When did you introduce the potty

[flamingeaux]

DS, 16 months, keeps taking off his diaper. When I picked up off the floor, I realized it was wet, which got me thinking about the fact that we'll need to start working on that in the next year or so. So when did you introduce the potty? What made you think your LO was ready?

[underwaterrhymes]

We didn't even touch it until he was almost three and he expressed interest in sitting on the real potty. So we never used the little kiddy potty we bought. Just the little seat we put over the big potty.

He trained really easily. We were really lucky.

[textbookcase]

I always had it available after around 18 months, but all 3 girls weren't fully trained until right at 3 (Bonnie a little after 3)

[cville]

We had the little kid potties in the bathrooms from the time he was about 18 months because he kept trying to climb onto the real toilet.

We didn't try even sitting on the potty for real until he was like 24 months. Actual potty training a couple months after that.


I have no memory of how this went with L except I know at 2.5 she was potty trained because we went to the beach and she refused to pee in the ocean*
so I had to trek to the beachside toilets every five damn minutes.


*if you find this gross, then I never said this and will deny it.

[eb777888]

We also skipped the kid potty. I feel like we PT late but after being on here, I feel like we are normal! David showed interest at 2 so we taught him how to pee and all that. Peeing was easy since he was totally ready (like, 2.5) we had very few accidents. Pooping was a different story. David was a nervous pooper, but that's a whole other issue. He was fully potty trained just after he turned 3.

[rex]

L is 2.5, and we have had a potty for 8 months or so because she started to express interest and asked for underwear (that she refuses to wear).

she is ready except for the emotional component. she does not want to use the potty and tells me she's not big enough. so, we're waiting. i don't have any desire to push it.

none of her friends her age are potty trained either.

[Deleted]

We've had potties and potty seats out since she was about 2, she tried a bit at 2.5 and now (3 in a month) is starting to use them more regularly. We've also spent months reading books and watching mommy potty (and telling mommy to go potty) and having doors that may be bathrooms pointed out to us.

[Deleted]

With my first, just after her first birthday because I was super enthusiastic about the whole thing and I looked for every sign. And a friend of mine told me her 18 month old was potty trained (bullshit), so I went for it. She didn't potty train until 2.5.

I started showing Theo the toilet around 2.5. He'll be 3 in a few weeks and he's finally getting it.

[underwaterrhymes]

I feel like our kid did things backward. Pooping was easy. He loves to poop on the toilet and will tell us he needs privacy and then he sings songs until he's done.

[Deleted]

Apr 10, 2016 20:55:55 GMT -5 @tambcat said:

Apr 10, 2016 20:52:13 GMT -5 eb777888 said:

We also skipped the kid potty. I feel like we PT late but after being on here, I feel like we are normal! David showed interest at 2 so we taught him how to pee and all that. Peeing was easy since he was totally ready (like, 2.5) we had very few accidents. Pooping was a different story. David was a nervous pooper, but that's a whole other issue. He was fully potty trained just after he turned 3.

lol no, J potty trained late.

 I feel weirdly self-conscious about it.

But she basically day and night trained at the same time. Sometimes she still holds her poop and goes in her pull-up at night, but she pees in the potty all the time and will even get up to go on her own. So at least that was easy.

I get it. I feel like everyone else's kid is potty trained and people seem surprised DD is still in a diaper. But I'm just not going to fight with her to make her go. I figure it's just going to click for her.

Also it's only recently that she has said potty and we make it to the bathroom with a still dry diaper. So I'm just not convinced she has been physically ready before now.

[hopecounts]

Around 18 months when she started pooping in the tub to avoid pooping in her diaper we started potty time before bath.
In about a month she was consistently pooping on the potty.
Didn't pee train until around 3 which led to a short bout of pooping issues but we sorted that out pretty quickly.

[starlily]

Apr 10, 2016 20:48:16 GMT -5 @tambcat said:

I waited until Joanna showed interest between 2.5 and 3. Before that, I only "introduced the potty" in the sense that I frequently had an audience while using one. lol. We've never had a kiddie potty.

We were similar with DD1. We had 2 false starts after 2.5 where she showed interest for a day or two, but then quit. Shortly after 3 we tried again when she wanted to. But that time she was feeling really ready and got it really quickly, within a week.

[Deleted]

Apr 10, 2016 21:00:03 GMT -5 starlily said:

Apr 10, 2016 20:48:16 GMT -5 @tambcat said:

I waited until Joanna showed interest between 2.5 and 3. Before that, I only "introduced the potty" in the sense that I frequently had an audience while using one. lol. We've never had a kiddie potty.

We were similar with DD1. We had 2 false starts after 2.5 where she showed interest for a day or two, but then quit. Shortly after 3 we tried again when she wanted to. But that time she was feeling really ready and got it really quickly, within a week.

I'm kind of relieved to read this. I felt like we had done something wrong when she suddenly lost interest.

