Is my 17 month baby ready to be potty trained?

[FrogsAndFrogs]

I’m a typical first time mum who has been reading into potty training but now I’m more confused than ever! I know it’s normally much later than 17 months to potty train, but my daughter tells me she needs a poo every single time before doing one, but doesn’t say anything about wees.

I know poos are a lot harder to get, so I’m thinking we’re not there yet with no wee signs, but then I worry that’s the wrong choice as I’ve also read that you can ‘miss the stage’ or miss when they are a bit more susceptible to learning it all.

My DD is the most amazing girl, and she is incredibly strong-willed and fiery, so I’m wondering whether now is my chance!

Have you looked into Elimination communication.
We started using potty at 6 months. By 18 months little one was relatively consistent using the potty at home.
Out of nappies by 21 months.
I have seen stories of babies out of nappies earlier.
My mom said my nan (her MIL) didn't stop telling her how she had both her boys out of nappies not long after 12 months. So it is possible.

18 months is perfectly reasonable to give it a go. I find they're more reluctant to make the change if you leave it beyond 2 and a half.

The only way you can get potty training "wrong" is if you're anxious and pass this anxiety onto your child. The whole thing needs to be incredibly low-stakes. No big deal either way (no enormous celebration/reward for getting it, no guilt/stress for missing it)

It's very easy to clear up after a kid who's wet themselves. It can be incredibly difficult to unpick toilet anxiety.

Ps being able to tell you after they've done a poo is not the same as being able to tell you before ....!

I started putting my daughter on the potty at 6 months! Within 2 weeks she was only pooing on the potty- she would grunt and that was the signal for me to take her. Wees I just put her on the potty before nappy changes.

She was dry at night at a year old. And at 18 months, refused the nappy, grabbed a pair of her brothers pants and that was that.

So my advice is to start now! She sounds more than ready and you will save a fortune in nappies. Also, so much nicer for the child not to sit in a wee-y nappy.

Our DD2 has done all her poos on the potty since about 7 months, I think it’s good for them to be comfortable on it and you’ll be able to gauge wee signs. You can also pre empt as a pp has said and start EC with wees as well. In contrast DD1 has been a long slog to train and isn’t always reliable at 4, they’re all different so if your little one is naturally showing signs id go with it!

I think poos are only more difficult if you start late i.e after age 2. My 9 month old does nearly all poos in the potty and she will signal when she needs to go, but doesn't really pay attention to the wees yet. My 3 year old stopped pooing in a nappy long before she was ever dry for wees.

If I were you I would go for it since she's clearly communicating about it to you.

Go for it! What harm. You don't need to wait for all the "signs". Some kids never do them before you start training

You could start putting LO on the potty first thing in the morning and before having a bath. You could start having nappy free time and in areas where you do not mind cleaning up mess with a potty available.

I’m a HV. We very much recommend putting babies/toddlers on the potty after meals and at nappy changes. If she’s already telling you when she needs to poo, absolutely cash in on that and use the potty for those. She might take a little bit longer with wees as it’s a different sensation. You can help her along by putting a bit of high-quality kitchen roll or a piece of fabric (a flannel, a small muslin etc.) in her nappy to help her connect the feeling of being wet with weeing.

You don’t need to go for a hardcore ‘no nappies, only potty’ approach, just follow her lead.