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.

Mum insists we were all potty trained by 1 (50s/60s) but she does say we spent a lot of time sitting on the potty before and during those years. She was hand washing cloth nappies so I can see the attraction.

I wish Id done it with DS (hindsight is a wonderful thing) as he withheld as a toddler and it was a massive issue that I had no idea how to deal with. DD was in washables and I did do it with her sometimes - she was a bit like a puppy, food in one end poo out of the other. I think getting them used to sitting, letting go, seeing a poo etc is no bad thing. But it’s clearly not necessary for most.

Yes my Mum had 5 children in the 40s and 50s. Nappy washing in those days involved soaking, boiling, feeding through the mangle then line drying.

Apparently I was potty trained by 12 months....although my own DDs were not such prodigies 😉

Yeah EC is time intensive and not for us! My first had a potty from 2 but refused it, got upset about it, for a long time. He suddenly trained himself at 3.5, no staying home, no accidents. He just decided.

His baby sister has been using the potty since about 14 months. She couldn't walk at that stage but her speaking and understanding was excellent, she would ask for a wee and then do it on the potty. She's still not trained at 19 months because although she's walking now, she can't pull her trousers up and down adequately by herself, so there seems no point yet. She knows when she needs to go though and asks a few times a day (and at 2am last night...). She absolutely will not poop on it though, she hates pooping. Given her interest we're taking a more casual route this time and will encourage when she's physically more able with clothes.

Some interesting responses, thank you. It makes me think there’s no harm in familiarising her with a potty and perhaps putting her on before bath time every night and taking a very casual approach until she’s a lot older.

We used the oh crap method for DS and while it worked great for wees, poos are a whole other issue and he’s still not done one on the toilet nearly a year later. Admittedly we started a bit later than the book suggests. I’m at my wits end with and feel like I’ve tried everything so really hoping to avoid these issues with dd.

The earliest I think you can potty train is 18 months ish. Before that it's just prolonging the process surely.
Did you catch my earlier post? For us, there were huge advantages to having a baby who would at least sometimes go on the potty, even if not PT as such. Particularly very few pooey nappies by 12 months or so, which after 3.5 years of it with DS was a liberation. So yes it was a long process, but any point along the way was an improvement on not doing it at all iyswim?

The Oh Crap method, if you’re keen to do it that way again OP, doesn’t agree with familiarisation with the potty and says to get it out only when you’re starting training so as not to send mixed messages otherwise you’re basically saying the potty is optional and encouraging unhygienic messing about on what is essentially a toilet when the bath toys etc inevitably end up in there. Of course Oh Crap is not the only training method out there and I don’t agree with everything she says (the chapter on night training for instance is insane) but I do personally agree with her on that as I think it makes a lot of sense.

Personally I think it’s about age. Before 2 and half they’re just a lot more eager to please and less stubborn than they are at 3, and usually pee a lot more so you can catch more successes and move the process along. My eldest was really tough too so we trained her brother a lot younger and it was a lot easier.

The Eric websites had good info on pooh withholding

DD had a febrile fit just after her first birthday. They needed a wee sample in hospital and were trying to set up some kind of catching device. I asked for a potty, and DD wee'd in it. They were amazed. I did the random sitting on the potty from early on, no it isn't "proper" training, but it does become habit. Save's on nappies. She was properly clean and dry during the day from 18 months, asking to go when needed.

She's still not trained at 19 months because although she's walking now, she can't pull her trousers up and down adequately by herself, so there seems no point yet

There is a point, there are stages, initially you help them with their clothes surely. Training doesn't necessarily mean entirely by themselves. Don't you want to get them out of nappies/pull ups?

Exactly. My 2.5 struggles in some styles clothes, he also can’t wipe his own bum, has to be lifted onto public toilets and needs prompting to wash his hands. They won’t be toileting completely independently until 3.5-4. 19 months is still tiny and fair enough if you want to wait a bit but being able to pull up down trousers isn’t a reason in itself IMO.