[eb777888]

Apr 10, 2016 20:55:55 GMT -5 @tambcat said:

Apr 10, 2016 20:52:13 GMT -5 eb777888 said:

We also skipped the kid potty. I feel like we PT late but after being on here, I feel like we are normal! David showed interest at 2 so we taught him how to pee and all that. Peeing was easy since he was totally ready (like, 2.5) we had very few accidents. Pooping was a different story. David was a nervous pooper, but that's a whole other issue. He was fully potty trained just after he turned 3.

lol no, J potty trained late.

 I feel weirdly self-conscious about it.

But she basically day and night trained at the same time. Sometimes she still holds her poop and goes in her pull-up at night, but she pees in the potty all the time and will even get up to go on her own. So at least that was easy.

Yeah, pee was easy for us. I was a very anxious mother in David's earlier years and some friends were like "he's STILL not PT??? You need to nip that shit in the bud before he's 3!!" I don't know why I didn't tell these people to fuck off (and I later did, BTW) but I tried to force it. HUGE mistake. I did some research and one of the things I read was to have your child go naked at home all weekend and when they absolutely have to poop, take them to the toilet. Well, David held it and became totally constipated. And I felt like shit.

Lesson learned-I can't force some shit! Sometimes I have to relax and wait until he's ready. And I did. I sat him on the toilet and read him "Everybody Poops" over and over and told him he can poop if he wants, but he doesn't have to, we're just sitting on the toilet reading. Eventually, after a couple of weeks of that, it totally worked. It was a light bulb moment for me. I can't force things when he's just not emotionally ready for it. 

[cville]

I will say, this is an advantage to daycare. They have multiple kid sized regular toilets and a willingness to deal with actual crap. Between availability and peer pressure/example, the kids get to it way earlier than I think either of mine would otherwise. O is now fully daytime trained, and I did like 30% of the work.

[Deleted]

Apr 10, 2016 21:04:03 GMT -5 @tambcat said:

Apr 10, 2016 21:02:18 GMT -5 @randomcdn said:

I'm kind of relieved to read this. I felt like we had done something wrong when she suddenly lost interest.

Joanna also had a couple of false starts.

I know she was physically ready for AT LEAST 6 months before she was PT, but she is stubborn as fuck and it was a control issue. I hope E is trained before 3.

Yeah, DD and Joanna are probably soul mates. This is exactly why I'm not pushing it. It will take twice as long if she thinks I care.

[eb777888]

Apr 10, 2016 21:06:42 GMT -5 cville said:

I will say, this is an advantage to daycare. They have multiple kid sized regular toilets and a willingness to deal with actual crap. Between availability and peer pressure/example, the kids get to it way earlier than I think either of mine would otherwise. O is now fully daytime trained, and I did like 30% of the work.

Yeah, I'm not gonna lie, preschool totally did the bulk of the potty training for me. But, they're total experts so I'm okay with that. Money well spent! lol

[FastHands]

Apr 10, 2016 21:05:07 GMT -5 RexManningDay said:

I just got DD (18 mo tomorrow) a little potty, because she's been really into it recently. Insists on helping me wipe and flush (awesome, thanks?), backs her ass up to me going "poop. poop" every time she farts (again, thanks), and pretty consistently pees on the rug when we take her diaper off for bath.

I don't expect anything to happen with it for at LEAST 6 months, but I figured whatever. If she wants to sit on it a bit, that's fine. Yesterday she sat on it completely naked and kept trying to put both feet in the bowl - I was truly crying laughing.

Jfc, I love every single thing about this.

[underwaterrhymes]

Apr 10, 2016 21:10:11 GMT -5 eb777888 said:

Apr 10, 2016 21:06:42 GMT -5 cville said:

I will say, this is an advantage to daycare. They have multiple kid sized regular toilets and a willingness to deal with actual crap. Between availability and peer pressure/example, the kids get to it way earlier than I think either of mine would otherwise. O is now fully daytime trained, and I did like 30% of the work.

Yeah, I'm not gonna lie, preschool totally did the bulk of the potty training for me. But, they're total experts so I'm okay with that. Money well spent! lol

K came home from daycare the other day all, "I fell in the toilet!"

We thought he was exaggerating or that we misunderstood.

But, no. He's so tiny and they didn't have a potty seat over the toilet in his new classroom and he totally fell in.

They have a potty seat in there for him now because he was scared to go. ❤️ So although daycare helped pique his interest, it dampened things there for a bit.

[FastHands]

DS is 19mo and it has not even crossed my mind until this moment. I had no idea people did before 2 at the absolute earliest. Huh.

[eb777888]

Apr 10, 2016 21:12:57 GMT -5 underwaterrhymes said:

Apr 10, 2016 21:10:11 GMT -5 eb777888 said:

Yeah, I'm not gonna lie, preschool totally did the bulk of the potty training for me. But, they're total experts so I'm okay with that. Money well spent! lol

K came home from daycare the other day all, "I fell in the toilet!"

