What age did you potty train your little one?

[marne]

My dd loves sitting on her potty, she doesnt know what its for yet as i think she is too young for potty training, shes 16 months old. Is it too early to start?
What age did you potty train your toddler(s)

Just been through this with ds(24mo), started at 22mo. Had two weeks of nothing on bottom half in the house and pull-ups out and about (called special pants, never used the 'n' word in the day!) and nappy at night. It was only after this significant bit of time that he then got used to little pants (which he chose in the store) and then about two wks later he could wear trousers/shorts too and go out in the car without pull-ups on.

So my advice is if you've just started leave them bare below for a number of days, esp if you've been having accidents straight away in pants. Doesn't mean you won't have the odd accident when you do put pants on them, but it definitely will reduce the number if you take it slowly with the clothes. And also, if they're young (like my ds at 22mo) expect it to take about a month of training and accidents till they're really reliable, not the 1wk training that seems possible with older ones.

HTH and good luck !

Pretty basic question but are there different sizes of potty. We bought one for ds in John Lewis. Since they all seemed the same size we just picked the colour and style that looked nicest but it seems a bit of a tight fit for ds (who is quite slim by the way!). Where did other people buy their potties and any recommended shapes and sizes.

My dd wears cloth nappies and is quite happy to be in them soaking wet. She never asks for it off and am begining to think that she never gonna do it, supposedly potty training supposed to be easier in cloth nappies. She now 2.5

I am embarrassed to admit but I think I am lazy and can't face the thought of potty training.

Ds1 was almost 3 when we started to train him and he had accidents for almost 6 months on and off. Now at nearly 5 he will wet himself about once a month and is still wet at night.

Ds2 is approx 2y 9 mths and I am just starting with him although will still mainly use nappies for the next few weeks as we have to drop his brother at pre-school nursery every day and he goes to Playgroup a couple of mornings so I think it will be easier for everyone if we wait till Summer holidays. He has done a few wees in the potty and now wants to stand and wee at the toilet because that is what his brother does.

I can honestly say I didnt 'train' my older 3 and dont intend to with my younger 2. The big ones did it themselves,I had a potty and loo seat and occasionaly suggested at bath time they used it. obviously i encouraged them praised their achievments and played down their accidents.

i dont understand how u can leave it till they are 3 until u start potty training. During the day they should be dry by 2.5 at the most! they understand by that age! I understand at night is a bit harder.. and of course there is always going to be accidents but i dont understand why people leave it till that late! when they are perfectly capable of doing it.. its just perservering and asking them all the time!

My ds loved sitting on his potty at 15/16 months. Won't go near it now he realises what it is for (now 27 months).

At 22 months we had a book about potty training (kids hardboard book showing little kids with nappies on, then bigger kids using a potty, and bigger kids on the toilet). Did not intend for DS to read it until a bit older, but he found it and it became his favourite book. He made me read it every day (and read it himself too) for about three weeks, then asked for the potty and started using it.

Rewards are a huge incentive. We used candles for him to blow out. One for a wee, two for a poo. He soon started doing poos to get two candles! After a couple of weeks he was going without asking for candles (just got the idea that was what he was supposed to do). We kept the nappy on when we went out, and did not make a big deal of the couple of accidents that he had.

I always showed him how I emptied his nappy into the loo (and let him flush himself when he was interested in doing that). So we showed him how we emptied the contents of the potty into the loo. He thought it was a great game (especially if it was stinky! - that's boys for you) and he loved to flush himself.

He progressed to the "big toilet" almost accidentally at my mum's house as she had a little stool next to the loo for her loo rolls. He climbed up there and sat on the loo (with some help at first). We now have a stool next to our loo as well, and he refuses help in climbing up or sitting on the loo (although still needs help getting the pants up and down). Now we have "lost" the potty and he uses the "big toilet" exclusively. He is now 2.2yo and has had very few accidents. He still has a nappy on at night, and if we go out. But if we are out somewhere he asks to use the toilet about 90% of the time. If we are somewhere with no toilet I tell him that he can either just use the nappy or hold it in until we get home, and mostly he holds it in. I am not in a rush to ditch the "going out" nappies (for my sake more than his), but don't expect he'll be using them much longer.

loulabelle..who says they should be?!!!!
I think we are too hung up about it. They will be dry and clean eventually. Relax. They are baies for such a short time and will only too soon have stress thrust at them. Let them enjoy peeing in their nappies if they want to!!!!!

