Potty Training - Miami,FL

You can try it, and you may find a parent or two who has has a 14 month old use the potty. But you should really have much more realistic expectations. The average age is much much closer to 3, with many kids being later than that. Knowing he's wet is very different from knowing he's about to pee or poop - those are extremely different sensations. The bladder-to-brain signal rarely develops in very young toddlers, so it's absolutely essential that you not show frustration or anger when he is not successful at this. I know 2 kids in diapers is annoying as well as expensive, but you cannot rush child development. You can't teach them to walk before they are developmentally ready, you can't teach them to sleep, and you can't teach them to use the potty. We call it "training" but it really isn't. If you get lucky, great. But I truly think you will want to have a very frank conversation with his pediatrician about what is normal and realistic, and what damage can be done by having early expectations of a child. You can actually set up a huge battle of wills for later on, and a lot of unhealthy attitudes about the potty if you push too soon.

The best way to introduce him is to leave the door open when you or daddy use the toilet. Let him see the product of your work in the toilet and allow him to flush it down. Show him how you wash your hands afterward.

Then when he poops, start taking his diaper to the toilet to dump in and allow him to flush. Pick up one of the toilet seat inserts and a step-stool so when he's interested in sitting up there, can can try it out. No pressure, but it's there.

I wouldn't bother with a goal date. I understand your reasoning, but it will only cause you to put pressure on him. You don't want to do that. He's really still very much a baby, and though you might hear stories of kids potty trained before 2, it's not all that common, and is even more uncommon for little boys. He'll train when he's ready and not before.

While I don't buy into the common opinion/theory that boys are harder to train and don't "typically" train until MUCH older (older than 3 and sometimes 4 years in many cases), I also don't think very many children are ready at 14 months old.

I think you are a wee bit on the too-high-expectations side. My son (by today's U.S. standards) was trained fairly early... and he was about 2 (24 months-ish). And it took longer than 3 weeks to fully get him up to speed. Night time was another story altogether, b/c it has nothing to do with their mental ability and everything to do with their physical growth.

Which leads me to wonder if this is even a real question... because... you do realize that "by February" is not even 3 weeks away... right?
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BTW, there is absolutely nothing wrong about "introducing him to the potty world"... in fact, encouraging his interest is great. My daughter was interested at an early age, we encouraged her without being pushy, and she was trained and in undies on her 2nd birthday. But she is unusual, from everything I gather from other parents...
So sure, encourage his interests, and keep it fun. But don't expect he will be out of diapers anytime in the immediate future, or you'll just be upset and disappointed (in the best of cases, and angry/frustrated, and sending the wrong signals to your son which can further delay his progress in the worst of cases).

I agree with Christy Lee 100%. February is just a couple of weeks away. I really doubt that you'll have him potty trained in that short time frame. Have you considered using cloth diapers instead? If you have a washer and dryer it is much more budget-friendly.

Your son is going to have some major changes in the next month and so are you- both of you will be adjusting -him to a new sibling and you to managing an infant and a toddler. You will have a lot less time to be concentrating on your toddler and getting him to the bathroom on time. This is almost setting him up for failure. And sometimes kids regress a little when there is a new baby at home. I think I would try to budget in some other areas and plan to buy diapers for both for a while until things settle down. If someone asks about where you are registered for your newborn, tell them that diapers would be a terrific baby gift (if any of them are planning to bring a gift) Good Luck!

Introducing a 14 month old to the potty halfway through January and expecting that he will be trained before you give birth in February is simply not a realistic expectation. There are no tips that will make that happen.

By all means, introduce him and see how it goes, but don't put unnecessary pressure on yourself or him. It is not going to happen that quickly. You will have two in diapers for awhile.

It's January. You want a 14 month old trained by next month? You have a new baby coming in Feb. even if you were "trained," because at this age it's Mom who is trained, when baby comes it will all go out the window. I would wait until the summer. I would not even consider it. He will have enough to deal with. He is only 14 months old. But the poor little guy some slack. You ate not going to have the time to keep on top of him every half hour or so. So I would let it go for now.

Go for it. Prior to disposable diapers, the average American child was fully potty trained at 18 months. MANY children were trained by 14 months. In the rest of the world the average age is under a year. We just took DS to the bathroom when he woke up (after naps too), after eating and whenever we noticed it had been a few hours. The concept of 'potty readiness' is a very new (and IMO bizarre) concept.

Please understand. Your expectation is completely...I can't think of a good word. I'm not being mean. I'm being realistic.

Most boys aren't even ready by age 3 to be potty trained. We didn't even have a bathroom for the kids to use in our toddler or 2 year old classrooms because they just don't use them. We did introduce the potty to the kids that seemed ready when they were closer to age 3 but they didn't focus on it until they were in the 3 year old classroom.

You are going to have 2 in diaper. Otherwise you can expect to be adding about 4 loads of laundry to your daily chores and moping and cleaning carpet. Think adding about $50-$60 per month in utilities and water and laundry soap and dryer sheets and bleach and work.

I'd rather use diapers for a while longer than be tied to the washer and dryer for hours and hours every single day. You won't be able to pay any attention to your kids because you'll be cleaning pee and pooh and cleaning the floors and furniture and beds and toys and more.

He's not ready. Not in any way.

Every morning do potty time. Have him run around naked in the bathroom, or have him sit.

It will take a few months. Don't set yourself up for failure, because if he senses your frustration, he won't cooperate.

My first two were pee trained at 18 months, and then fully done, including night, at 21. I intruded the potty around 13 months. It will take 15 hits in the potty for them to get control over their bladders and understand the process. It will then take weeks or months for them to master getting to the toilet in time. Kids also pee themselves during tantrums.

My third will be two next month and she isn't that interested. She tells me when she is dirty, but didn't put ye time in when she was younger and she didn't learn. I think 14-18 months is hte perfect age. With that said, young toddlers don't just learn over night like older kids. It will take time. There will be lots of accidents.

Google early start potty training.

Does he wake up in the morning with a dry diaper? That was the easiest way to get mine introduced. I took him straight from bed to the potty and he would go simply because it was a time of day that he needed to go. Once he got the idea from that, we built on it to daytime potty training.

I'll comment that this is kid dependent. One of my kids was trained before 18 months this way. I tried at 18 months with my second, but he wasn't ready until age 2. So give it a try and if he's ready it will work. If you or he gets frustrated, wait 6 months and then try again.

(Hmmm, good point Julie S. And since 14 month olds don't typically have many words, it's interesting that she's getting him to tell her.)