Potty sitting a 7 month old

[Hopingforbetterluck]

So I was talking to a HV today about 3 year old DS toilet issues and mentioned I’d definitely be potty training DD earlier to hopefully avoid the issues.

She told me the advice now has changed and they’re telling parents to sit babies as young as 6 months on the potty as soon as they can sit unassisted as there’s been a huge increase in children with potty training issues and consultants are apparently seeing an increase in children with bowel impactions etc.

I had no idea the advice had changed and as the phone call was regarding 3 year old DS I didn’t really ask any questions about what I should be doing with DD. Has anyone done this? Do I just sit her on a potty at set times in the day or am I actually trying to catch when she’s weeing or having a poo and get it in the potty.

I’m a bit confused, anyone done this with their baby? DD has just gone 7 months.

Google elimination communication

Are you in England? That's not what it says on the NHS site.
I don't see the point of sitting a 6 month old on a potty. They are not physically able at that age to control their bladders or bowels.

I have just checked NHS website and it says:

She’s talking utter nonsense. What she is referring to is elimination communication, which in short is looking for signs they’re about to go and whipping them onto the potty- was popular in days gone by as it cuts down on the washing but mostly fell out of favour when disposable nappies were invented. It’s not potty training. No child under 1 has the necessary muscle control and no child under 18 months has the necessary understanding or communication. I would just aim to train between 2 and 2.5 which is the ideal age IMO in terms of physical readiness, communication and willingness.

Yes I’m in England and don’t see much point in it either so I was surprised by her advice but apparently when dd has her next review I’ll be told this information.

The only reason I can think they have started advising it is so they’re familiar with the potty and not scared when you come to potty train rather than actually trying to train them but 7 months still seems a little young for that.

I‘ve heard of elimination communication and it’s not my bag at all but as I understand it that’s done from much earlier and even if I was interested I’ve missed the boat on that anyway.

Think I’ll take the advice with a pinch of salt and aim to do it just after she’s 2. I started training DS a little late at 2.10 because of personal circumstances so maybe that has contributed to the issues we’re having….that and the stubbornness he’s got from DH!

Not sure how you would enjoy either of your dc or get out of the house with a 7 mo stuck to a potty multiple times a day.

I find you just have to assume that HVs are bonkers until proven otherwise.

Potty training at 20-30 months seems optimal from the vast number of toddlers I've seen personally and professionally.

Earlier than that and the speech / understanding isn't there.

Later than that and they can have more entrenched habits / fears of the toilet and the whole thing tends to take longer.

Same for nighttime - the social media noise around blaming hormones for bed wetting is risking overshadowing the fact that most kids can and should be dry overnight by 2.5. Leaving them in pull ups for longer increases the likelihood of regression & is harder to deal with the longer it goes on.

It’s not “social media noise”. It’s an actual, known hormone that needs to kick in to stop the kidneys making urine at night.

yes many kids are dry at 2.5. Some aren’t. Kids develop at different rates.

Children under 18 months can potty train successfully, although I accept this isn't the norm. DD was trained around 16months.

Elimination communication seems particularly time consuming and challenging though!

@YouHoooo this is what my mum says. Always cites the time HV told her to give one of us orange juice at a few weeks old. Tells me I should just listen to her as she’s had five of us 🤣

Got to agree that most HV are bonkers and reading from a book not from actual personal experience.
All this stuff about babies doing x,y, and z by a certain age is just daft.
They all do things at different ages and can’t read the perfect baby manual that the HV’s seem to have.

Just sit the baby on the potty once a day while getting ready for the bath and praise if anything ends up inside. For familiarisation, not expecting that there will be any control.
Anecdotally, I did it with one baby but not the other and the difference was huge once the time came to actually potty train

I used to sit mine on the potty, usually in the morning, after their lunchtime nap and while I was running their bath. It just meant they got used to sitting on the potty and weren't concerned by it. Usually they didn't do anything on it, but very occasionally they had a wee, more by luck than judgment.

@boomtickhouse and precisely what evidence have you got to support your ludicrously bold claim that 2.5 year olds "can and should" be dry at night, because it mostly sounds like you're talking bollocks

Both of my DCs were potty-trained just after two years old. But, they were both dry at night at that age.
Sitting a baby on a potty and catching it because you've recognised the signs is not potty training. Waiting until a small child can recognise when they need to wee / poo is.

This is ridiculous, surely not?!

Your HV is referencing the ERIC guidelines which were recently updated to include ‘potty learning’ for babies from 6 months. Quite different from potty training, more familiarisation. This is a charity which deals with bladder and bowel issues.

https://eric.org.uk/potty-training/

We did this with DD and it was brilliant.

What we did was basically sit her on the potty at our convenience, so kind of the opposite of EC. We started it when she was seeming a bit uncomfortable about peeing, so the doctor asked us to try to get a pee sample in case she had an infection. It was unexpectedly easy, so we just continued. Fresh air does seem to naturally trigger them to go. But once it was a habit, it was a habit, and any time you sat her on the potty she'd do anything she had to do.

Think 9 months baby, you're going to catch a train somewhere and changing nappies is going to be a pain. We could just pop her on the loo before we left home and there would be every chance of not needing a change in the next hour. And no pooey nappy bum to clean up too. It wasn't potty training as such but it made life a huge amount easier, and transitioned gradually into her being in control so potty training was kind of a non-event.

Really encourage you to give it a go for a few weeks and see if anything happens. First thing in the morning was a good bet for DD, or after a nap. It was a total game changer for us after DS being a nightmare to train at 3.5.

It’s an actual, known hormone that needs to kick in to stop the kidneys making urine at night.
Weirdly, DD was dry at night at 12 months. I don't think she stopped making urine, she just saved it up for an epic morning pee.

Most children are physically ready between 30 and 36 months so don't panic go by when they show the signs as listed on the NHS website. Perhaps she's thinking about familiarising a child with the potty.

I have done this with both of mine. it wasn't intentional - I had a voucher for a baby baby shop that needed using when DD1 was about 7 months old. I didnt need anything else so I bought a potty knowing I'd need one down the line. I sat her on it at nappy changes and while running the bath etc because it was cute. Quite often, she did a wee. She had really clear signs when she needed a poo so if we were home we put her on the potty. Mainly because I'd rather tip a poo out of a potty than scrape it off the backside of a thrashing toddler. Gradually, she was dry in her nappies so I put her in pants. We had the odd accident here and there but it was a very easy transition. I've done the same with DD2 who is 18 months old and loves carrying the (clean) potty around shouting "wee wee!" she is still very much in nappies but she knows what is is for. I dont do elimination communication, I'm not strict with it and dont give loads of over the top praise. I see it as giving them the opportunity to learn that the potty is there, it's for toileting and it's normal and part of our routine.

I imagine the idea is to get them used to sitting on it, which seems fair enough.

Potty training has got a lot later over the last century - in the 40s and 50s most kids were done by 18 months.

I got told this too and smiled and nodded and left the potties in the loft till she was 26 months and she potty trained quite easily in a few days (after a bit of resistance and wee on the floor). We used the Oh Crap book. The earliest I think you can potty train is 18 months ish. Before that it's just prolonging the process surely.

I don't see a problem with familiarising younger children with the potty, if it's out anyway why not just plonk them on occasionally.
There has been a rise in children going to school not able to go to the toilet.

My nephew is 15 months but his older brother is potty training so I've said she may aswel let him have a go aswel.