19 Month Old Ready to Potty Train?

She is obviously ready to stop being in a wet diaper. We always potty trained when they started walking, and I assume at 19 months, she is walking. When she does use the potty, praise her and reinforce "the potty". When you go, ask her if she needs to go. Get a doll that wets, and sit it on the potty to show her. How did you train your 4 year old??

1 mom found this helpful

YES! She's ready to start. My niece was trained at 18 months (except for bedtimes) and my daughter was trained at 20 months.
It makes me laugh when people say that kids can't be trained before 2. Before disposable diapers- ALL kids were trained by 2. It was a much more no-nonsense approach, but it CAN be done. Besides, babies in 3rd world countries crawl to the hole where the adults go- how come we believe it's not possible for them to know when they have to go.
Good luck!

1 mom found this helpful

Hi E.,

I would say she is too young to potty train successfully, but by all means, let her take her diaper off and climb on that potty. Don't talk about her efforts, but do make a little bit of a deal when she successfully pees in the actual potty. Don't push anything else. If she loses interest, that's okay. Little girls sometimes potty train earlier than boys, so it's possible around 2 to 2 1/2. I would keep a diaper on her for now, so that you won't have pee-pee all over the place.

Good luck!
D.

just let her go at her own pace.....when she notices you and sissy going she will too in her own time.

Might not be a bad idea to keep the potty out to get her used to it, but I think she's definately too young.

My son started training around 18 months too...he'd potty every time we'd change his diaper so we figured why not put him on a potty seat instead of doing extra cleanup each time. We just started putting him on the seat at every diaper change and when he went in the pottie gave him huge praise and clapping. He got the idea after a few days. He's 22 months now and uses the potty pretty well and tells us when he needs to go sometimes. He just started school three days a week and we got an insert for our toilet and bought pull-ups. He's old enough now to want to do the whole pottie process (lift the lid, put his insert on the seat, pull his pants down and throw away his pull-up, push toilet paper into the toilet to "wipe himself" off, flush, wash hands, etc.). It's a lot more work for us, but he has such a great time feeling confident about his big boy skills that he's much better about using the pottie and telling us when he needs to go.

Based on how our son has been, I think kids have to be old enough to want to do it before they'll tell you they need to go. I'd suggest offering the pottie at every diaper change with consideration to when she usually goes and just think of this as a kind of bridge to when she's truly ready to do hard-core training. I bet you'll just "know" when she's ready. How nice that she's interested now though! Hopefully training will come easier.

Good luck!
A.

Hi E. M.

That is my Birthday too.
Your little girl sound like she is ready to train.
You might have to watch the timing when she goes.
Watch for signs, you know expression on her face or
action that show she is going.
Go with her to the restroom and set with her.
Showing her you have to go too.
Let her hear the sounds.
I hope I helped a little

Have a good day Today
Vicki W.

She is definitely not too young. She is even within the traditional potty training window of 18 mo -2.5 yr. Training now will mean skipping the struggle of training later in her 2's.

Unfortunately I'm not chock full of resources for beginning potty training at this age. I've done elimination communication with my last few children and so potty training at 19 months was just a continuation of what we've already been doing.

But you could try

to be there when she wakes up from a nap or in the morning- if she is dry then, it's a great time to try to go. My daughter (21 months) likes to "read" books, brush her teeth, and play with certain toys (that she picks out before hand,) when she sits on the potty.

having a few things she likes to play with in the bathroom, so she can see them when she walks in to sit down.

having a cup of water in the bathroom for her to drink. Swallowing stimulates peristalsis in the bowels and being well hydrated will help with toileting as well. Chewing also stimulates peristalsis, so be prepared for her to need to poop around mealtimes...

If you let her go diaperless for a couple of days you should be able to figure out when she needs to go the most. And you may already have a good idea of when she poops every day- most children are fairly consistent.

You might want to consider buying a couple more potties and some cloth training pants. You will probably have to special order the pants off the internet, it's hard to find them sized for 18 mo-24 mo in the store. Then she can go diaperless or wear the training pants at home, with a shirt or dress, so she can learn to take herself. You can find waterproof cloth training pants that you can use in the car or when visiting, as well as the traditional cloth kind. I think cloth is better because she can feel the wetness better, and it's more like real underwear. The secondary potties go in rooms you are both in the most- probably your living room and kitchen, but YMMV. It is helpful to have an older child or yourself demonstrate using the potty in these rooms. As she is first re-learning to listen to her body's signals, she will not have very much time between knowing she needs to pee and cutting loose, so having a potty right there is helpful. Once she is going in the potty consistently, she will learn to tune in earlier and be able to wait longer, and you can phase out the secondary toilet spots.

