Advice About Potty Training My 18 Month Old

The key is to know your child and even then they can throw you a curve ball. My daughter was exactly the same in that she is bright and interested in new things. When she was 18 months I started the potty thing and discovered that although she was interested, she wasn't ready. I ended up getting frustrated and trying so many different techniques. It took months and months. Eventually she trained just before her third birthday. With my two other children I waited until a couple of months before they turned three and they were trained within a few days. I much preferred the process with my two boys as even though they were in diapers longer the transition was painless and they were ready. Having said that I am sure you still want to try and I hope that it will be different for you.

I have a boy that was potty trained pretty early for a boy......my babysitter kept him in underwear the week before I was going to do my 3 day crash course......after a few accidents and feeling how "icky" it feels he knew he didn't want to do that.....basically we kept him in underwear for 3 days and took him to the potty every half an hour......by the end of the 3 days he was completely potty trained. I kept him in pull ups for awhile at night just to be safe......but he seemed to pick it right up. Highly recommend potty training when it warms up so she can run around in her underwear....it makes it easier because if she feels the wetness on her leg it will make her not want to do that again. Good luck to you!!

My daughter started showing interest @ 18 mo. old as well. My husband and I went with it. We never experienced the 'pull ups' for our boys but our daughter showed more and more interest at a much younger age so we tried the 'pull ups' and then we went to 'pull ups' @ bedtime. By age 2 she was potty trained! I think the key for us was not to expect it to happen overnight. I'm sure you can relate how fast time flies when you're having fun! 18-24 mo. went by with a blink of an eye:)

Congrats and best of luck!
A. G.

I just wanted to tell you what worked for my kids...I basically let them potty train themselves. I gave them the option every morning to where "big boy/girl panties" or a diaper. If they chose panties, I would let them wear them as long as they didn't have an accident. I would ask them about every 15 mins if they needed to go to the bathroom. Letting them do it on their own seemed to make it easier and more rewarding for them when they finally didn't wear diapers! One thing I never did was punish them for accidents.

It's sounds like you have some great advise so far. Just something else to add. My oldest son, who was 2 1/2 at the time, was potty trained in just 2-3 days and he never looked back. When my second son was 20 months old he started to show some interest and so we ran with it. He was always watching his big brother and daddy go potty and wanted to do it also. I have come to understand that boys and girls are a little different. It was nothing but miserable. He wanted to wear underwear and just couldn't understand the idea of always having to go in the potty. Because we went with the potty training early we weren't able to put him back in diapers because he said they were for babies. We continued to have accidents well past the age of 2 and even some accidents at age 3. I look back and wish that we would have not pushed the issue and just let him wait until he was more ready. Our 3rd son just turned 2 in December and he is showing some signs also. I wish he was out of diapers but I am not ready to go through the headache again. I am hoping that if I can hold off until this summer when it's warm and he is just a little more mature than I too can potty train him in just a day or two. I have just experienced both ends of the spectrium and I am not one for rushing the process.

I wish you luck in your potty training adventures. It should be a relaxing time with no stress of accidents. Good Luck!

Did you know that more than 90% of kids were potty learned before they turned 2 back in the 50s? It's when Pampers came out with disposables in the 50s that average age became later and later. It was their spokesperson that said kids should be potty learned around 3. Evil!

I read "Early-Start Potty Training"
http://www.amazon.com/Early-Start-Potty-Training-Linda-So... which gave me good ideas. I used the bare-bottom method. It took a while, but my DS was PL'ed before he turned 2.

He lost interest for a while, but I kept at it with rewards, etc. I almost gave up once and wanted to put him back in diapers, but he loved being naked so much that he wanted nothing to do with them anymore, and that's when he PL'ed! It took a total of about 3 months.

What also helped him being aware of his bodily function is that I used cloth diapers, and when he was around 18 months, I purposely made diapers using material that he can feel the wetness in. And at 19 months, he all of the sudden peed in his potty when he was walking around naked (I was going to the bathroom at the time too, and his potty was in my bathroom).

If she is ready, she is ready. 18 months is certainly not too early, but, like others say, if she doesn't get it, don't get upset. She'll get it in time.
On that note, my cousin actually just finally put her daughter in panties and after a couple of accidents, she figured it out.
I find though with my son, who's just over 2, will go to the potty if you take him, but he still can't tell you when he has to go. Its like he doesn't recognize the sensation until its too late. He goes to daycare in underwear and is taken to the potty every hour. He does good there but not so good at home.
My best friend and others I know swear by potty candy. She used an M&M dispenser, and at first, if they just sat on the potty they got to pull the arm and get candy. Then they'd have to sit there with their pants off. Then they had to potty, and so on... I haven't gone that route yet, but I'm thinking about it to get him to want to go on his own.
My niece was older, but they let her pick out her own "big girl" panties, and she didn't want to go in those, so she would go to the potty.
those are all some examples i have personally seen, and they all work. you know your child best, so as with all advice, use what you need and toss the rest! :-) good luck!

