It's been a long time, so tell me - what is the current thinking on potty training?

[castille]

The last time I potty trained was over 6 years ago and I hadn't given it a lot of thought for 22mo DS until today when SIL said she was training her 19mo.

My first thought was that 19 months is quite young. My girls both trained easily at around 2.5 years and I had carefully ignored all pressure from my (French) inlaws to start before I thought they were ready, but it's harder this time as SIL's little boy is only 3 months younger than my DS so there's a lot of comparison

I don't think DS is interested or ready and I'm not about to embark on months of extra laundry, but I need some ammunition for when I hear "so he's still in nappies then?"

help? please?

ah, ignore her.

You will know when he is ready. Just tell her that you're not even going to think about potty training him until he's grasped the whole alphabet as currently he's only up to Q

and trust me, there are ten years between my eldest and my next one, you don't forget, you just think you've forgotten iykwim.

dd is 26 mo and nearly ready - wait until ds is happy and it will be much quicker

Agreed - today DS, who's 25 months and in nappies, quite blatantly went off into a corner, grunted, produced something vile and wandered off to play. Hoping he knew, I followed him, saying in best Playschool-presenter-speak, "ooo, has X had a poo-poo?" over and over.
He just stared at me and said "No, mummy, I haven't."
And until they know what they're doing, we don't stand a chance.

@squonk

Oh I don't mind waiting, I know it's easier and quicker when they are older

I just want to be able to say "well actually..." and quote some irrefutable research at them

does the irrefutable research have to be true?

not necessarily

got any ideas?

apparently, it's a well known fact (in my brain) that those that are potty trained before they are actually ready for it regress and when they are ten they wet the bed every night for at least a year.

also, it can put serious strain on their kidneys if you train them before they are 2.5.

And... if you train before their bits are fully formed, you can damage them forever!

(all the above are completely made up btw, just in case someone clicks on this who is not aware of my inappropriate humour )

i have looked after kids for 25yrs and never potty trained any kids before 2nd birthday.it is much quicker if they are ready.my own kids were just turned 2 and it only took a week to do it!!!you will know when he is ready.

potty trained my daughter when she was 2yrs 7mnth waited till she could understand the need to go before doing it everywhere and the concept of bribery. shed actually started doing such big wee's theyd often come out of her nappy and she caught on that she didnt enjoy being wet, much easier and quicker when theyre ready. and again..when you can bribe them cause lets face it, its easier.

My twin charges are 2yrs 7 months also, and are a boy and a girl. I started using a potty after meals and before baths a couple of months ago, and now they are both 95% dry during the day, and they take themselves off to the potty for wees whenever they need to, and are happy to use public loos too. Poohs are an issue, both of them prefer to poop in a pullup, and I am not forcing the issue as they are still pretty young and me and the parents are more than happy with their progress so far. The key to success is 2 jellybeans per wee, and they are such sugar junkies we've had hardly any accidents at all! probably not the most PC way to train but bribery works and they are happy, proud and confident, and as a bonus they are great at cleaning their teeth too, as we have them brush their teeth after they've washed their hands and eaten the jellybeans!