Should we do potty training against docs advice?

[Fluffyfish]

My daughter has/had a kidney problem - she had hydronephrosis on one kidney and a couple of operations. Specialist is very pleased with her progress and if she remains infection free for next 6 months she can come off her daily antibiotic and be treated entirely as normal. She is 22 months.

Anyway at last appt the specialist asked when we were plannign to potty train and I said in a couple of weeks (this was a couple of weeks ago). Specialist advised us to wait until Spring when dd is two and a quarter so her kidney and bladder has a chance to grow a bit more first.

Thing is, this week dd, from I think watching kids at nursery, keeps asking for potty and wanting to sit on it and saying 'no nappy' She is clearly ready to try and she can now take her own trousers and nappy off so I don't think we are going to be able to put her off until Spring. Waiting just a couple more months is difficult as new baby due at Christmas so need to do it now or when new baby is a couple of months really.

What would you do?

I would follow the advice of the specialist and wait.

If she needs to hold on to get to a potty or toilet, I'm guessing that this could increase her chances of getting another infection. If waiting until the Spring could help then I would go with that. Being out of nappies will seem like a hollow victory if it results in dd needing to stay on antibiotics for even longer.

If you leave it a little longer, you may well find that it's a lot quicker and easier. My dd first started wanting to wear knickers at around your dd's age. For various reasons I left it a little longer. A few months later she gave it a try and she managed straight away. No accidents and no needing to use a potty.

It's not that I want her out of nappies, I am just not sure how to stop her potty training herself

I didn't think you were just trying to get her out of nappies. :)

I know what you mean though. My dd was a stubborn determined little soul.

Is there some kind of middle ground where she could use her potty at home and nursery but maybe have a pull-up for longer journeys so there's less need for her to hold on?

Can you perhaps ring up the specialist for moe advice? There's a difference between 'it's better to wait until she's grown a bit' and 'you must wait at least another 6 months' and it might be useful to find out where her condition falls on that continuum.

I'm not sure you can stop a child self-training, especially if she can remove her nappy and get on a loo all by herself. But if she really is self-training (and so is emptying badder fully whenever she wants to go) this might be less of a problem than encouraged training, when you have to ask her to sit or tell her to hang on. Perhaps the answer is, as PP suggested, nappy free when she's sighing easy and immediate reach of a loo (so never has to hold urine back) but in nappies/pull ups at all other times.

that is good idea coppertop.

Have emailed the specialist meditrina and will follow your advice for now - thanks

Specialist replied saying go for it. Eeek

Hurray!

Good luck, Fluffyfish.