Should we potty train our son now (23 months) or wait (until ~32 months)?

[Katerina085]

Hi,

I’m looking for some advice on potty training timing for our son. Should we start now (he’s 22 months) or wait until April when he’ll be about 31 months? From my research on the topic, most people advise the 24-30 month period as the best window of opportunity, which will be difficult for us, so I’m not sure if we’re best being ok the early or slightly late side of it.

Some context

• Baby #2 is due mid-November, and we’ll be traveling most of March next year
• Our son communicates really well (4-5 word sentences), learns quickly, and is generally cooperative and eager to please
• He’s aware when he’s about to poo or has done one, and often tells us, though he often lies when asked directly (probably because he knows it means nappy change time!)
• We’ve been reading potty training books together and he comes to the bathroom with us, but we haven’t introduced the actual potty yet
• His nanny will continue caring for him during my 9-month maternity leave, so I wouldn’t be training him solo with a newborn
• We’re based in Europe
• I’m not decided on the method we’ll use yet; advice on this welcome!

I’m torn between two options: training now during our last summer as a family of three (which we’re trying to enjoy and make the most of!), or waiting until April when we’ll next have a clear, uninterrupted window. I don’t want to start during newborn chaos or right before our March travels.

We want to choose the timing that gives us the best chance of success and doesn’t draw the process out too long, while keeping stress to a minimum. What would you do in our situation?

Thanks so much for any advice or insights 🙏

He seems ready. Give it a go. If you’re getting no where after a week you can put it on hold.

I’d crack on. I have a 19 month age gap and was potty training shortly after the second arrived. DC1 used cloth nappies and had seen other kids being potty trained at nursery; it was easier than I thought. We enforced sitting on the toilet and trying on waking, before bath and bed, and after meals, using chocolate buttons if necessary. Yes, there was the odd accident but no drama.

You’ll be fine if you have a nanny to help as well.

Definitely try now. The main advice i had was to be excited about it in front of them, tell everybody how he is going to be a big boy and start wearing big boy pants not nappies.

At this age they are much easier to train than older kids. All 3 of mine trained by their 2nd birthday in about a week with minimal accidents after (dd was 2 days, ds1 2 weeks, ds2 1 week but not at night until he was nearly 8!)

I would definitely try now and agree with pp to put on hold if it’s clear isn’t ready.
Theres a good chance dc will be ready now

That’s the complete opposite of how we did it. No drama, no song and dance, this is just how we roll now with pants not nappies.

If yoh can buy those seats for the toilet rather than potties it is so much easier. No potties to clean.

You’re overthinking this. It’s not now or next Spring however busy you are. Try it, see if he can do it. But you can’t schedule children’s development around your busy adult lives.

Thanks so much for all the inputs, pretty strong consensus here which has given me the motivation I needed to get started!

@CosyMintFish you are probably right, but with the new baby due in November I really don’t fancy potty training whilst in the real trenches of month one/two of newborn chaos, especially in the depths of winter given how cold our house is. And all the advice I’ve read is to make sure you have ~6 weeks to solidify the training before any major travelling…so obviously it’s possible at other times (especially if it goes well), but they’re definitely not ideal (we’ll be travelling over Christmas as well as in March)

I'd start now but in a low key way. Encourage him to sit on the potty before and after sleeping and meals and read him a book or whatever to keep him there for a few minutes and see what happens. I started that before 18 months and my DS pretty much immediately stopped pooing in his nappy and then naturally potty trained for wees over the next few months. It was all very low pressure and worked really well for us.

I think you’re potentially trying to be far too scientific in your analysis of this! Maybe try now if he seems ready? Don’t if he’s not - but be well aware that he may be ready at some totally random and inconvenient point between the random points of 22 and 31 months.

I was hoping to potty train my middle child (25m) at some point in September or October. I have a three month old and a 4y old and they are all currently at home with me whilst pre-school is closed over summer. Obviously she decided last month that she wasn’t going to wear a nappy any more so I kind of had to reluctantly roll with it. It’s been fine. There’s never a totally ideal time to do it really.

Hi OP, I think you are overthinking it too. Try now - he sounds pretty ready. If not, you can definitely try it before travelling. I trained my son at 2.5 (just waited until the summer for fewer layers and more options for nakedness, his sister trained before 2 as she was born in the autumn) and we had a week at home and a week on holiday because I had to use annual leave. Then we got home and he was into a routine with his nanny who had her own child, so he wasn’t totally sole focus. And he was fine - the odd wee accident in the first couple of weeks, improving to none at all by the end. He was ready.

it is wonderful to read the books and research it, but I think it’s just about readiness (him) and connection (which is provided by you and about what you are able to do to support him with - you are right to assume it might be hard to support with a baby under six weeks old, but with a calm baby, I’d say that is fine).

Did I put my son in a nappy on the plane when travelling? Yes, I did - he was perfectly capable even at 2.5 of understanding that it can be hard to get to the toilet at the right time and it was just in case rather than thinking it was me changing my mind about the whole thing!

If you’re travelling, get him to wear his ‘plane/train/motorway pants’ and stick him in a pull up if you need to. I found that lovely cabin crew will generally nod along helpfully to child about needing to have them on if you give them a heads up 🤣

Go for it now and see what happens. You can't do any harm and hopefully will have an easier life with only one nappy to be changing when the new baby arrives. There's a big gap between 23 and 32 months, it could happen anywhere in there.

I agree with others, if doing a long journey, put travel pants (nappy pants) on. Same for overnight, that doesn't usually happen straight away.

All three of mine decided they wanted to stop wearing nappies and went for it (2y11mo, 2y8mo, 2y2mo). I didn’t have to do any training and, apart from the last, had no wet pants. Good luck! (

Try it now! My friend launched a new course for parents on potty training 18-24 month olds called the Potty Pros Academy so if you want a specific method I'd recommend that, it worked for our little girl!