GOOD LUCK!!! Every child is different and I can tell you that both of my kids established an interest in the potty at 18 months. So it must be a developmental thing. I know people who have had their kids potty trained before age 2 and I know physiologically most kids have the understanding to use the potty between 18-24 months with most of them achieving success after the age of 2. Now, I also know that girls learn faster and EVERYONE has told me Pretty Panties work the best for a girl (especially if you have a girly girl) Sadly the thing we love about diapers (major absorption) is the same thing that makes potty training so hard...the diaper pulls the wetness away so they never feel that they are wet. So with my son, once we switched him from pulls ups to big boy pants he caught on pretty quick- he hated that wet feeling. Of course he was 3 1/2 when he was potty trained. My daughter is a little over 2 years old and has lost her interest in the potty that she had at 18 months. We will probably start the pretty panties in a few months...working a full time job, potty training is also a full time job. So my advice to you...trust your instincts...dive in when you have at least 3 full days to devote to it majorly and whoever has your child while you are at work- make sure they understand your potty training technique. Oh BTW Pretty Panties is simply using the concept of Pretty panties to entice your child to use the potty...let her help pick out the pretty panties and tell her she can wear them when she can use the potty. I am told by everyone this works great for girls...not so much for boys!

Anyway hope that helps.
L. :-)
Mom of 2 toddlers in Akron

I just went through potty trainging my 2 year old. I started training him at 18 months. I had a potty sitting in his bathroom and every night when I was getting his bath ready I would have him sit on the potty (which he had no problem doing). He was very interested in the potty. Then one night he pee'd in it. We got all excited and just kept up that routine. So many people told me he was to young even the dr. said it was a waste of time, but I figured if he was interested I wasn't going disuade him. For us it was just a matter of timing it correctly. I'd give him lot's of liqid and then go to the potty 20 - 30 minutes later and I kinda new his pooping schedule. I did'nt give rewards just lots of praise. I didn't really use pull-up's because to me their just diapers and he just loved the idea of wearing big boy underwear. I let him pick them out he was just so exicted to put them on, he cried when we would take them off. I'd just put him in pull-up at night and still do, because he's still not perfect at night. He was fully potty trained by his 2nd birthday. So don't let people tell you she's to young. You'll know when she's ready and if she's interested definately take that opportunity and go with it!

set potty in bathroom. before bath get her undressed and have her sit there while you run her bathwater. praise her if she goes. take your time and don't scold her for accidents. I had two early pottiers and one not. they will go when they are ready

Like one of the other moms that responded , I also used the Toilet Training in Less Than a Day method for both of my daughters. It is great. Their method is like potty training bootcamp and if you follow everything they say it really works. Both of my kids were exactly 2 when I did it and they didn't ask to use the potty or show any signs of readiness - I decided that I was done with poopy diapers. The book says that the best time is between 18 and 24 months.Everyone I know who has read the book has had success. You will also have less accidents. Good luck!

whatever you do, let her learn at her own pace...don't push the issue...it could scare her and make her more reluctant to try. intro duce ehr to the potty, le ther try sitting on with and with out clothes on, lots of love and praise even if she's not always succesful. let her watch you go the potty. my little girl loves when i changer her diaper and give her the wipe so she she can't clean her peepee herself. we got our girl (21 months right now) Elmo's Potty Time DVD...she loves it. it explains that "got to Go" feeling, that accidents are ok, the steps to use when going potty...wipe, flush, wash. i think it's really helping. she loves to sit on the potty, wear panties, can tell us when she has got potty in her diaper...she just hasn't figured out the "got to go" feeling yet, but it won't be long.

My daughter's daycare insisted that she was ready at 18 months. She showed an interest but fit none of the "signs" for potty training. She wasn't dry through the night, couldn't speak at all so didn't ever ask to be changed and didn't seem to mind diapers but she was the youngest in her class and they were trying to potty train the older ones. She's an independent little leader so I finally gave them the ok and they had me send a bag full of clothes and underware, no pullups. Within about a week she was finished. She did always come with me to the bathroom so she new the process and when ever she pooped in her diaper, I have always flushed it saying "Poop goes in the potty." She hasn't regressed at all even with some very big changes in her life. She wears diapers at night still but more for my sake because I hate changing the sheets in the middle of the night and she's just not quite ready.
The key with her was the tinkerbell panties and the freedom of doing it herself. She went on her own, wiped, flushed and washed hands (another favorite part with special soap). We have special bathroom books at home; ones that are only read while sitting on the potty.
My advice to you would be to make sure that your childcare provider is totally on board and you agree on the same method. Consistency is important to children no matter what the topic is!