When you go somewhere, take a small potty (we used a baby bjorn little potty, now she is sitting on the big seats) or an insert seat with you. Giant size ziplocs and a big diaper bag are helpful for discreet and hygeinic transport. Offer her the chance to potty before you leave- you probably already have a routine for this with your older child, just include the baby in it. Then as soon as you get where you are going, offer a chance to go again.

"Toilet learning" by Allison Mack is a good book to read together at that age, or there are a lot of more modern children's books and videos in the potty training world.

The most important thing is your attitude. This is something you are thinking about doing because you are listening to your child and following her lead, so you're starting from a healthy place. If during the process you find yourself getting irritated or angry, that's the time to stop, apologize if needed, and after the mess (if any) is cleaned up, put a diaper on for awhile. Consistency is important, but a postive attitude even moreso. A positive attitude, and one that is matter-of-fact- of course you want to learn to potty, just like you wanted to learn to walk and talk, of course you will learn from me and sister and daddy, when you are ready- and patience with the inevitable mistakes along the way- all this goes a long way. You probably didn't praise and reward M&M's for every step she took in the process of learning to walk- it isn't needed for toilet learning either. Just a positive attitude, ready to share her accomplishments with others (guess what baby did today!?) but not praising overmuch or rewarding. She will get the hang of it and be happy to be one of the big kids who uses a potty.

I checked out the Toilet Training in Less Than a Day book for my oldest, and let my husband try it out with him one day, because I couldn't bring myself to try it. His mother had used it with him with great success, so he was into it. My son made progress in the weeks that followed and learned within a few months of the episode, but he wasn't trained in one day. It is a method developed for teaching older children and adults who are mentally and physically disabled but have bladder and bowel awareness to use the toilet. There are some aspects of the book that I think are good- the doll that wets was very encouraging to my son- but overall my feeling was that I would be training an animal, not helping a little person who naturally wants to become independent and imitate her parents. Rewards aren't needed if your subject isn't reluctant, and a non-verbal 19 month old is a lot smarter than a dog. Just my opinion!

My daughter (21 mo) will usually come and find me if she makes a mistake. Often she will help clean up a pee puddle with a rag if she makes one. She will sometimes bring me her little potty if she goes, to let me know it is full- kind of nerve racking for her to carry it across the floor, but so cute! We just went on a weekend trip to my sisters. She is now peeing in public toilets (a little scary to use them when they are so small!) instead of just sitting or going in and refusing to sit. She continued to do all her poops in the potty at my sisters, just like she's been doing at home. We kept a diaper cover on top of her training pants as backup (there is a lot of carpet where we were staying) and she only peed in the toilet a couple of times, usually right after she woke up or when she had to poop. So we still have a long way to go with bladder consistency. At home we are between 60-75% of pee in the potty. But believe me, even just having her out of poopy diapers is such a relief! I definitely think it was worth cleaning up a few poopy messes on floors and chairs- and out of training pants- to not have to wipe it out of all her cracks and crevices and have her sitting in it on a daily basis in her diaper, KWIM? And she is taking herself to the bathroom with a toy or book, pulling down her pants if she is wearing them (often she just strips off entirely!) sitting, and then calling for me across the house to come and wipe her. Adorable and so much nicer than me having to track down that smell and remove it from my child's privates.

Take what you like and leave the rest- good luck on your journey!

While I wouldn't expect great results yet, I would encourage her interest in the potty. Each evening, put her on the potty right before bed, reminding her she will get a reward if she's still dry in the morning. I would start each morning by taking her to her potty, while asking if she's dry. Give her a small reward if she is still dry in the morning. Sit her on the potty anyway while you explain that big girls don't need diapers, because they use the potty and get to wear pretty big girk panties. Let her pick out some big girl panties at the store that she can have for her birthday, if, and only if, she's ready for them. Every two hours, or everytime you go, sit her on the potty too. While you run her bathwater is another good time to sit her on te potty. The sound of the running water can help her pee. Always be encouraging, never harsh or threatening. offer a small reward everytime she goes in the potty, maybe a penny for every tinkle & two for a poo. Avoid food as a reward! Let her sit only as long as she's content to stay put, a book will help, never force her to stay on the potty longer than she wants. Even if she's only successful once in a great while, it is one diaper less to wash, or throw on the landfill, and is progress!

