Potty Training a 12 Month Old?

I would wait until closer to 2 because the last thing you want is the potty to become a stressful situation that he avoids and ends up hating it and not potty training until 3 1/2 which is what happened with one of mine. Quite honestly, diapers are much easier than the first 6 months of a "potty trained" child because you will need to take extra clothes and cleaning supplies where ever you go and know where all the closest restrooms are just in case! ha. Does it sound like I have a strong opinion on this? I have potty trained 3 boys and my advice is to not rush it, start when they get obsessed with the potty and then follow through gently.

Good luck! Feel free to contact me.

Most people say boys take longer, but I've heard several people say they had 15 - 20 month olds mostly potty trained. I started my oldest boy part time using the potty around 18 or 19 months. We had a new baby boy born when he was 19 months, so I waited until he was 23 months to start full time training. He is now 27 months & starting to show resistance at being taken potty. He has some days where he goes on his own & tells us he needs to go. Other days he's just lazy, too busy playing or using a control issue. I think he would have already had it if I didn't work 4 days a week & had a younger child to care for also. The biggest challenge is going to be keeping the consistency when you are out & about no matter what age you start. Personally, I think around 18 to 24 months when they have better physical control & can communicate better is when I would start. It can be frustrating now that we are several months into the process.

i think he will train you to rush him to the potty, before you give up and let him retrain at the appropriate time, somewhere between 2 and 4 years old. heck he's a boy, so i'd expect closer to 4 than 2, if he's anything like my 2 boys who trained just over the age of 4 years old. save yourself the stress and just enjoy your baby for now!

i'm sorry, there is NO training a 12 month old! it's the PARENTS that become trained, and it's a 2 year long battle. why put yourself and your child through that? oh, and hate to tell you, early potty training has nothing to do with how smart your child is :) there are plenty of genius level kids that potty train after 4 years, and lots of mentally retarded that train early - it really has no bearing. let your baby be a baby - there is PLENTY of time for all that stuff later!

"Back in the day", kids literally sat on potty chairs all day. That was considered potty trained. When you hear someone talk about how their child was "trained" at 1 or 2, I tend to wonder if they are forgetting all the accidents their child had or exaggerating.

I also agree that you should spend this time enjoying your baby. He will potty learn in time and when he's ready. There are far better, enjoyable, and more developmentally appropriate activities your son could be taking advantage of at this age. Enjoy this time. It passes so quickly. He'll be out of diapers in a blink. I think it would be better to look back on this time as not one of frustration over potty "training". I'm not saying not to try, just bear in mind that most kids don't potty learn until closer to 3 or 4.

I appreciate that people do potty train early - but is not child led training - it is parents responding to cues and knowing their child's routine... parent training actually has no bearing on how well a child will learn to recognize their own potty cues.

I would wait until your child shows toilet training readiness... which is not developmentally at 12 months.

Stephanie, My cousin had a son a month younger than my son. We were at their house when he was about a year old. He came running into the room saying "Mommy, I have to go tee-tee" at which point he ran into the bathroom and went! I freaked out - my son who was 13 months was just walking, hadn't shown any interest. I thought I was falling down on the job and immediately started trying to train him. All I did was make us both miserable. Eventually I asked the pedi about it who said I should wait till he was 2. He trained easily at that time. When his brother came along, I didn't even try. One day when he was about 2 he got up in the morning and said he didn't want a diaper, he wanted "Big boy pants like his brother". He had shown no signs so I didn't think it would work, but I pulled out some training undies for him. I assumed there would be accidents and then we would go back to the diaper and start regular training. He never had an accident - not even at night (he refused a diaper then to!) I just goes to show if you let them decide life is much easier!

It is definitely possible as I have an uncle who potty trained all of my older cousins at that age (or earlier!). The family finally figured out that he must be using some type of scare tactics, but never had any proof. No one came out with any issues nor were they scarred for life, just a potty-trained kid! My mom says that besides the "scare tactics," he just keeps them on the potty as much as possible and praises them when they do go. Even some of the older adults that I work with commented that they or their child's caretaker did that "back in the day." They just took a week off of work and stayed home with the kid, kept them on the potty as much as possible and when they weren't on the potty, they let them run around without a diaper and put them on the potty when it was time for them to go.

