Potty training a 9 month old

[JennyB172]

Hi,
I started potty training my DS when he was 8.5 months old, by regularly sitting him on the potty. We're now 3 weeks in and for the past 8 days he hasn't had a poo in a nappy, all have been on the potty. This included him having an upset tummy and us forgetting to take the potty to his grandparents house.
He also has regular wees on the potty and this is getting better, with most happening within a minute or 2 after sitting on it. Though we also still have lots of wees in his nappy.
I was just curious as to if other people have started potty training this early and if so at what point you moved into pants? I thought pants might help him understand when he needs to go and wondered if this was the case. I know it won't happen over night and I'm super proud of how well he's doing so far but I just wanted to get other people's advice on how to continue progressing. Thanks.

Surely at this age its more you being trained? I mean, I'm all for it, if hes happy and its working then great. but unless he's taking himself to the potty or at least reliably asking for it then it sounds like you have learnt to read his signals rather than him independently recognising his toilet signals and that they mean he needs to sit on the potty?

Here’s a lollipop 🍭

What you’re doing is elimination communication, which is great because no more dirty nappies and the potty will be second nature to him! But it’s all about you reading his signals and it isn’t potty training.

The muscles linked to bladder control are connected to walking so he won’t be able to control it yet, so that’s the first milestone. Then they need to understand and a communicate a need so they can recognise that they need a wee and tell you. You’re probably looking at around 15-18 months for this which is usually when they start asking for things like snacks, drinks, tantrum for a toy they’ve seen in a shop.

I’m not the biggest fan of the method but it might be worth getting the Oh Crap potty training book as it has a chapter about elimination communication, how that moves onto to proper potty training and it has lots of advice for young trainers. So you might find it a helpful read. But I wouldn’t think about pants until around 18 months.

You are being ridiculous. Your poor baby does not have the necessary physical development yet to control his bowels or bladder. Anything he does in the potty is pure coincidence - he would do it at that moment anyway and just happens to be sitting on the potty at the time. That is not "potty training".

I suspect it is all about you wanting everyone to think you are a wonderful mother with a brilliant baby. Stop it.

Many, many moons ago my DM was a trained Nanny and this is how she told me she trained all the babies she cared for. I was sceptical until DM came to stay when my DD2 was around 9 months old and DM used this method with her - and it worked! Interestingly when DgD (child of my DD2 above) was just over 12 months she announced ‘no nappies’ - that was totally successful too.

You are training yourself not him, that is different to him being potty trained, unless you have taught him to notify you when he needs the toilet and he is reading his own body clues which is highly unlikely. There is no harm switching to pants at home if you don't mind the washing and the mess but I wouldn't be doing it outside yet.

Reusable nappys are a better option as hell feel wet, or training pants if they do them in an appropriate size.

Thank you to the helpful comments and pointing me in the right direction with where to get further information on elimination communication. I just wanted to prepare myself with enough information to move things forward when my DS is ready.

@Anonycat your judgemental comments were unnecessary and I'll politely tell you to move along as this was a request for helpful advice. Being a parent can be hard enough at times without people incorrectly judging you and trying to bring you down.

I did this with my son at 6 months. Put him on the potty after nappy changes and after nap and he very quickly only did poos in the potty. He would do a wee if he was on the potty but also lots on the nappy. He was 22 months when he learnt to hold and wait for potty for wees. His cousin is the same so I would suggest growing awareness around 18 months and then pants at around 22 months as a rough timeframe.

I did EC with my youngest and he was fully out of day nappies at 13 months dry at night by 19 months. It was so rewarding for both of us. I followed a lot of advice from Andrea Olson at go diaper free she gives great honest advice.
Follow your instinct you know what works for you both.

@Notthebeard @pb1234 Thank you very much for sharing your lived experiences and advice, it's greatly appreciated 🙂

A friend of mine did elimination communication and by 1, when the little boy could walk and take himself to the potty, he was potty trained about 90%. It was amazing. Meanwhile I'm here with my almost 3 year old struggling to untrain her nappy dependency. I will certainly be trying it with my second!

