - how can they go and use a potty by themselves if this is the case?

Original poster

beartime · 12/02/2006 21:52

but if some babies are dry by 1 yr then it must be possible - and you can't really say it's cruel for the baby, in fact its probably actually nice for the baby, not to sit in a mess all day

OP posts:

tortoise · 12/02/2006 22:09

My dd is 1.7 and she over the last few weeks has been using the loo.Will wee and poo on it. Copying her sister! Ive been wondering if should potty train her cos she knows when shes doing/done wee and asks to go loo before does poo.Dont want to push her to soon though.Guess its worth a try!!

Hulababy · 12/02/2006 22:11

It is possible to train a parent to regularly take their child and hold them over a potty several times during the day and night, yes. Think it is called elimination containment or something???

I am not, however, convinced it is possible to potty train a child who has no bladder control, often no way of getting themselves successfully to a potty/toilet in time themselves, is unable to undress themselves properly and who has such limited language and comprehension.

Hulababy · 12/02/2006 22:16

Elimination communication - sorry.

morningpaper · 12/02/2006 22:24

I started a thread on this recently.

I think that if you start putting baby on the loo at nappy change time or when you think s/he is going to go, then you will be maximising your chance of training much earlier than would otherwise be the case. I don't see that there is any point or logic at 'aiming' for a certain age, but starting young means it is a gradual process.

colditz · 12/02/2006 22:30

Beartime, most people have better things to do than follow a crawling baby around with a potty all day. Personally (this is just me) I would rather wait until they can pull their own trousers up and down, can sit on the potty themselves, etc. My ds at 1 couldn't even walk, most babies can't.

Clary · 12/02/2006 22:36

years ago of course people used to potty train much earlier. If you read the Cazalet Chroincles by Elizabeth Howard (set in WW2) you will find the source of my MN name and references to a mum sitting her 4mo child on the potty! After every feed, so that by the time she is 16 mo or something she is dry in the day. why would you do this?

morningpaper · 12/02/2006 22:59

Clary: Why not? It only takes 20 seconds, they usually go when their nappies are whipped off anyway, so it saves cleaning up the bathroom floor, and then it saves a couple of years worth of nappies if they train early. Job done!

Clary · 12/02/2006 23:09

Well most 4mo can hardly sit up. FWIW None of mine ever went when their nappies were off. And I've got better things to do with a 4mo than sit him on the potty every 30 mins (babies don't wee that often, no, but to be sure of catching it that's what you'd have to do, surely?) It'd be the end of M&T groups or popping to the shops for a year, that's for sure!

Clary · 12/02/2006 23:22

Oh ok I've had a look at yr other thread now and I see what you mean, and sort of agree with you. But I also agree with Frogs' first post that it would hardly fit around a schedule with an older child.

bobbybobbobbingalong · 12/02/2006 23:38

What you prefer and what your baby will do are entirely different things.

Original poster

beartime · 13/02/2006 07:24

morningpaper - so you don't watch for signs - just put them on at nappy changes? How do you do that practically if your changing mat is in anothe room? Mine usually poos when he's bfing - so I don't know if that'd work?!

OP posts:

morningpaper · 13/02/2006 08:21

Beartime speaking PERSONALLY I kind of know when dd is going to do a poo. I can't realy explain how. But I just take her to the loo and sit her on - I think it's the chubby thighs against abdomen pressure as well that just makes her go.

She always wees when I take her nappy off so I hold her on the loo then.

It's not a matter of catching it every time AT ALL - it's just that if I can get occasional wees and poos on the loo, (a) it saves a lot of mess and nappies (b) over time it helps her make the association about going on the toilet.

I agree that if your baby poos while feeding, or if you haven't got a clue when s/he needs to go, then it might not be worth bothering. I don't think it's necessarily worth making a bit effort over, but I think this approach seems to be working for me.

Clary I've got an older child who is 3.5 - she was dry day and night by just over 18 months. All her nappies were dry then so I just put her in pants - it was an easy transition.

Beartime I don't know how on earth anyone has a breastfed baby's changing mat in another room! Lordy I need to be in close contact with running water and a bucket and a sink!

morningpaper · 13/02/2006 08:29

I've got no idea if my approach is right, but it seems natural to me and the gradual approach seems like what our grandparent's generation did, as far as I can tell. And it is generally accepted that children DID train much earlier then. And I don't think that people of my age and above have particular 'issues' with toileting which could be put down to these practices, so I can't see the harm.

I might be wrong!

Hulababy · 13/02/2006 09:37

How on earth do you go out? Can you do normal activities all the time - journeys int he car, trips round shops,town or a museum, soft play, gym classes, swimming? I can only see it being lots of hassle. Might be wrong, but not sure I could have been bothered with the running around it would involve. Could tell if DD was wanting to poo, but not a clue when she was doing, or rather about to, wee.

Mazzystar · 13/02/2006 09:43

i think our grandparents generation's enthusiasm for early potty training might well be put down to cloth nappies and no washing machine.

i reckon its gotta be better in the summer, however old they are

Original poster

beartime · 13/02/2006 10:12

Woah! I just thought for the fun of it I'd put him on the potty when I changed his nappy just now, and he just sat there for 10secs. Then I took him off, and there was pee in the bottom!!!!!!!!!! So maybe I might try doing it more often, but of course then I need to clean the potty out, so it might be a hassle still... (I don't have a toddler seat on the toilet, and my changing mat is not in the bathroom - there isn't room in the bathroom as it's tiny!)

I don't know if I could get his nappy off in time when I think he's going to poo though?

OP posts:

morningpaper · 13/02/2006 14:59

Hula I don't have a 4 month old in pants or anything. If we are out I don't bother putting her on the loo or anything - she just does her business in her nappy like a normal baby!!! Really it mainly boils down to just sit on the loo at each nappy change - she will produce something more often than not - I chatter to her about what she's doing so she knows what's going on (inasmuch as a baby can!). Then back on the floor for a wipe and a new nappy.

I suspect there is something in the actual position of sitting down on the toilet - with no pressure on the bottom (in the form of a nappy) which makes the body 'go'.

morningpaper · 13/02/2006 15:00

I think we get a bit hung up about potty training early - I remember the first time I put my first baby on the potty I felt really GUILTY like I was doing something awful like feeding a 6-week old some ice-cream or something. ... but why?! I think we make it into a much bigger issue that it should be.

faeriemum · 13/02/2006 15:42

ds is 22months and completely dry now

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