Please or to access all these features

Add post

Watch this thread

Save thread

Start a new thread

Flip thread

Hide thread

My feed

Active Unanswered threads

Getting started FAQ's

Unanswered threads Acronyms Talk guidelines

Hide shortcut buttons

Talk

Potty training

Is your child ready for potty training at nursery? Here's the place for all your toilet training questions.

Flip

1 2 3 4

Original poster

Oh crap method ! Nursery says it’s too early !

80 replies

EgSk · 31/03/2021 08:32

Hi all ,

This post is going to be a bit all over the place ( I’ve had 4 hours sleep )!

I just finished reading the oh crap potty training book. My 25 month old has started showing small signs he’s ready such as pointing to his nappy & saying pee and hiding to poop . I wasn’t going to even think about potty training until closer to 2.5 however the book says 25 months is the perfect time to start . My husband is keen to start now as we are getting work done on our house in 2 months and will be living out of a tiny room for 3 months 😩

I mentioned to nursery that I’m thinking of starting in the next few weeks or so and they felt it was too early/ he wasn’t ready AT ALL . Later that day the nursery manager emailed be suggesting I wait to potty train as my son just transitioned to the 2-3 room five weeks ago . She has a point about that .

However my son is only in nursery 2 half mornings a week. If I start potty training in about a month he would have been in that room two months . Surely that’s enough time to settle ( according to nursery he settled seamlessly although he does cry at drop off). I also plan to take him out of nursery for a week to train him , even though it’s only two half days .

Is it really ridiculously early to potty train next month ( son will be 26 months ). Should I wait for more signs he’s ready or trust the book? Does his nursery know best or are they just worried about accidents and more work etc .

Cheers !

OP posts:

Are your children’s vaccines up to date?

Set a reminder

2bazookas · 31/03/2021 16:52

Back when all babies wore cotton nappies, by age 2 they were as keen as we were to get the hang of their potty so they could get out of soggy nappies and into an easy peasy pair of pants.

Whatnameisgood · 31/03/2021 16:52

I and a friend have just potty trained our 2 and half year olds with oh crap method, with great success. No poo issues for either of us. I left it until 2y9m with my first and the poos were a nightmare, just as my friend has experienced with her 2y10m old. So in my (very limited!) experience leaving it late actually causes more problems than not

skeggycaggy · 31/03/2021 16:54

@2bazookas

Back when all babies wore cotton nappies, by age 2 they were as keen as we were to get the hang of their potty so they could get out of soggy nappies and into an easy peasy pair of pants.

In the 1950s over 90% of babies were trained by 18m!

cheeseismydownfall · 31/03/2021 16:54

Age is irrelevant. I've had one DC who was ready at just over 2, and who went from nappies to dry overnight with no accidents within a couple of days. Another of my DC simply wasn't ready when we tried just before 3, but trained like a breeze when we tried again a few months later. Another DC was somewhere in between.

I guess it comes down to whether you think his nursery is genuinely offering their honest opinion, or just encouraging you to do whatever is easiest for them.

ThePricklySheep · 31/03/2021 16:56

I don’t know the OH Crap method.

But you could give it a go in the biggest gap you have between nursery mornings and see how it goes. Are the mornings on consecutive days? If so you’ve got 5 days to have a go. If he’s not making good progress by then I’d pause anyway.

Siennabear · 31/03/2021 16:57

Definitely not too early. Give it a go. If he’s not getting it at all in a few days try again in a couple of months.
My son was 3 and took about 3 tries at different times to get it. My daughter is just 2 and she told me she wanted to wear knickers and she got it in a week.
What have you got to lose?

EbayNewbie · 31/03/2021 17:01

My advice is follow the child. My 1st hated nappies and was dry by just before she was 2. My 2nd was 2 and a half. My 3rd loves his nappies even though he's only coming 2 so I doubt he'll be ready for a bit.

MeadowHay · 31/03/2021 17:03

I trained my DD fairly easily at 26m loosely using the Oh Crap method. I had her home for 4 days and she was back in nursery on day 5. I didn't mention it to nursery in advance as it wasn't even planned. I just mentioned it to them the day before she was next in nursery and they were fully on board and a big help. She did have some issues initially at nursery, mostly with soiling but this was completely sorted after a few weeks with their help, they were great. I would be more concerned about their attitude tbh if they don't believe you have the right to make decisions about your own child's care and development that infers they won't be supportive and that could derail the process even if they're doing great at home. Also, our DC didn't show any other 'signs' she was ready other than what you've mentioned. I got the potty out in a whim, took off her nappy, explained what it was for and she went on it without prompting. I never even needed to prompt her, she instigated all her wees herself from day 1. So she was clearly 'ready'.

Abraxan · 31/03/2021 17:04

Dd took it upon herself really at 24 months. She took the lead, not wanting a happy and wanting big girl pants. She was very verbal at that point so could tell us too.

3 days with a couple of small accidents and she was day time potty trained.

enjoyingscience · 31/03/2021 17:06

Both of mine were done at about that age and it was completely fine. This idea of waiting for months and months is just weird to me - surely you want them out of nappies ASAP? That said, we used washables (some of the time - not at childminders) so the end of the washing was a relief. If you can give it a good go over Easter weekend at least you’ll have an idea, it’s worth a go.

Lavanderrose · 31/03/2021 17:12

His able to dress him self? Able to pull up and down clothes etr? If not then I expect he wouldn’t be ready.

notalwaysalondoner · 31/03/2021 17:15

I completely agree it depends on the child - I’ve known (mostly girls) to be trained in daytime by 15 months, and equally some that are 4 before they “get it”.

