Potty train 2.3yr old DD or wait a few months?

[PerfectPeony2]

Just wondering if I could have some advice!

We tried to potty train DD at 20 months- obviously very early but it was lockdown and she was taking her nappies off/ showing some signs of readiness so we thought we’d give it a go. We had a few dry days, and she did poos on the potty. But after over a week was still having accidents. We went back to nappies as obviously she was very young anyway.

She is 2.3 now and has been asking to use the toilet. I’d like to give it another go, but we are moving house in a few months depending on how long the sale takes to go through. So she will be starting a new nursery.

I’m just wondering if it’s better to train now, if it goes well she will have a few months to settle into it. Or do I wait until she’s settled in her new nursery- which could be a while?

I have 10 days off work next week, I don’t want to rush her into it, but it seems like it might be a missed opportunity if all goes to plan.

All advice/ thoughts welcome.

Personally I would go for it if she is interested and you have time off. If she is ready it won't take long and you might end up in the situation we did where she refuses to wear nappies!! So rather than battling you could go for it. She's not too young, our girl did it just after 2 but obv each child is different. Good luck!

Get the oh crap book and go for it. Best thing I ever did

Thank you. She has taken her nappy off and done a wee on the toilet with her insert thing. And DH found her the other day getting her little stool to get to the toilet. I don’t know if it’s just a novelty thing though, as I let her sit on it the other week but no wee came out!

We also got the potty out in the garden when we had the paddling pool out but she started weeing on the floor.. although she then said there’s more and sat herself on the potty so she did get a bit of wee in there.

I have that book- we did well with it last time but at 20 months I think she just didn’t have enough control over her bladder.

It is such an individual thing, which means you can only go by the cues she is giving you re readiness. She sounds like she understands when she needs to go and is getting the hang of it, so I'd say go for it.

@PerfectPeony2

I have that book- we did well with it last time but at 20 months I think she just didn’t have enough control over her bladder.

Try it again. My son was 2 and 4 months old

Thank you @baytreetavern I think we are going to. I guess I’m just worried it won’t go well and I’ll end up confusing her!

Go for it! We did DD 2yrs1m with Oh Crap

Just stay completely consistent

Go for it. It’s the only way you’ll know. If it’s a total disaster, you can stop. But if she’s doing well enough (which could still mean some accidents for a while, don’t expect miracles but as long as she’s having more success than accidents) push through and stick with it. We followed Oh Crap too

Just go for it. That's the age all three of my boys were potty trained, but that's just what we did 20-odd years ago. We stayed at home and concentrated on training for a week until it clicked. The quickest to get it was youngest DS at 2.5, it took three days. DS1 was 2.2 and took about 10 days.

As others have said, be consistent and keep going. It might take a couple of weeks but it's a good age to do it as toddlers are usually so keen to please their parents. I think the Oh Crap! book says the best time to do it is between 2 and 2.5 and I'd agree with that.

Hi Peony! How are you?! Do you remember me from our old criers thread?

I echo the 'go for it' crewe. We started potty training DD 4 weeks ago sort of by accident, it wasn't planned. She has had accidents of course and we had a particular problem with soiling herself at nursery for a couple of weeks. We continued throughout as we could see the progress she was making and she never once asked to go back to nappies. We now haven't had a single accident in about 9 days. I have Oh Crap and we generally followed that approach, although we didn't have to do the 'looking for cues and putting them on the potty when they look like they need to go' thing because she self-initiated from day 1. We also only had her at home for 4 days befor she went to nursery and I reckon if we'd had her at home for a longer period of time, we would have avoided the soiling issues but because I hadn't planned it I couldn't take the time off work that last minute. I echo what PP said about progress and not perfection. My (few) friends have all trained around 3 or later and some of them were still having odd accidents months later etc or long running issues with soiling. I know lots of people on MN claim if they're not accident free within about 3 days then the child is "not ready" but Im about that.

