Hi Moms.
My son is 17 months old & he is our first child. Tonight before his bath he did something that kind of surprised me. He pulled his step stool over to the potty as if he needed to go, so I took off his shorts & diaper & he stepped up on the stool but then he didn't go pee, so I just assumed it was a fluke & went to put the stool away, but as I was doing so, he peed on the floor next to the toilet! Then I felt bad because I thought maybe I just didn't wait long enough for him to have a chance to go in the potty. I don't know. He has watched his Dad many times & knows that the toilet is for going potty in, but it is still quite new for him. I am wondering if he just isn't sure how to do it himself yet. Is there any way I can help him with this, or should I just have waited longer for him to go?? I said, "oh no!" when he went on the floor, so he knows that was a mistake, but I still praised him & told him he did a good job because he had the right idea anyway.
Thank you all for your responses!
We did get a seat ring for the toilet tonight & he went pee in the toilet for the first time sitting down on his new little seat! His Dad & I were very excited (which made him excited also). We are just taking it slow, but we do ask every night before his bath if he needs to go & will probably start to ask more often.
Hi,
My daughter did the same think. So, I went out and bought a potty and some stickers. She did great for a few weeks and than lost intrest. I don't push it. I still ask her if she wants to go and once in awhile she will. Good Luck
My boys had the same issue when they were in training, particularly the one who liked to read like daddy. But they had better luck on the big potty when I got a seat ring that made the hole smaller. They could sit and relax. (did you ever use a dirty public toilet and try to tinkle in a crouched position over the seat - I thought it might be like that.) The seats with the shield sticking up were rather cumbersome for them to climb into, but we found a low-profile seat with a removable shield, and they tucked their privates down to point into the potty.
Good luck!
Kids are ready at different ages. My mom SWEARS I was potty trained at 12 months. She also told me they had cloth diapers back then and she had twins TWO DAYS AFTER I TURNED ONE and she didn't want three in diapers! She's NEVER waivered from that "story". Hard to believe, but knowing my mom, that's how it went down!
I never think it is too early if the child is showing interest and understanding in the potty. My oldest daughter potty-trained at 15mos and was dry through the night at 18mos. My 2 boys took a little longer. And I waited longer because they didn't show interest. My 3rd child is showing interest now (19months) so we are spending a little time on the potty. I try not to push her yet and just let her explore. I do believe that children are able to tell if they need to use the bathroom. Even when we don't make it to the potty, she often tells me that she went in her diaper. And she is always hiding to go poopie. I say there is no reason to not encourage him if he is interested!
Let him watch, let him sit, let him try! He's telling you he's ready to start trying.
You handled it well. An "oops! we should do that in the potty!" is all it takes when there are mistakes. I'd keep giving him the chance. He'll either get good at it or lose interest, but it can't hurt to try.
My son as well started showing an interest around this age. He just turned two a couple weeks ago and well he's not potty trained by any means, but we're down to two to three diapers/pullups a day. The main thing I have done is to encourage his interest, but don't push it! If you push them they will get discouraged and possibly lose interest. He goes to the restroom pretty much every time his dad, his sister, or myself goes. When we go in for bath time I ask him if he needs to potty. If he does great, if not then oh well we'll try again later. One thing that we have found is that he has a hard time going pee standing up at this point. We allow him to sit down, which is more "relaxed" and by doing this he also goes #2 on the potty for us too! He tries to stand up while going pee, but never manages to until he's moved away from the toilet or has set down. The way I see it is that we can work on that as he gets older. My daughter was so much easier, she pretty much had potty trained herself by 18 mo's, so I don't have much advice from that experience.... but the best thing you can do is to be patient with him. He's going to have accidents, and it may take a while. I have read and been told by our Ped that it typically takes longer to potty train boys. Good luck!
My son is 18 months and also started getting curious about the toilet about a month ago. Try to let him sit on the toilet with clothes on and the lid closed. If that doesn't scare him, stand him up like you did with the stool and pour a cup of water into the toilet. (The running water might inspire him.) My son also loves to flush the toilet! I'm sure it will be a while before he is truly ready to start potty training, but we are doing everything we can to encourage his interest in it. Best of luck!
A., my daughter is now 20 months old, but we've been "playing" with potty training for about 3 months now. Same thing. She showed interest in the potty & would let me know when she peed and when she needed to. We're still working on it but in my opinion, if he's telling you he's ready to start trying, why not let him? My doctor was like "don't force it on her...blah blah blah" LOL! But it's not forcing if they want to! Good luck! Our routine now is: We have a potty in the livingroom for her. If she goes, we make an ordeal out of flushing it down the grown-up potty & then I give her a cookie. She knows this routine well and it's going good! Good luck!