BungleandGeorge · 31/03/2021 17:18

Depends what you call potty trained, in the past it was more common to anticipate need and give cues and carry round a potty. Personally I call it no accidents and being able to hang on long enough that you can go shopping or on a journey with enough time to find a toilet. I left mine until they asked to hear pants, by which time they’d had signs of being aware for quite a while. I didn’t have to train them, they just pretty much did it within a day. Nights took longer. If they’d got to 3 then I would have had a rethink. If you try and it’s not easy or there are accidents after a few days I’d just leave it if I was you

Iminaglasscaseofemotion · 31/03/2021 17:20

If your getting work done on your house, I would wait until after it's finished. At 2 he's a bit young and it could take a while. You don't want to start and then stop again because he's having accidents every 5 minutes, or your having to run to the toilet all the time.

littlewedding · 31/03/2021 17:25

I did it at 2.5 and it was super easy.

My main advice is wait until it's consistently warm and DC can be naked constantly during the day. I did it last May and the weather made it so much easier.

Elmo311 · 31/03/2021 17:27

I started to potty train my son at 22 months using the Oh Crap method - it took 2 months! But it was during lockdown so what else was there to do 😂. Now, 10 months later he is dry at night :)

I found the method hard work, i do think the parent has to be ready too in order for it to work. By the 2 month mark he'd consolidated all wee's and was really predictable, I think for me it was worth it.

I'm currently training my daughter using the method, she's almost 2. She has nailed it!

BUT I think you should wait. A lot of my friend who waited trained in a much shorter time frame and found it less stressful than me.

I've just had a year of lockdowns and not much else to be fussed about. I find it hard to potty train and have a life using this method when they're young! X

Original poster

EgSk · 31/03/2021 17:30

Wow ! Lots of mixed responses here .

So I’m not actually in a hurry and to be honest , it seems a bit overwhelming right now . But I read the oh crap book out of interest and learnt that the author believes the earlier the better with potty training . That’s when I started thinking that this could be a good time .

If I decide to go ahead with it I will take my son out of nursery for the week , maybe even a bit longer so I can give him as much of my one in one time as I can . It’s only two half days at nursery anyway.

He can pull down his trousers easily ( and take his nappy off 😩).

OP posts:

JeanClaudeVanDammit · 31/03/2021 17:33

BUT I think you should wait. A lot of my friend who waited trained in a much shorter time frame and found it less stressful than me.

Yeah I left it till a couple of months after DD was 2.5 because I couldn’t psychologically cope with it during lockdown 1 with wfh and trying to look after her at the same time. It took a day. The idea of it taking 2 months is horrifying to me, I always go for the easy route .

SpacePotato · 31/03/2021 17:35

From the nursery's point of view, they are dealing with babies and toddlers and it would be more a pain to have to keep taking your child to the toilet or having to keep changing wet clothes if child is not ready.

In a few weeks your child will be moving up to a group with children who will be on the same level.

If you do it before child is ready it can drag out for ages

Springchickpea · 31/03/2021 17:41

It’s a while since I read ‘potty training for boys’ but I seem to recall that the average age for girls and boys differed a bit. I think girls was somewhere between 2-2.5 and boys somewhere between 2.5-3. In the end we just followed our children’s lead - bang on 2.5 for DS1 and well under 2 for DS2, but that was because we were changing dry nappies and he was holding it waiting for the potty. It was actually problematic in its own way though and he wasn’t completely potty trained until 2.5 anyway so I don’t think I would recommend.

So yes I think I agree with nursery that it’s probably on the early side. It’s also reasonably complex too - the child has to have an awareness of what going to the toilet feels like, coupled with an awareness of the feeling immediately before and the understanding that they need to act then.

Thatwentbadly · 31/03/2021 17:43

@YukoandHiro

I did Oh Crap at 2.5 and it was a disaster. Should have listened to nursery who said not yet. It took 9 months. It's over a year now ana still nowhere near dry at night. Don't be me. Wait.

Night time dryness happens when they produce the correct hormones - it can’t be taught.

DD1 trained using oh crap method at 25 months - she has just moved into the 2 year old room and she wanted to be like the other children. I was able to keep her off nursery as she just decided to do it and I wanted her to confident and really get it although nursery said it wasn’t necessary and they would continue to do whatever we were doing at home.

Coachee · 31/03/2021 17:46

25 months was exactly the right time for us. Followed Oh Crap but dd did say that she did not want to wear nappies and then we started. Also it was lock down so not at nursery. There was the odd accident but broadly was a success!

Elmo311 · 31/03/2021 17:47

@JeanClaudeVanDammit haha yeah! If i Have a 3rd I'll be waiting a bit longer 😂

Flappityflippers1 · 31/03/2021 17:51

I did the oh crap method at 25m with DS, he got it quickly. He was dry at night by 2.5 of his own accord.

I won’t be in a rush to train DS2 at the same age though, will probably wait until he’s a bit older and can understand a bit more

SnuggyBuggy · 31/03/2021 17:51

If its just two half days at nursery you could just use a pull up for that time. Have you read the day care chapter of Oh Crap yet?

Age wise it's a good time for training. I think the risk when they get to 3 is they start getting more stubborn and opinionated so if they aren't keen on the idea of potty training it's going to be a lot harder.

Flip

1 2 3 4