Can a JUST Turned 2Yr Old Be Potty Trained? Has Your Child?

Yes! My son was trained at 22 months and my girls at about 24-26 months. I would go for it now, especially since he's got the control. I honestly believe waiting much past two makes it harder, and I can't imagine changing the nasty, poopy diaper of a three year old, ew :(

Hell yes it can be done. When they are interested, they will usually potty train them selves within a week with help from you. My oldest, who will be 4 next month was fully potty trained at about 20 months, and my younges was fully potty trained at about 26 months. My oldest basically trained her self, it was less then a week, she just one day went when I put her on it, and ran to it every since. Same thing with my youngest, except she was a little older when she decided she was ready.

yes! my daughter potty trained at 2, she initiated it and we went along with it. Its best to go with their interest!

Each child will do it when he/she is ready. I don't think any child should be forced to before he/she is ready, because it just turns into a power struggle. And let's face, you may be able to make a kid sit on the potty, but you sure can't make him go! : )
It isn't good for a child emotionally or psychologically to be forced to train before they're ready.

As for my children, I tried to get my son trained when he turned 2. He tried a couple times, and then he looked at me and said, "Mama, I don't want to go on the potty. I'll do it when I'm 3." So, I said, okay. And we waited til he was 3. About a month leading up to his third birthday, I kept reminding him at each diaper change that pretty soon he would be three and have to use the potty. On his birthday, I said, "Okay, you're three now. You need to pee and poop on the potty from now on." He agreed. And from that day on, he used the potty. (Still wore diapers overnight til he was four, though.)

As for my daughter......one day I couldn't find her. I started freaking out, wondering if she had somehow gotten out of the house. I was running out the house calling her, and finally my son said, "Mom, she's in the powder room." Sure enough, I looked in the powder room, and there she is, sitting on the toilet. (She was so tiny - to this day, I have no idea how she got up on the thing!!) She was 22 months old. So, from then on, I just let her use the bathroom, since she seemed to want to. When she was 2 1/2, she took off her nighttime diaper and threw it and said, "No baby diaper! Me big girl!" And that was the end of diapers in our house.

I realize that I got extremely lucky with not having to train my children. But don't be jealous, because I work in childcare, and have had to train many others!! ; )

If your son is interested, by all means, let him do it. But if he reverts, just go with it. Don't keep pushing just because he has been doing it, and knows how. He WILL start using it again eventually.

Good luck!

A friend gave me an article and it said 2 is the perfect age to go cold turkey and just switch to underwear. I did that at 3 with my son and he was potty trained in literally 3 days and through the night in about 2 weeks. The friend who suggested it had the same luck with her 3 year old. Ok so now we both have 2 year olds. I don't feel my son is ready yet to go cold turkey so I'm waiting until he is 3 or at least closer to 3. She went cold turkey with her daughter at 2 and it is not going well. It has been 3 months and she has accidents during the day and night. Poop is going ok, but the pee forget it. She regrets starting her at 2 but now there is no turning back.
Every child is different..........my 2 year old has no interest, so I'm waiting. My opinion I would wait, but if you feel confident he is ready, then go for it.
Good luck!

Yes my son was fully trained at 26 months old. We started a little before two. The "wait until they are ready" was actually a study done in the 1960's by a scientist paid by the pampers company. I wonder if that study might have been a little biased. In other cultures kids are trained around 18 months old. We are one of the only countries where people wait until their kids are 4 years old to train. If you do want to start now the best thing I can suggest is naked time. If you have hardwood floors or linoleum in one room of your house start there. Also do it at times where you will be paying attention only to him. Have a small potty in the room where you are and have him sit down often. Honestly my son did have a few accidents on the floor but after about 3 times of pee running down his leg he learned and has been potty trained ever since. It took another month for poops but he would know he needed to do it and ask me for a diaper. One day I just said we don't have any and took him to the toilet. He was a little upset but I stayed with him and after about 3 minutes he pooped on the potty. We made a big deal and he got 5 m&ms for it. I really think no pressure just let them know it's their body and they should be able to control their elimination.

Yup :) my youngest was potty trained shortly after turning 2. My niece started at 18 months and was gully trained by 2 and my nephew was fully potty trained by 18 months (he had to keep up with his big brother who was potty training at that time)

I find it gets harder the closer you get to 3 so start now. We did the bare bottom method and it worked great.

Mine weren't ready by two, but I've known people whose children mastered the "skills" that early.

Keep in mind that potty training involves physical readiness as well as understanding. Some children are just not ready to have such control. Others are.

