What should I do with DS 21m?

[Tweetinat]

The last few weeks DS has done a few things which make us wonder whether he's ready to be potty trained, although everyone tells me that it's far too early for a boy...

• a few times he has tapped his bum saying 'bum-bum' and then a few minutes later done a poo.
  
• this progressed a few days later to grabbing his changing mat and giving it to DH nd asking to be changed. DH duly did and then a few mins later DS did a poo.
  
• this has stopped, but now he keeps grabbing the crotch of his nappy at regular intervals througout the day.
  
• interest in the potty we have in the house has increased and he now sits on it frequently (with nappy on).
  

A few times I have spotted him doing the crotch thing and asked if he wants to go for a wee, but by the time I've got him undressed he never produces. Today he even grabbed my hand and dragged me to the toilet but again nothing.

He's not hugely verbal, so we've taught him the baby sign for 'potty' and asked him to do it when he wants to go for wee/poo but so far although we know he understands what it means, he hasn't yet done it.

This has all come around a bit too quick and I am not prepared at all! I have no idea whether what he's shown are 'true' signs of being ready and whether I should begin to potty train. I have no interest in pushing him before he is ready but conversely I don't want to put him back by not responding appropriately.

Any thoughts on how we should deal with this? TIA :)

[Canistaysane]

He is quite young but if you think he is showing signs of being ready, it might be o.k. to try him on potty. My ds was 3yrs before he learned and I am just starting to potty train my dd she is 2 years.8months. You could try but if you have no luck wait till he is older.

[NellyTheElephant]

At that age I'd just start gently with the basics without too many expectations i.e. (i) buy a couple of the childrens' books that explain about how to use the potty and read them to him regularly; (ii) when you change his nappy always comment brightly that soon all his wees and poos will go in the potty not his nappy and isn't that oh so exciting; (iii) buy some very special fun pants and put them in his cupboard and show them to him occasionally pointing out how nice they are and won't it be fun when he can wear them (iv) sit him on the potty at regular intervals during the day (when he gets up, after lunch, after his nap, before his bath) and read him a story while he sits there. It only adds a couple of minutes into your daily routine and after a few weeks of this rigmarole you might well find that he occasionally actually does a wee or a poo in the potty (cue much clapping and chocolate buttons). I did this with DD2 from when she was about 20 months and then potty trained her 'properly' at 22 months. I did the same with DS from about 22 months and he potty trained himself a few days after he turned 2. I found pull ups very useful for incorporating regular potty trips into our routine - they are just a nappy, but much quicker to get up and down (but once you start full on potty training rather than the warm up stage you need to ditch them and go for pants only)

[Tweetinat]

It does seem young to me doesn't it, especially for a little boy but he seems so determined at the mo and this morning was refusing to wear his nappy so I think we're going to have to bite the bullet and give it a go.

That's some great advice Nelly - thank you. Really very helpful indeed :)

[uppityduppity]

My DS1 was potty trained at about 22 months during the day (night time at about 2.5). I wasn't ready for it either, but he was determined from about 20 months to ditch his nappies.

Nelly's advice is pretty much the path I followed, especially with the books. The only hiccup we had was that he was terrified of poos initially, so we just spent a week making sure he saw his poo every time we changed the nappy and said in a jaunty bright voice "everybody poos". He was nappy free from about 21 months but I would say he was trained at about 22 months, we were lucky because we we living in a hot climate so he was naked a lot of the time anyway (much less mess).