DD seeming to want to start potty training at 14 months - surely not?!

[legallyblond]

My youngest brother was born when I was 15, so I totslly remember him being potty trained - it was along the lines of, when he was approx 2.5, he wanted to go into a corner to do anything in his nappy, at which point my mum introduced him to a poty and he was trained within a week ot two. Basically, I thought it was all about waiting until they're AT LEAST 2 and seem ready, then going for it...

BUT, DD is 14 months and is obsessed with doing wees and poos not in her nappy. She points and points to her nappy, and then when we take it off, she sits up on the changing mat, points to her bottom (actually, really sticks her fingers in there!), squeezes her tummy muscles and does a wee, then claps herself! She now only wants to poo in the bath as well, not in her nappy. So in the bath, she points to her bottom, crouches, goes, then claps and wants to play with the poo!

Last night, I fished her out of the bath immediatly post-poo and held her on the loo - she wanted to stay on there until she eventually sqeezed a wee out!

I have always had her in the bathroom with me (while on the loo ) and talked about big girls weeing on the loo and her doing that one day etc etc - doesn't everyone?...

Do you think I should get her a potty and let her go on it in the evenings, when she is particularly bottom obsessed!

It just seems so young!?! Could it do more harm than good?

I think you should take the lead and be prepared for setbacks
dd was potty trained at about the same time, wee first then poo, was off nappies by 2 including over night

I think girls get there quicker than boys

No go for it! As with other milestones they are guidelines not rigid rules.

She may still not end up dry until 2 but introduce a potty (2 is even easier one up one down to save dashing!) & keep it fun & don't stress over it & you'll be fine!

When she's going for longer stretches of time with no accidents take her shopping for some pretty little Big Girls Knickers to help her feel grown up.

The main thing to remember is that they usually have the sensation of weeing/pooing about 6 months (roughly) before they can actually start holding & controlling it, so it might not all come together but if it does fab!

Good luck!

Gosh! I though we had about another year to go!

Totally up for letting her try if she wants - pretty easy really as DH is a stay at home dad, so she could just have a bash I guess....

Worth a go but don't be worried if it doesn't carry on once the novelty wears off!!

I learned the hard way when my DD1 was just 2, she started being aware she was going so I started trying to train her but she couldn't actually control it & it was very frustrating for both of us!!

I discovered later when working with young children that there is often about a 6 month gap between the two different stages.

A good sign is if her nappies are dry for ages & then suddenly they are down to her knees with wee! Shows she is holding larger amounts of urine & therefore developing some control.

See how you get on, as you say with DH at home you can try...lucky man!

I know, very lucky man.....!

I think you could take the approach of offering the potty at times throughout the day, but have her in nappies in between. It is a good idea to put her on it before the bath if she tends to poo then.

If the novelty wears off and she is no longer interested you won't have lost anything, and it won't be as big a change as going back to nappies after wearing pants and rigorous training.

Just be relaxed and give it a go, it sounds like you have exactly the right attitude, there will be accidents and as long as you don't mind she will probably get it very quickly.

Both mine were using a potty from about 15 months, using it reliably from about 19 months and out of nappies by 22 months (dd) and 24 months (ds).