"Boot Camp" Potty Training for an 18-Month-old?

My daughter was potty trained at 18months. I stayed home with her for a weekend and let her be diaper free and kept the potty chair in the room where she was playing. She did great and has never had an accident or been in pull-ups. She is now 5. It sounds like you are doing the potty training right and she could be ready for the underwear.

I tried it with my daughter at 18 months, and I put her in Gerber trainers after. She wasn't totally trained (day and night) until closer to 23 months, though, and is only now, at 26 months, totally trained --I don't need to reminder her anymore, she is totally responsible.

I did a bunch of research, and you should expect to have to remind her and take her to the bathroom for months to come. They just get too easily distracted when they are that young. My daughter still on occasion has an accident because she holds it for too long cause she is too busy.... So yes, say good bye to diapers, but do expect accidents for up to 8 or more months. That's the average length to expect accidents, no matter the age you trained at. And regressions will happen.

BTW, night training is usually done around 5 months after day training.

Sounds like you've got a system that's working pretty well, and are saving on the expense and inconvenience of diapers. I hope you'll allow for regression, though. For children who train this young, it's not usually a "once and for all" attainment.

There often comes a time, weeks or months later, when a child's patience with or interest in the process collapses, and then its up to the parents to either back off and give the child more time to mature, or to persist and become the enforcers of the potty. This, of course, is not actual training, in which the child becomes a person who uses the toilet as a matter of choice. And it's not a terribly positive situation, because the child may develop issues around power or failure, which slows the advent of true readiness.

Regression may start after some change in schedule, the arrival of a baby or other change in the family dynamics, illness of the child or other family member, a change in daycare… or sometimes after no change at all. This little person simply has had it with the demands and expectations and goes on strike.

What if you were to just keep on with the relative convenience of your current approach? That way, if your daughter begins to show resistance, you can gracefully back off before it becomes a power issue. Elimination is one of the few areas where children can express their unhappiness with being pressured – and they do.

Every child eventually wants to be potty trained, and successful "for keeps" training averages 2 1/2 or older for girls, and often older for boys. When they are both physically and emotionally ready, training can happen very quickly, often in two weeks or less. If you enter "potty training" in the search box, you'll find stories from lots of moms who tried to train early, had to give it up, and then had their kids inform them they were ready.

yes do it!! MOST kids show this readiness at this young of an age but parents ignore it because the conventional wisdom now is to not train that young. 30 yrs ago there was NO child untrained by 2 yrs old. It was the norm to train by the time they could walk. And it worked and we are all just fine for it.

Your child is telling you she is ready. Put her in undies and I bet you will have no accidents after the first day. Don't think you need to do anymore then put her in undies and set a timer so you don't forget to take her potty the first few days.

I have potty trained lots of kids and I start as early as I can, because I found it is easier and much more successful. It will not back fire, it will mean your child is trained young. I know of several kids like that.

Mine potty trained young and I just put them in a diaper when we were headed out on extended errands or for a long park trip. They were potty trained at home very quickly but couldn't "hold it" for long until closer to 2 1/2. I didn't pressure my kids much and just let them do their thing at home and it just took a bit longer to get them ready to be potty trained in the rest of the world. It can't hurt to try!

I think it's fantastic that your little one is doing so great with potty time. I would just like to say, be patient no matter what! I was estatic when my first one was able to stay dry all day around 18 months. The poop thing came about a year later. However, she is now almost 7, and still cannot stay dry at night. We've tried everything. So, as I mentioned, celebrate the successes, but know that their bodies take time to learn this process.

My daughter was using the potty chair before she could even walk. Once she started walking it was almost second nature. She was fully potty trained by the time she was eighteen months old. I think that you should try to put her in underwear and see what happens. When you let her take the reigns positive things start to happen.

Yes, My daughter was actually 19mths when she became fully potty trained. It took 2 weeks CONSISTANT to potty train her and at night i would put a pull up on her jsut in case of an accident but after so many dry nights, I just said, hey my baby is potty trained so i brought undies cause there was no way i was going to keep purchasing diapers. I kept a few on hand in case we went out and couldnt get to a bathroom in time but she was so use to not "going on herself anymore til she wouldn't want to pee in the diaper lol, but yes I think it's the perfect time to introduce her to all the cute lil character undies that she can even help pick out and not want to get them wet;)

I started potty training my daughter at 6 months old. No pressure, just as something that was a routine. She was fully poop trained by 10 months. She was urine trained by 15 months and only had a couple of accidents at night until she was 18 months. Children can be potty trained early! Try it, loose the diapers and go about your business take an extra set of clothes, they figure it out fast. And public restrooms are very interesting to the little ones, they want to see EVERY one (gross)! Have fun

My Daughter was trained at 19 months, and only a couple of accidents before she was 2. She never liked wet diapers, so she would take them off anyway. It was my Mom who encouraged me to try training her and it was just so much easier. She was a much happier little girl. Personally, I think the pull ups are the reason kids are being trained so much later these days. They never feel wet and unomfortable. They can do it. I knew she was ready when she would wake up from sleeping all night and she was dry. First visit was the potty.