I know it's an old post but @JennyB172 how did it go? My daughter is 9 months and I'm considering training her. I used the oh crap potty method for my son at 22 months with success but I'm keen to get my daughter out of nappies earlier because she seems more prone to nappy rash. I've clocked that she seems to poo just after dinner so might pop her on the potty.

Any tips or advice would be grand.

@ShinyHappyPeople23 thanks for the question and good luck with the potty training. Unfortunately we're not potty trained but I do think it was the best thing for him and I would start early again if I have another.
I'd say start before they're mobile as once they're off it can be difficult to get them to sit still. Have some toys or books that they enjoy and keep them for the potty but rotate them when you can to keep their interest. I just went with putting him on at regular intervals and by 3 weeks in we had 90% of poos and about 75% of wees on the potty. Sadly for us teething hit big style and he's had ear infection after ear infection so he hasn't wanted to sit on the potty. What has helped is moving up to a toilet seat with a ladder so he can be more independent and he likes to sit there for a bit too long sometimes when we're in a rush. He knows what the toilet is for and about wees and poos but doesn't know to tell me when he needs one so it's still very much us encouraging him to use it regularly. Though he has just started telling us when he's been for a poo so I think that's a step in the right direction.
I can't say we use a particular method, just regular going to the toilet (having wees most time he's on) and keeping it casual so it doesn't become a scary issue, it's just a normal part of life. We're going to really go for it over Christmas so it'll be pants and a toilet sticker chart I think and we'll see how we get on.
I'd say if you start, stick with it where you can. It doesn't have to be perfect but I think anything that helps to give them confidence and key skills is worth doing. So best of luck 🙂 🤞🏻

@ShinyHappyPeople23 key times for us are before/ after meals, after a nap/ waking up in the morning and before bed and before going out somewhere.

Thank you @JennyB172 for such a thorough and detailed response. Some of what you mentioned is not too dissimilar to how we trained our son. I think I'm just going to give a go and see what happens if all else fails we'll just do nearer to when she is two.

Good luck with the training over Christmas, that is when we trained our son because he had a two week break from nursery. I expect you'll have less accidents (if any!) because your little one is already aware etc.

Thanks again, really appreciate it.

Really interesting to read here. I have used resources developed by the ERIC charity, who are big advocates for ‘potty practice’ as soon as a child can sit up independently. Of course it is a fine balance between supporting a child to learn a new skill, without putting lots of pressure on ourselves as parents to ‘succeed’! I think there are so many factors that feed into toilet training, including a child’s personality. There’s no way my daughter could have mastered toilet training before two and a half, but I still found the ERIC advice super useful. Linking it here in case helpful to others: eric.org.uk/potty-training/

@SilentRefluxAdvicePlease I think you're right about personality, when we taught our son he's always been quite particular but he just took to it really easily. And by particular, he's like to change his t-shirt even if there's a speck of water or dirt! I'm quite a big advocate against 'wait until they're ready'/they tell you. They don't show signs of readiness for weaning so why for pottying? Plus my son has a speech delay so I didn't want to delay him in anything else. He just pointed when he needed the loo, so it wasn't too complicated. It'll be interesting to see how my daughter takes to it all.

We did a similar approach with my DC. I think she would have been out of nappies sometime 12-18 months if it hadn't been for nursery. We took nappies away at around 2 and she was fine.

I also don't buy the readiness thing. She showed a lot of the signs before 12 months, but only because I'd taught her about the potty and she knew I was interested in her communicating her need to go. If the signs of readiness can be taught then why wait for them.

I just wanted to say that you should feel vindicated because health visitors now recommend potty training / getting them used to the potty from 6 months +. I'm just considering it myself with my baby being 8 months :-)