Good luck to you and your daughter!

read the book, Toilet Training in less than a day. by Nathan H. Arzin and Richard M. Foxx. The ideas worked for me and my twin girls who were about 2. I did start with just the potty chair in the bathroom and let them sit on it with a diaper on when they were about 18 months.

Heidi, It is early, so don't push it, but there are a ton of books/dvd's that can make it fun. Our favorite was" Once upon a potty- girl". Also get her her favorite underwear. If you can keep her in just underwear ( and if you can, stay home for the "magic 4 days", it should do the trick! Good luck! L. H

My daughter seem to be interested at 18 months also, but when I put her in pull-ups that didn't work. She was almost 3 when she was potty trained. What I did was I went to the library and got a video called My little potty. It is a cartoon and there is also a book. There is one for boys and one for girls. She wanted to watch this video over,and over and over again. After watching this video numerous times she was potty trained. She never wet the bed. For a child to be train at this age it is really putting them on a schedule time for the potty. There bodies are just not ready yet. They can not control the muscles needed to control their bathroom habits. And every child is different so she might be fine. But putting her on a schedule would probably work best.

First off there are several main rules before potty training. 1) your daughter should have a dry diaper every night for about 2 months. 2) your daughter should be able to verbally express to you that she needs to go to the bathroom 3) she must be able to tell herself when she is about to go 4) she also must be able to get out of bed at night to go to the bathroom. I have found that waiting until your child is ready makes things go smoothly. My husband always says he cant remember potty training, but this is bc I did it and it was easy if you do it at the right time. If you attempt to potty train before your child is ready it becomes a game to them and a very long drawn out process for you. If your daughter is showing ALL signs of readiness then my advice to you is this...take about 3-4 days (shouldn't take any longer than this if your daughter is ready)and concentrate on basically nothing other than the potty. Every 20 mins. or so you need to take her to sit. I suggest not using pull ups at all! Use reg. underwear so it feels uncomfortable to them if they have an accident. Also You can try putting a diaper on at night (for the first month or 2) after she is asleep. That will help the bedwetting until she fully grasps the feeling of holding her bladder, but also she won't know the diaper is ther and just use it because she can. The next thing is try and stay home as much as you possible can during that time. It is very chaotic to potty train a child when you are grocery shopping. So plan ahead and if you reaally need to leave try to have someone stay home with her. If you must take her out make sure she goes potty before you leave and DON'T put a diaper on her. The diaper will only confuse her because she won't be able to understand when she can and can't go in her pants and when she should or shouldn't use the potty. So be prepared bc there will me some accidents, but as long as you are really doing everything possible on your part that will soon go away. I wish you the best of luck during your daughters next phase. You will one day look back at this time as a fond memory (unless of course she wasn't ready then it just becomes a messy memory)! LOL! Good luck and be prepared for anything.

I attempted to potty train my daughter around 15 months because she too knew what she was doing, and understood everything. However, she didn't quite get it. So we tried again around 19 months...same thing. It was a random pee pee in the potty but nothing that was consistent. There is hope though.....she just turned two today and has been potty trained very well for a week now. I suggest giving it a try......you never know. Try panties or pull ups....whichever you prefer. Insist she sit on the potty often.....and praise like crazy when she gets it. I personally didn't like making my daughter sit on the potty until she went...regardless of how long it took. I would giver her 10 mins on, then like 10 or 15 off..... Get a potty that is comfortable too. I found that the squishy seated ones were easier for her to sit on (she has a tiny bottom and almost fell through the harder plastic seats. Don't get frustrated though, if it doesn't happen now....it will. Just give it a try every few months.
Good luck....
T.

I potty trained my second daughter at 18 months and she did great but I am a stay home mom. My first child it wasn't until she was 2 1/2 and that's because she was at a babysitter's and they didn't have the time to work with her like I did at home. With my second child, I didn't go anywhere for one whole week and I put her little potty in our living room. We did everything in the living room and every half hour I would sit her on it and ask her if she had to go to the potty. She did really well with it but again we didn't leave our house for one week. It was hard but once she got it she has never turned back. I think this is one of the hardest things to accomplish with your children. Try and keep it fun and don't stress over it to much. My doctor told me, do you know anyone who is an adult and not potty trained? They will eventually get it on their time. Good Luck...