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We potty trained ds1 at 14 months but he wasnt dry over night until recently (hes just turned 3)

ds2 is 14 months now and just starting to sit on a potty but i dont think hes anywhere near ready to start using it properly. So will wait until he's ready.

I really can't see what the rush is except for the price of nappies. I dread trying to find public toilets or lug a potty around everywhere. We go on the tube and the bus a lot too. People I know who started under 2 seem to takes months and months. Everyone I know who started later deos it in week. I know which I'd rather. I also rememeber an obsessive mother where I grew up who was hell bent on potty training her son and he ended up so constipated he had to go to hospital.

I agree with mandy and Jane. Some children just aren't ready at a young age. Ds1 was 4yrs old when he eventually understood what was expected of him.

My dd is 3.2 and has just gone from pull-ups to pants. I never actually potty trained her as such but rather kept suggesting she use the toilet and the potty when she felt like it - eventually she hated the potty and started to use the toilet exclusively. She was still doing the odd poo and wee in her pull-ups when I switched to pants but since then has had no accidents whatsoever.
I definitely believe in leaving it late so that they properly understand the point of it all and you also avoid the numerous accidents - otherwise it seems a bit like training a puppy!

My dd was just 2. She had sucessfully managed a wee on the potty at nursery, so we though let's go for it. We just put her in knickers and had loads of accidents for a day, and now she is weeing and pooing on the potty and the big toilet to her hearts content. Everyone said to wait until it is summer when they can go naked, but then they don't understand what it feels like to be wet.
If we are embarking on a long car journey where dd will inevitably fall asleep, we put on a pull up referred to as her "special car pants". And of course at night she is in pull ups again which are referred to as her "special night time pants".
We have had a few accidents; mostly out in the garden. I think this was due to the fact we had been on the beach and we just let her wee anywhere. This has now stopped and all is good so far after 3 1/2 weeks. I think the main thing is to put yourself in their shoes and ensure they are not getting mixed messages. Also, not to get cross if they do have an accident. A friend of mine said to her daughter that she was disappointed in her to her face, which I thought was so sad.
Anyway, good luck!

but by 4 they are nearly starting school at 2.5 they are more than capable of going during the day
I personally think its parents that cant be bothered or baby their children.. but by 4 they definately should understand what a toilet is for!

just read post over and i seem really mean.. i didnt mean it that parents cant be bothered in the way they cant be bothered with the hassle.. but now days a lot of parents juggle jobs and parenting and simply havent really got the time to get to grips with it!i didnt mean to offend anyone before sorry!

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My ds is now 6 I trained him at 2yrs 4mnths he only took 3days to train and he came out of night nappies at same time never looked back has only ever had 2 accidents, he did however sit on potty from 18months and did the odd wee wee which he enjoyed getting a masive round of applause. Dd has just turned 2 and I will try her at same age which means in about 3mnths Ahhh! Dd however doesn't like the potty but prefers to sit on toilet with winnie pooh seat, still waiting on a wee wee!

Ds1 could do a heck of a lot at 2.5yrs but going to the toilet was unfortunately not one of them. It certainly wasn't an attempt to keep him as a baby either. Believe me I would have loved him to have been toilet-trained at 2.5yrs. He just wasn't ready for it.

my ds1 (2.5) has been trained for about 3 months, he still wears a nappy at night though. The problem that I have got is he will NOT poo in a potty or the toilet, he waits until after his evening bath and as soon as the nappy goes on he poo's - its driving me mad - any top tips?

dd was dry in the day at 2.5.
dry at night just before she was 3.

I found a lot of friends kids done this when I was training ds. I think they feel a little uneasy to let go when they are doing bowel movements. A lot of encouragement I expect and it will come in time. Can't really comment too much as Ds was fine with this. There will be someone along soon to give you some info!

Wondering when I should try ds. He'll be 2 in July. Can tell us when he's done a poo and ask for a new nappy. Bought him a potty as he seemed interested but although he talks about it and was interested in sitting on it he's decided he doesn't like it - the splashguard upsets him. Should I try with a childseat on the loo? Or leave it for a while? What do you do if a child finds the potty uncomfortable? How do you manage when you are out and about if they won't use a potty?
We've got a three story house so I really want him to use the potty rather than having to dash upstairs to the loo every time!
TIA