Infant Potty Training - bizarre!!

[ChocOrange05]

Has anyone ever heard of someone doing this, I mean I am fairly open to new things but this sounds quite bizarre when the end result is that they are potty trained at 25 months. The only benefit is not using nappies...

Curious!

Yes have heard of this - think babies are trained way before 25 months. Think it's a good idea although sounds like hard work. . .there's a few threads on this I think.

Thing is a baby cannot actively control their bladder or bowel before the age of 18m AT THE EARLIEST.

This "potty training" technique is more about the parent being able to read the cues of the baby to throw a bucket under them to catch what is essentially an involuntary action.

I have heard of it as Elimination Communication and an very about it.

TBH I never assumed babies were unaware of "going to the toilet" but always believed that to actually control their sphincter in order to be trained took as long as it took for a child to actually be able to walk up and down stairs or jump up and down. (shorter version: sphincters ready = child can go up and down stairs unaided)

Hmm that's what I thought - essentially the parent is trained. Read a thread where the mum was potting the baby every hour. . . as I said, sounds like hard work!

I know they start EC from just weeks old but I used to sit DD on the potty for poos from 6 mths. It was when she was going onto solids and could tell by the face.
We were using washable nappies, so I guess it was more to save me a job, and as I was a SAHM and DD an only, I had the time to do it.
DD then went on to sign for the potty when she needed to go. Then later sometimes a wee would happen, we'd tell her well done, and later again she started signing for the potty for a wee.
She used to keep herself clean and dry. And it would've seemed rotten to leave her to mess in her nappy tbh.

I think you're messing about with the potty for a lot longer than if you introduce it later to an older child, but they often out of nappies earlier.

Paisleyleaf, can I ask at what age she was actually dry/clean day and night?

I waited for my Dcs until I "thought" they were ready all of them between the age of 2-2 1/2. Recently finished with DD4 and it took a week of me asking her pretty much every 15 minutes if she needed the potty/toilet (never took the potty out on trips). I had a lot of accident the first 2 day but in 10 days she was clean day and night (just on time for the holiday at SIL's) I really do not feel I messed arround with a pooty to much TBH.

About 17 months. Day and night.

I mean if you start young you mess about with the potty more, than if you start later and and it just takes a week or 2.

Sorry, I say 17 mths. But like I said earlier, she'd been keeping herself clean and dry for several weeks beforehand.
Like she's wake from a nap or in the morning dry, sit on the potty and wee.
I just took the nappies off at 17 mths.
And I think she was glad to see the back of them....they were quite bulky washable ones.

your post actually makes a lof of sense when read properly and understood!

Your method is definitely worth a try in term of money saved (would have been 10 month of nappies in my case, wow!)

I think washable nappies make it easier to potty train anyway as they feel so soggy! I used them for a while when I had 2 in nappies to cut costs.

Still think it sounds like hard work, but thought of no nappies at 17 months makes it worthwhile. Guess it's similar to what our parents did in the 70's - introduce the potty early which is why alot of lo's were trained quickly.

PleaseMrsButler your statistic is incorrect. 18 months is more an average. DS was completely clean/dry at 18 months, as was his friend. DH and I and her parents were both motivated to start PT around 14 months, which is considered late for many cultures. However, we took a gentle approach similar to EC in that there's never a fuss for an "accident." It was therefore an entirely stress-free process for all involved.

By PleaseMrsButler on Tue 25-Aug-09 17:54:13
Thing is a baby cannot actively control their bladder or bowel before the age of 18m AT THE EARLIEST.

Nonsense. Tiny babies can easily be trained to wee in response to a signal. How do you think they manage in parts of the world where there are no nappies?

PleaseMrsButler- so the nappy companies would have us believe. In fact they would have us believe potty training before the age of two or three years is early.

As other posters have said, how do people manage who live in places where nappies are not available ? I've seen a child completely potty trained at the age of 14 months. So bang goes your theory.

Not using nappies is a pretty big financial benefit.

But Belgo, seeing one child trained at 14 months doesn't disprove the 18month idea at all. 18 months was stated as an average - therefore several children will train well before or well after that.

Don't know if the 18 month thing is correct or not. Keeping dry at night is suppose to be to do with the concentration of some hormone or other isn't it?

Not using nappies is also a big "green" benefit. Think how many fewer nappies would be sent to landfill if they were potty-trained a few months earlier. r how much water and detergent would be saved, for those using cloth nappies.

The age of potty training in the West has got steadily later and later over the past few decades... do we really think that children have somehow changed physiologically? Or could it be something to do witg the advent of disposable nappies and washing machines?

18 months was not stated as 'average'. It was stated as 'at the earliest'.

Strangely enough, 50 years ago, the average age of potty training in Belgium (where I live) was 15 months.

scarletlillybug - I agree with what you've said, and there is also a big fear of germs. Disposible nappies seem so much cleaner and easier then washable nappies or potty training.

It should also be bourne in mind that much of the "research" carried out to support later potty-training was carried out by Pampers-sponsored paediatrician Brazleton.

i was clean and dry day and night at 18 months, I think the benefit of not having to hand wash the nappies was a huge incentive for my mum. I certainly think it is possible to train early but the incentive isn't so strong for the vast majority people who are using disposables (including me!)

Peer pressure also comes into it.

If everyone else is potty-traing their child at 18 months (say), most parents are going to feel uncomfortable about waiting until their LO is 3 years old.

And vice versa - if people are typically waiting until 3, then trying to potty-train at 18 months will be regarded (by some) as "bizarre".

"DD2 doesnt even communicate at 11mo, let alone have any knowledge of gobs of poo or pee!"

I know it sounds a bit gimmicky - and a bit OT - but have you thought about learning infant signing. I did this with dd2 and she picked it up quite quickly and was able to tell me when she had a dirty nappy, when she was hungry or thirsty, when she wanted to sleep and a few other things well before she started talking. It made for a happier baby.