It is good that you are teaching your daughter about the potty. All kids are different. I would focus on daytime training like you are doing and leave nighttime training for later. Nighttime dryness can take much longer in many kids. You can probably look up averages but from people I know it seems that girls seem to learn faster than boys but I am sure their are exceptions. Girls on average are probably around 2.5 to 3 yrs and boys 3yrs to 4 yrs but this is just from people I know. But there are some that train older. Just keep being positive and patient. A friend that worked as a pediatric nurse told me that potty training is a step by step process that children learn. Each step they learn is progress. It can take six months to two years for a child to fully grasp all the steps of potty training and this time line varies by child.

Things that helped my kids. Potty DVDs with songs, potty books, praise, stickers and candy. Call a family member and tell them that "Suzy, went on the potty." Then an aunt or grandma on the other end of the phone can praise the child. If the child likes a certain toy at the store and asks for it, you could say "When you are potty trained, we will celebrate and buy that toy you want." It gives the child a goal. Goals are different for kids. Have the child only wear underwear at home. If you have to go in the car and are worried about car seats, you could first put the underwear on the child and then Pull-ups over the underwear. This way if they are wet they will feel it but you won't have the mess in the car. Pull ups over underwear are great for those traveling in the summer who still want to encourage potty training but need to get to the destination in a reasonable amount of time.

The idea of the 2-3 day of staying home with underwear works but 18 or 19 months might be young for this....you could call your pediatrician since he or she knows your child and ask what would be a good age for your daughter to try this.

Wish you the best.

Lora Jensen, author of the Three Day Potty Training method, actually says that 18 mos. is the ideal time to potty train. We used her method with our then 28 mo. old and it worked like a charm. She was day and night trained in about four days. It is very similar to what you have in mind. We stayed home for three days, threw away all diapers, never used a pull-up, emphasized the "awesomeness" of using underwear like a big girl, and constantly asked her if she had to go potty and had her throw her dirty underwear in the washing machine. Her method does not do a timing method (putting them on the potty every xx minutes). She is avid that the child needs to initiate going to the potty so they can feel the sensation naturally, all you do is remind them to tell you to they need to go. I did not feel that the book was demanding or too much (though I did worry about that as I was reading it). Good luck!

Updated

Lora Jensen, author of the 3 Day Potty Training method, actually says that 18 mos. is the ideal time to start potty training. We followed her approach with our 28 mo. old (at the time). It worked like a charm. She was day and night trained in 4 days. Her approach is similar to what you have planned. We stayed home for three days, threw out all the diapers, never used a pull-up, constantly asked if she needed to go potty (it is not based on sitting on the potty every xx minutes) and had her put her dirty underwear in the washer. I was so happy with the method, I highly recommend it.

Sorry, I didn't think it posted the first time, so my edit was my second attempt at responding! :o)

LOL funny bc this sounds just like my daughter and she is 17 and 2 weeks old. I am a sahm so I did put undies on her to see if they made her train faster and w/ her we did not have such luck. I did it for 3 days and just had to clean up lots of messes, poop in her undies is nasty so I then just put on her pants no undies so then the poop came out her pants leg and hit the floor which was much better cleaning wise (I rolled up all rugs first LOL) she did not care she just said pee floor, poop floor and that was it. no biggie. so for now I put a hold on it bc frankly I did not like the poop in the undies and it did not appear to make a dent in my daughter. however she did discover that we will let her use the potty whenever she asks and so is not using that to get out of bed at night, 330 am last night she is saying pee potty now!!! but......she did do it!!!! I have mixed feelings about it, it was not bad, but not good. I think we are just a tiny bit closer to being ready bc of it, but just not there yet. I will 'back off' and keep following her lead. good luck and keep us posted! xo

In my opinion I think that 18 mos is too young to potty train and have it be successful long term. I think the longer you wait, the more emotionally, cognitively, and physically ready she will be. I would allow her to use the potty when she asks to, but I wouldn't stress out about it. As she gets closer to 2 1/2 you could get more serious about it.
When my daughter showed signs of readiness at 2 1/2 we stayed home for 3 days and used M&Ms as a reward (1 M&M for pee & 2 for poop). Putting the underwear on will still feel like a diaper to her, so just allow her to wear a shirt and have a portable potty in your play area so that she can sit on the potty when she feels the need.
Good Luck!