All of my children were potty trained right about 24 months. I think my oldest was 26 months (girl), middle 25 months (boy), and my youngest (girl) was potty trained at 23 months. My youngest at 23 months was actually the easiest. No "training" required, come to think of it, it was the same for my son. One day he just decided that, yes, he wanted to push his business out on the potty. Some kids just "get it" early, and God blessed me with kids that were anxious to get out of diapers!
Best wishes!

Hi Mom!

I think at the age of two..."you" can be 'potty trained'...that is, to get your son to the potty when he needs to go!

For me, with so many so close in age...until they were able to go to the potty...get their bottoms off themselves...it was not really worth it! I waited til just shy/or just over three years old and during summer months for ALL of them. Took a day or two (no exaggeration)...and that was it! A few months of nite time training pants... (and assistance wiping BMs) and we never looked back!

Also, because they were so close in age...I always had an 'open door' bathroom policy...so they were aware of my 'pottying' (I know...lol...NOT for everyone!!) BUT...I am convinced THAT policy even helped my developmentally delayed child master 'pottying'...and I was sure she would be in diapers for life (as were her docs and therapists!!)

Anyway...best luck!
There is no one 'right' way to train!!

Michele/cat

I've known a few littles who were trained by age 2 or even a little earlier. While the most popular and quickly-successful method being used today is to follow the child's lead, there's a huge range of ages when that begins, depending upon the child, and often the attentiveness and awareness of the adult doing the primary training. But since your son is showing interest, he could be one of the early ones.

Here's a most informative website that will help you sort it out. It gives a few variations on"readiness" checklists, plus tips on various training strategies, the best ages to start them, and the advantages and disadvantages of each approach: http://www.parentingscience.com/potty-training-tips.html

Um, 40 years ago, age 18 months to age two was the norm. In other countries it prob still is. When people cant afford diapers they push it. We with money for disposables or enough money to buy lots of cloth and the time to wash cloth diapers have found it's easier to wait. But go ahead if it is not difficult for your family, if you don't feel you are stressing him out. (Stressing a child over potty training can cause health issues) Because my son didnt do well with change I started him using the potty at age 24 months but kept it very, very casual, with right before three as my goal to get rid of diapers.

My son was fully potty trained by his 2nd birthday...he hated feeling wet and would hold his poop til he got to sit on the potty

There is no set time to begin. It is all up to the child. If he takes an interest then it is a good time for him. Watch his signs when you try. You will probably be sitting him on the potty every hour at first until he finds a connection between his mental state and bodily functions.

Why not? Before disposable diapers, children were usually putty trained by 15-18 months. Of course, they can be. My friend did the elimination communication method from birth, both of her sons were trained by 15 months.

my now 6 1/2 year old potty trained herself at 15 months. We had been watching "Once Upon a Potty" and one day she declared that she was a big girl and was done with her diapers. We then went shopping and she picked out her big girl panties and we have never looked back. In the beginning there were a few accidents but we just acted like it was no big deal. It did take a while longer before she was night trained so we did use pull ups at night. Also during trips we left her in the panties and just got a Piddle Pad (they sell them at Babies RUS). It is just a waterproof pad that fits on the seat of the carseat or stroller and if an accident happens you just throw it in the wash.

My daughter was completely trained by 26 months. We did not push her or use treats or rewards of any kind. We started introducing her to the potty very young and just were encouraging. She was more than ready. She may have been trained sooner if her daycare teacher would have been on board with this at all. In the end, I just sent her to daycare in panties, and she had one accident there, ever.

You may need to put him on the potty hourly, for a while, and you will have to clean up messes, but you will do these things at whatever age you train him. Some things we did were to put the potty in the room she was in so it was quick and easy to get to. We also let her run around the house in just a long shirt or dress so that she didn't have to pull down pants.

My daughter will be 2 next week and she has been potty trained for over a month now. My son was potty trained at 2 yrs 3 months, so it can be done.

Yes, it's worth the effort! You will have to clean up messes and put him on the potty hourly no matter what age you start at. So if he seems interested then I say go for it! Good Luck!

sure is! However, keep it fun, keep it simple, and don't push. There is no rush at this age, but if the interest is there and you can be consistent and patient it can be a great experience for everyone and it can be done.

I like to remind parents when potty train, every time they use the potty is one diaper you don't have to change, and that alone is an accomplishment for you both.

My son and my daughter got toilet trained at 2. It can be done.
They would still have accidents for 6 months here and there, but were trained for the most part.
My 3rd just turned 2 but I haven't started yet because I'm 9-months pregnant and it's just too hard for me at this point, but it will be hubby's job next week when I have the baby and he's off work to train him too.....

