HV says to potty train at 12m

[Cinnabonswirl]

My ds is almost 13m, the HV says we should be potty training from 12m, all my friends from NCT have been told the same, but I’m not convinced? Surely it would be closer to elimination communication at this age? Since he turned one Ive been putting him on the potty sometimes and Ive switched to cloth nappies to see if that helps but I don’t know if I’m just making work for myself. Has anyone managed to potty train at this point? Is there any point making a proper effort?

I suspect the end result will be lots of accidents and your ds will only be reliably dry at the same time as he would have been if you'd left it ! I didnt potty train until mine were 2.5 but it only took a couple of days to be reliably dry in the day and a further 2 weeks until we ditched nappies at night with no accidents...

Mum of a 15m old here and I have absolutely not heard this! Surely that's far too young to be able to explain potty training to?

Who can be bothered?
I was so pfb and potty trained before two but by my 3rd I waited until she was 3 and it was so much easier.

Also the one who potty trained young used to wet the bed till age 7.

Just chill.

It's too young to potty train in any meaningful way. It would be, as you say, elimination communication or potty timing. You'd train yourself to recognise his timing/expressions of needing the toilet rather than training him to toilet independently.

I have known children be properly potty trained at 18 months, but most are not ready until nearly two ime. I would wait at least another six months (although no harm in keeping the potty and having a bit of nappy free time along the way if it works for both of you).

I think that’s one of the pieces of advice you should feel free to totally ignore. There’s no point if they’re not able to physically remove their clothes to sit on the potty, you’d have to have them bare on the bottom all the time at that age. They also need to be able to communicate to you that they need to go, and to know that they need to go with enough time to get to the potty. As the PP has said it’ll just be endless “accidents” until they’re actually old enough to manage it.

My daughter is 15 months and I’ve never been told this. I have been thinking I may introduce from 18+ months because she does now tell me as she is having a poo or a wee so there is starting to be some awareness there but I certainly don’t think she’s ready to potty train.

How many dc does she have op? Guessing none.
Enjoy the next year of your dc before The Hell that is potty training needs any attention
..

As per previous poster One of mine was 3 before they got it. We'd attempted and abandoned it several times in the proceeding 12 months. But once they were ready they were ready from the get go - so nappies off on 'the day' and 24hrs later they were dry during the day without a pull up, no subsequent accidents. Never used the potty, just straight into the big toilet.

A friend's DC recommend to be potty trained at 15 months, but in reality they weren't. 12 months seems awfully young unless you've been doing the elimination communication method.

Think potty training should be as baby led as weaning.

Neither of my DC could crawl/walk/move independently at 12 months old 😬 DS1 could talk by 12 mo but DS2 couldn't. So I'm not sure how potty training would have worked!

I potty trained them both at around 2.5.

I heard an article on R4 recently about how they they are trying to encourage people to potty train earlier because of the environmental impact of nappies. The age has been getting later and later as disposable nappies get better and better but multiplied by so many people the extra plastic waste is a big concern. Perhaps there is a change in NHS advice for that reason. The programme was suggesting we should be trying from 18 months

My eldest was dry night and day by 18 months and I thought that was young!
My others were 2.

Maybe she just means sitting them on the potty to get used to the idea of it rather than actually ditching the nappies. Lots are not even walking by 12-13 months.

Most (not all) train between 2-3.
Earlier (about 18 months) is possible but you will spend far, far longer dealing with accidents. There’s also things to consider like their fine motor skills, being able to manipulate their trousers/pants down which is much harder below 2.

According to a very old baby book ( 1940s) that I found in my grandma's books 12 -18 months was suggested. I suspect that only worked with the incentive of a few less nappies to hand wash and a stay at home parent watching them like a hawk.
My mum said in the 70s 2 was normal, I potty trained mine at about 2 in the 2000s ( was considered early, but we did use cloth nappies) I think up to three is more common now. Good disposables definitely make toddlers less aware.

Did she say potty train? I used to sit mine in the potty, not expecting them to do anything, but just to get them used to it, so that when they were ready it wasn't something strange and scary they were suddenly being exposed to.

There was a couple of (smug) mums at playgroup who potty trained their DDs at less than 18 months.
They spent the whole of playgroup taking them to the toilet every 5 minutes, then putting nappies on them because they were driving somewhere after that took longer than 10 minutes. Then telling me they had to get nappies because they were going on a plane or a bus etc.

My son had a speech and language delay and we felt he wasn’t ready until 3.5. All done within a week and not had an accident after another week on, dry at night by 5 by himself and never wet the bed.

In my very limited experience, I’d wait.

I was actually told the new advice is to put them in a potty from a newborn so they get used to it, ridiculous. My DD is 15 months and whilst she can understand what I’m telling her, she would not understand the concept of using a potty when she needs. I am going to wait until she understands properly, hopefully by 2 - 2.5

Yes she said ‘potty train from 12m’
some of my nct friends had ‘you can potty train from 12m’ or ‘you should consider potty training from 12m’ but yes definitely advising potty training this early.
thanks all, I was wondering if I was just being lazy by not bothering to put proper effort into this. I was worried if this was the advice everyone was receiving that my dc would be the only one actually not potty trained by 2!

my friend is really making an effort with it and says that there’s a Montessori theory that you should between 12-18m or you miss the first ‘window’

im happy to do it if its possible as well, but i just couldn’t see how it could work really, as pp have said, he can’t do his trousers, wipe, or even talk yet

HV is spouting nonsense.

12m used to be the age women were told to potty train, way back in the 60s and 70s.

My DM many years later mused that it was actually the mothers who were trained. She ended up following us around with a damp cloth and a bottle of dettol all day every day, and the laundry load was unbelievable.

The HV is also assuming there's one parent home all the time to put in the work training involves at that age. That's pretty silly in this day and age.

What bollocks.

My DS trained a bit late at 3 as he had physical delays but my DD is currently 20 months and I’m intending to train her around next spring summer when she will be 2 and a half.

That's bonkers. How can a baby that can't walk or talk properly be potty trained. They need to be able to tell you they need to go, walk to the potty/toilet in good time, start learning how to remove/replace clothing and wiping independently. Otherwise it's not 'training' it's just you plonking at literal baby on a potty at intervals hoping for the best. How stressful and messy. 2-2.5 is a good age, so they are ready for pre-school.
There is no rush. Enjoy time with your baby.

Insane. Do it at 3 or earlier if they show interest, likelihood is it’ll be over abd done with in about a week. If you do it at 12 months … we’ll, you’ll be spending ages mopping things up and changing clothes.

Absolute rubbish... Just wait til 2.5-3 ish and it will be done and dusted in a few days.