@MeadowHay of course! How are you? How is your DD doing? That thread got me through so much. I have to say I am really loving the toddler stage, DD is the happiest little girl with such a lovely, kind personality. She tells me she loves me so much about 10 times a day! I remember thinking we would never get through those days but it seems like a distant memory now. I have concluded that DD just didn’t like being a baby! The funny thing is, she is so much better behaved now than a lot of toddlers I know- so I get to be all smug about that haha.

If I remember right your DD is a month or so older than mine? That’s great she’s doing so well with the potty. I agree, I don’t think I’d want to wait till 3. I’m not the most eco friendly person in the world but I think if we can save a bit of landfill we should! Plus I think DD is learning so much at this age and is more than capable.

Were your nursery supportive? DD’s are amazing but we are relocating soon, she’s been there since she was 10 months so I’m worried she will be in a new nursery feeling a bit shy, and be worried about using the potty. Especially as with the current situation we’re not allowed in to settle her. Then again, at least she’d be in her current nursery while she’s still learning the ropes.

Aw, glad to hear you're getting on well. Likewise I'm enjoying her toddlerhood much more than babyhood! I think their birthdays are pretty close together (June here), cos my DD is also about 2yrs 3 months. I still wouldn't say she's a particularly easy toddler - still very intense, and clingy and prone to histrionics but she is also much more fun .

We just randomly gave it a go with the potty and she took to it straight away so we just continued. If after a few days she wasn't getting it at all then I would have just sacked it off and tried again a few months later like.

Our nursery have been sooo good I can't praise them enough. When she was still having some soiling accidents like 3 weeks in I was worried they might get tetchy and sick of it. But they were so supportive, they could see she was making progress over time and they supported us in sticking with it and they put so much effort in finding ways to help her poop on the potty at nursery. Which eventually slowly paid off and now she's all sorted and no longer having accidents.

I get what you mean about changing nursery - we were actually first going to give it a go when she was a fair bit younger just to see what happened, but she temporarily went to another nursery during lockdown and then moved back again etc so we thought that upheaval was enough for her to be dealing with at that time.

How long is it until she moves nursery? If it's a fair block of time I would give it a go. You might find she has a set back in the new nursery but that can happen to much older children or even if they move rooms in the same nursery anyway.

That’s really good to hear! DD can be a bit of a diva, but I think in comparison to her baby days it feels like a breeze. It is definitely more fun though watching the crazy stuff they get up to.

Yep DD is early July so they are close in age- that’s great that you kept going with it and that the nursery were on board.

I’m going to do the oh crap book again, I’m determined to keep going this time even if she’s not perfect like you say. That’s true, changes can happen at any time. I think she’s quite adaptable, plus we have a really cute little portable potty so I’m planning for her to take it with her so she’s got her own and it feels more familiar.

What do you do about naps? Do you put a nappy on for it or is she dry for that now?

Yes she has a nappy on for naps. In the last week these have always been dry at home but I'm not planning to try her without one for awhile yet as she's happy wearing one for her naps and I don't want her to have any nap accidents in case it affects her confidence. I put it on last thing before she gets in her cot and she now asks for it to come off first thing when she's out of it and she always does a wee straight away after as well now (took a few weeks for her to get in the habit).

Good luck! (And if it really isn't happening, then there's no rush either at this age.)

Hi @MeadowHay

How’s your Dd getting on with being dry this week?

We did start, it’s day 1 today. She had two wee accidents in the morning and then it’s been fine, pooped on potty too.

We went for a walk this morning and took the portable potty, got her to use it mid walk and that was successful. She didn’t want to wear a pull up for her nap and stayed dry.

We pushed our luck though, and went out again this afternoon for a walk. She had two accidents including one at the park. I’m going to make sure we stay in for the next few days so she can learn the ropes more.

I haven’t told anyone we are PT, just going to do the week and see if she’s accident free enough to go to nursery!

I’m finding she is weeing every 20-30 minutes but she has had quite a lot of juice/ extra fluid today!

Definitely go for it! Trained my son at 18 months using oh crap. Sounds like she actually did really well at 20 months so should definitely be ready now.