We thought he was exaggerating or that we misunderstood.

But, no. He's so tiny and they didn't have a potty seat over the toilet in his new classroom and he totally fell in.

They have a potty seat in there for him now because he was scared to go. ❤️ So although daycare helped pique his interest, it dampened things there for a bit.

Awwww! Poor kid! There's been times I've sat in the toilet after David didn't put the seat down and that shit is scary!! I can't imagine what it's like for a little guy. 

[eb777888]

Apr 10, 2016 21:25:00 GMT -5 luckydog said:

Apr 10, 2016 21:10:11 GMT -5 eb777888 said:

Yeah, I'm not gonna lie, preschool totally did the bulk of the potty training for me. But, they're total experts so I'm okay with that. Money well spent! lol

You guys are making me feel better. First, it was dropping bottles at school. Now, it is potty training. They moved dd to the older toddler room about a month ago. And her friends potty trained already and she wants to too. Has been asking this whole month. Daycare last week said dd is consistently asking to use the potty and said she has peed a few times. She isn't really interested at home. She'll sit for a second and be done. So I was sitting here tonight folding her freshly purchased and washed tiny underwear for her bag tomorrow, as requested by daycare, and feeling a bit sad. I know it'll be easier if they do it!

Eta, dd is 21 months. So young, but peer pressure!

Peer pressure can totally be a good thing! Peer pressure also taught David to swim during swim lessons. It's like science or something. 

[phdprocrastinator]

Dd's 16 months and obsessed with her sister going potty, so I pulled out the potty seat for her. She loves trying to sit on it, but I have no delusions that she's near potty training. Figure it can't hurt to figure out how to sit without putting your feet in the bowl for now....

Meanwhile, she's a giant and already in size 6 diapers(!!!!!), so we aren't going to be able to mess around as she gets closer to two. I honestly don't know what we're going to do if she outgrows the size 6's. Like, do they make extra large diapers? (I thought that's what size 6 was... Our older daughter never write them, and she was 2.5 when she potty trained).

[CurlyQ284]

Daycare did it lol. Maybe around 2? He would use it sometimes at school, sometimes not.

[thebreakfastclub]

DS trained right before 2.5. I said, today we're getting rid of diapers and I'm teaching you how to use the potty. No interest needed, no chance to say no.

I gave him half a can of pop, he was naked from the waist down, and despite an hour of protests, he went and was pt'd that weekend.

[iheartbanjos]

Probably around that age with DD1. We were handed down 2 pink potties and DD1 took to them right away. Her Montessori daycare started training her at 18 months and she was fully trained by 20.

[KKD]

I didn't introduce the potty to my girls until we were ready to start PTing. They were each 26 months, and we used the three-day method. Meanwhile J first started peeing on the toilet before bathtime when he was 16 months. I didn't start officially PTing him until the week he turned 2, again with the three-day method. All three of them took about a week to get it.

[cabbagecabbage]

About 15 months she found them interesting, so I got some books in our rotation and bought a potty and pyt it out. I did no pushing but sometimes she sat on it or asked. She didn't potty train until after after she was 2 but I liked introducing it early.

[Queen Mamadala]

Dd1 was 27 months old. I was considering right around her birthday, but didn't want to bother with it while having a newborn. I took her to Target to pick out underwear, which she was super excited about. She was definitely ready. I did a three day method with her, and she had about four accidents in a span of 3-4 days. She was fully trained after that point. The only accidents we had were when we were out or driving and didn't make it to the bathroom in time. We eventually invested in a travel potty.

Dd1 was 19 months. It wasn't planned at all. We had just moved to a new house and our W&D wasn't hooked up yet (we cloth diapered) and we were out of disposables. ExH was out with the car, so I used the opportunity to introduce it to her since she had been putting toys in the potty and was curious when we and dd1 used the toilet. She had been showing signs of readiness for many months. I just didn't think to introduce her just yet. She started saying "I pee" and "I poo" at 13 months, and by 17 months she'd go diaperless and bring us a diaper when she needed to use it. So that told us she was aware of her elimination cues and would be ready come time to start. I introduced the potty to her on a whim using the exact same method that I used with dd1, and she was also fully trained in about three days with a handful of accidents. We also used a travel potty with her.

Ds2 was 29 months. I used the same method. He showed signs of readiness and seemed really interested in wearing big boy underwear and using the potty like his sisters. He also took to it really fast.

With all of them, we went cold turkey on diapers from day one. They were in underwear 24/7.

[hymen]

Introduced little potty at 2 for DS1, started enforcing more around 2.5, filling PTed right after he turned 3.

DS2 just turned 2 and we haven't done anything but talk about it. This summer I think I'll get a kid potty and try, but based on my prior experience I won't worry about it until closer to 3.

My nephew is almost 4 and still wearing diapers. I don't think my BIL or his ex have even attempted any sort of actually potty training.