Go for it but don't treat it like "bootcamp".....think of it more like "whatever happens, happens"......if you are hard core then she will more than likely digress......I also would advise not to say anything that is or may seem demeaning, like: babies wear diapers, you want to be a big girl right........and if she does go in her underwear or on the floor don't show any negative emotions, just let her know it's ok..........if she does have lots of accidents or asks for her diaper then I say let it go for a little while..........buy lots of undies cause poop in underwear is gross & you will more than likely be throwing the undies away

We had a neighbor who had twin girls that were ready to potty train at 18 months. Your daughter sounds a lot like they did at the time, she decided to concentrate on it for about 3 days. They did great.

The rest of the kids in this neighborhood took at least till they were 2 1/2 to 3yrs before they even showed any interest.

Wow. This seems amazing to me ...and I've been working with kids for nearly 20 years. I'd say, if she's interested, invite her to choose diapers or underpants. If she's ready for undies, she'll do it. She really will. And many children will be completely interested and communicative...and then not interested at all, because they are interested and developing in another area. So maybe start the undies, but if she's asking for a diaper, go ahead and let her have one. If she's really ready, diapers won't be a setback. But completely taking them away may push her more than she's ready. At this early age, it's important to keep toileting a happy task, not an onerous one.

This is by far the best article on toilet learning I've seen:

http://betterkidcare.psu.edu/AngelUnits/OneHour/ToiletLea...

It's written for care providers, but provides great assessment tools and solid, practical direction for helping our children master this life skill in a positive way.

GO FOR IT! The USA is the only country that allows children to sit in paper diapers for years and years! Also babies are BORN with the ability to control both bladder and bowels, but years of being in a diaper they lose hte control. If they don't have to control it, they won't. Then when the kid is 3yrs old they have to RELEARN how to use that bladder. Anyone who's ever been peed on by a baby boy knows that the bladder empties all at once and with force.

Babies give cues when they are hungry (rooting, crying) and when they are tired (yawning, fussing, eye rubbing) and they also give cues when they have to potty. They get glassy eyed, shiver, spread their legs, grunt, etc. Once your knwo your childs cues, its so easy to get them to the potty.

We used elimination communication with our boys, and our oldest we started late. He was 18mos when we began, but he got it right away. We used sign language for potty, and by age 2 he was totally bathroom independent, except for wiping #2's. With our youngest we started earlier, at 4mos. He was using the potty for poops exclusively by 6mos and was able to sign potty then too. He was 9mos crawling himself to hte potty saying 'mama' and signing potty. He was diaper free by a year, day and night. It was such a simple process for us!

I wouldn't use a 'boot camp' method with an 18mo old. Thats something you would use for an older, stubborn child. At 18mos, you will use alot of Elimination communication methods, watching her cues, being by her side, encouraging potty use and being gentle and loving at all times. Put her in undies, continue to encourage the potty, and relax! She's in a great window right now to get her using hte potty full time.

I believe in taking cues from the chidlren. If she shows signs of being ready, than it is worth a try. Just keep in mind if you try to force a child into being potty trained before they are actually ready, it will backfire and cause frustration for you and them.
Sometimes I think we as parents want our children to hit milestones before they are ready. And it is usually for selfish reasons (like not having to buy daipers anymore or keeping up with the neighbors).
My little one is 15months and I do with her what I did with all of my children. I bought a potty chair at 12 months and put it int he bathroom. I let my kids decide if they want to sit on it. Most small kids like to copy their parents. On most days when I go potty, she follows me in and will sit on her potty fully clothed. Some days she will pull her diaper off. On occassion she actually goes to the bathroom on the potty. Will I take this any further, probably not. When she shows other signs like pulling at her diaper when she has gone, then I will start to potty train her.
I have used the "no more diapers" method when my girls were ready. It takes time and patience but it does work. Set a timer to go off every 1/2 hour and take her to the potty when it goes off. Eventually you will be able to set the timer for 45 minutes, an hour etc.
Good luck and don't get upset if it turns out that she is not ready.

I wouldn't do boot camp per se. But you can encourage her. Just remember, that with the next growth spurt, her bladder may take a little time catching up, and she may have a few oopsies or regression. So, go with the flow, but don't push it. What happens happens. Some children this age can do it, many do not. Each child is unique.