Yes, if he's ready, but just be prepared to find out he is NOT as ready as you thought. But also, yes, you will spend the first week or so cleaning some messes and reminding him to use the potty.

My son went to big boy underpants (the Gerber cotton trainers) during the day at 25 months but that was after HE said he that "diapers are for babies" so what could I do? For the first couple of weeks there were accidents during the day (usually 1 pee pee accident when he had to poop, tmi), but nothing that required cleaning the floor... just changing his clothes.

Since you're home (and it's summer) I'd recommend letting him go bottomless at home for a week or so and you WILL have to remind him to go to the potty and walking him there (I don't recommend actually PUTTING him on the potty, since the point of using the potty is that he does it HIMSELF). If you need to leave the house, have him go potty before you go, and hope for the best. Those rubber training pant covers are great for trips out of the house so that you don't have to revert back to diapers.

Good luck,
T.

My daughter was fully trained at 28 months, even at night, which just happened on her own. I was lucky! I'm also sure that she could have trained a little bit earlier, but it was me that was hesitant, but when we did it, she was trained in 2 days with only a few accidents. So, I think it's totally doable, go for it!!

My daughter was fully day and night time potty trained by her 2nd birthday. I started at 16 months and she just took off with it. She had an accident maybe 2 times, ever. She is 6 now. If your son seems ready, then go for it!

we started training my son around 18 months by just having him be naked at home. He used the potty at home just fine, but we would always put a diaper on him for any outings and for nighttime. His sister was born when he was 21 months old and it was much easier for me to change a diaper every few hours than rushing to the potty with a toddler with a newborn attached to the boob. He ended up being completely day trained by 26 months, but he still wears a nighttime diaper overnight (he's 32 months now) and probably will for a while. The boy pees out buckets of urine every night and sleeps like the dead!

I was wondering the same thing. My oldest was 2.5 and my middle was over 3. I am prego with number 4 and am due a month before my baby turns 2 so I wanted to try and see if he would go on the potty so I didn't have two in diapers. He is only 16months old so I am waiting until about 18 months. Good luck to you both!

Absolutely! My daughter was at least pee pee potty trained by 20 months! She thought it was great...now if we can just get her to poop in the potty we will be done. Stubborn child...:)

I have a friend whose son potty trained crazy early, like at 18 months. My DD was very promising at 2 but is not trained at 3. I think a lot of factors go into potty training and I would not expect a 2 to be fully trained, on average, especially at night. I'm not saying don't keep up the trying, but if he backslides (sometimes they realize it's a control thing with you or the "game" no longer is fun) don't get too bent about it. My DD knows all the steps and can put them together, but doesn't consistently do so. Pediatrician says it's very normal.

Though you will probably have to do a lot of the physical work (helping with clothing, etc) it is possible for your child to be trained this early. There was a similar post late yesterday about potty training just before age 2.

Boys "typically" train a little later than girls... but we all know the rule about rules and exceptions. My daughter was trained by age 2. My son (our first child, when I was able to devote my time to him alone) was fully trained by about 30 months. So the answer is probably, yes, he CAN be potty trained at JUST turned 2. But there will be more work and more attention required on YOUR part to help him avoid accidents. He will have to go more frequently than an older child also...simply because he is smaller and his bladder won't hold as much.
If you are willing and able to put in the time, then yes, completely doable. As a SAHM training my firstborn son (back in the day 11 years ago!) I found the tradeoff of time completely worth the cost, as we saved a lot of $$ on diapers. :)

Since he is interested I would definitely be encouraging him. But if he loses interest, don't push it.
I was at the park one day with my son, and I got to chatting with another mom who had a two year old boy. She told me he was potty trained! I was like, "WOW"! He wasn't wearing diapers either. Toddlers can be potty trained at two years of age.
It is quite normal for kids not to be completely potty trained until they are well into their 4th year, as I was told by my doc. And sure enough my oldest wasn't completely potty trained until age of 4. I hope my youngest is a lot quicker at learning. LOL

My son was fully trained by 2 1/2. We started at the 2 year mark. My daughter is a "me too" kid and so she learned right along with him. She was 18 months when she was fully trained.

It can happen!

Tip - Don't go back and forth between undies and diapers/pull ups. Always pee before you leave the house and pee again when you get to your destiniation (even if it is only 5 mins from the house). And same routine when you leave that destination - pee before you leave there and pee when you get to your next stop. Its alot of bathroom trips, but so much better then having an accident.

Good luck!