She's getting close!

Just leave the potty where she has access to it, & dont make a big deal out of "getting her trained". I let both my kids go at their own pace & we all had a very successful & pleasant go of it. My daughter (the youngest of 2) started training herself at 17 months... I did not support her as we were getting ready to move, but as soon as we were in the new house, she was done by her 2nd birthday.

Take her shopping & let her choose her first "big girl" panties so she knows they are waiting for her when she is ready to be done with the diaper! Worked for us.

P

Take advantage of her obvious interest!! It's always easiest when they're 'into it' (giving up bottles, pacifiers, diaper usage, etc)!! I'd keep diapers on her, but any time you go to use the bathroom (or any time you notice that she's stopped what she's doing for a second), take daughter with you and put her on her potty. Rave about successes (w/no comment over 'failure'), and she'll probably be 'trained' within a month or two. I raised 4 kids (2 boys, and 2 girls) and all were fully trained (telling me when they needed to go and sleeping dry) by age 2 (boys both had a few nighttime accidents, but no 'biggie'). Granddaughter's 14 months old and wakes up dry, so we take her and she 'goes' on the potty.

All kids are different, but potty training is easier with girls, easier with the second (third, and subsequent add-ons), and easier with a few days' diligence!

Congratulations on your recent marriage!
God bless and good luck~

Sounds like she's trying. Having older siblings can make a child interested in potty training at a younger age. If messes aren't a problem then I'd let her keep trying. I used some of those padded underpants. They're regular cloth but are a little padded so the absorb some of the urine and she will feel the wetness. You'll still get a puddle too though. I'd keep the potty nearby and as should as she starts to pee put her on the potty. My son was older but totally not interested. I did this for a few days and he got it.

My son was 2 when I got pregnant with my daughter. I asked my mom how she handled having more than one child in diapers as my eldest sister is about three years older than me and there is one in between. She said she never had two of us in diapers at the same time. Amazing since there is 20 months between me and the next oldest. She said she just put us on the toilet several times a day when she had learned from our schedules when we would be most likely to go. It sounds as if your little one is ready, she just needs some guidance. If she says potty and doesn't like being wet, she probably will quickly make the connection. Watch her behavior and be ready to put her on the potty quickly. Then provide positive feedback when she's successful. Leaving her diaper off, but corraling her, maybe in the kitchen, for a few days should do the trick. Good luck. L. D.

that's great! Encorage the curiosity, praise her efforts and if you don't mind cleaning up the messes, my son's Dr. says letting them run around "free" all day is the best way to start. good luck!!

E.
I have 3 girls and all potty trained differently. The only thing that was consistant is that it only works when they want it to. I would guess that your daughter is interested, so I say go with it. It sounds like you are doing just fine. I must say that the idea of potty training in less then a day kind of scares me. Personal opinon, I just don't like putting that kind of pressure on a child at that age. I will tell you that with my first daughter I used stickers as rewards. A sticker is something any aged child can understand. We had a piece of paper on the back of the toilet tank and every time she went she got either 1 or 2 stickers depending on what she did. It worked great and stickers can be very inexpensive. Now my second child needed a little more, we used Tootsie Rolls. my third just kind of was trained all of a sudden, so I let her pick out a pack of "Big Girl Panties"
Like I said at the begining every child is different. You know your child, trust your insticts.
Hope it helps
A.

Hi E., My daughter also started potty training at 18 months and she was fully trained by 24 months (except at night she wore a diaper). I think you are at a good start. I also did the same thing as you are by letting her explore the potty and run around "free." I asked her every 1/2 hour or so if she had to go potty and I would just sit her down regardless if she did or didn't. When she went we made it it a BIG deal and did a dance and all. It will take a bit but she got the hang of it pretty quickly. My son also had an early interest and we started potty training him at 22 months the same exact way and he has done well. Good luck!!