What next for 12 month old on the potty

[Ygfrhj]

My DD had nappy rash and eczema so we started using a potty at 6 months, just watching her body language and putting her on when she started to poo then clapping etc. when she went. It really improved her skin so we kept it up.

At 12 months now she does all her post-sleep wees on the potty, and we put her on when we see farting/grunting so nearly all her poops at home happen on the potty. She started nursery a month ago and obviously just goes in her nappy while she's there. She never ever poops while we're out.

She will make eye contact and smile when she's about to go but she's too young to actually tell us in advance. She seems to know what the potty is for as she jumps up immediately after she's gone.

I don't want to pressure her or try to "train" her as she's so young and everyone I know trained much later, as is normal nowadays. And I hate cleaning the potty - although it's better than cleaning up her poor skin as her nappy poops get everywhere - so I would like to try a toilet seat reducer, but again she's so young.

Just not really sure what to do next. Do we just keep it up and let her decide when she wants to do it more actively? Anyone else been in a similar position?

My daughter did this until she was one, but nursery wouldn't help us out so it all stopped when she started there unfortunately. She then didn't potty train til 3 so it was pretty annoying!

The next step is to introduce a sign/word when they are going then ideally they will use that sign/word to indicate that they need to go.

It's called elimination communication, you will find more if you google that. Good luck!

Ah sorry to hear that! I'm hoping we can keep it up at home and she understands it's different at home than at nursery... We say poopoo and make a sign so maybe she'll start to make the connection eventually.

We did this from week one until 17 months when my daughter decided she didn’t want to be put on the potty anymore when we wanted her to but wanted to decide for herself so we have gone the full potty training route. Fast forward one month later she is potty trained during the day. The only thing she needs is help to pull her pants down. She says potty when she needs to go, which makes it easy. I think at 12 months she wouldn’t have been able to communicate so effectively. We tried signing but she usually only signed while pooing or while farting.

btw cleaning the potty is much less bad if you always keep a little bit of water to sit in there so that poos don’t smear all over it but kind of float.

Btw I also found that positive reinforcement really makes a difference. She always claps when she wees or has done a poo (because we always did). And she always waves bye bye to the wees and poos when we throw them in the loo which she thinks is really great fun!

That's great, well done her! Reassuring to know it's possible! We try teaching a sign but I think she does actually pick up more on the clapping, maybe it's more obvious to her or easier?

And thanks for the potty cleaning tip, I'll definitely give that a go.