When my son turned 1 (he's 20 months now), we purchased the potty and started to introduce him to it immediately. Every night before he takes a bath, I put him on the potty. I slowly increased his time on it so now he can sit for a few minutes before getting antsy. If he happens to go, he get a special treat/snack and lots of praises along with a little song and dance. If he doesn't go, it's "That's okay, next time!" Now, he can go sit on the potty by himself when you tell him to, and if you ask him if he has to go, he points to his diaper, lol! When he is trying to go #2, we rush him over to the potty, no matter how "inconvenient" it may be at the time.

I think by doing this, he will be ready some time closer to 2. I tried the no diaper thing one night and realized that he doesn't quite "know" when he is about to go - essentially not enough bladder control, which is to be expected! A couple of my friends closer to my age (20s) did the same approach and their kids were fully potty trained right around 2. I still kinda have that old school belief that kids should be potty trained sooner than later, but I'm not in any rush either. They will let you know when they are ready. But you will never know if they are ready unless you expose them to it! GL!

Being consistant, judging how long after he eats he goes potty. About 30-40 min for most. There is a point after 2 yrs old they are dry longer in between and that is the best time because also they can tell you. I also had a daughter that wanted to be trained bad by 2 and she had a kidney that did not grow. She would turn bright red and like she held it too long and not be able to move if moved she would pee. The doctors said she was getting hold and release mixed up but now she is 30 she said she just waited too long. So it never hurts to try. Mom mom had all her kids trained by 12 mo but two wet the bed til 12. Good Luck G. W

I would not waste the time. If he/she is ready and not fighting potty training, it will take a week to train. My advice is to try training but do not see progress, stop and try again later. Remember, pullups r expensive and do not hold as much as a regular diaper.

Hi Stephanie,

Congrats on tackling the issue. My daughter started getting interested in the potty at 13 months and my son got interested at 15 months. I thought it was way too early, but just followed their cues. They were both out of daytime diapers close to age 2. Nighttime diapers were gone right around age 3. My sister started earlier and her 18-month old is almost out of diapers for the daytime. It can be done!

I loved the book "Early Start Potty Training." You can get it at amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/Early-Start-Potty-Training-Linda-So...

The book is pretty relaxed, but gives you guidelines for different age groups. I found it very helpful and have several friends who also used the book for ideas. The author also discusses child development, both psychology and anatomy, to provide a basis for what you are doing.

Most of the world's population (Asia, Africa) does not use diapers for an extended period of time. A friend of mine visited her friends in the Soviet Union and they were appalled that her 15-month old girl was still in diapers. They asked if she had some physical problems.

Proceed with patience and love. And know that accidents will happen no matter when you start.

Peace and Joy in 2010,
M.

I am a SAHM and have 2 boys. I wouldn't even begin to consider potty training for a boy until at least 2 1/2 or 3. If you wait until they show interest and are old enough to understand the process and cues from their own bodies, then potty training will be easier and faster.

Good luck with that one no matter how smart your little boy is. If you had a girl you might be in some luck, but one thing to remember, they are little control freaks until they are about 4, and they will do it in their own time not yours, no matter how frustrated you want to make yourself. Just enjoy this time with your baby stress free. All three of my nephews were over 2.5, and one was 3.5, and it was their way or the highway; however, their sister was about 18 months, so was my daughter.

Hi Stephanie,
I also tried potty training early. My son was a lot tougher than my daughter just because up until he was 2 he would urinate every 15 or so minutes.I found it was just too often for him not to get frustrated that he had to be on the potty all the time. How often does your son go? If it is more than every hour it is truly very hard.

Some strategies I used.
Keep a log of the times that he goes to the bathroom. do it over a few days to see if there is a pattern.

Offer the toilet immediately when he wakes.

Put the potty in a spot that is close to where he plays during the day. In the bathroom is great but out of sight for the little ones is out of mind.

Look for signs of him going to number 2s if he is not verbalizing this and put him on the potty even if it is half way thru. My daughter has done number 2s on the potty since she was 11 months my son 13 months.

If you can work out the intervals between urinations set a stop watch and make sure you are offering to put him on the potty 5-10 min before the interval is up. My son loved a book No more diapers for ducky. I would read it to him and then he would sit and read it to himself while we waited to see if he would go. I would read or sing with him until he went or got to bored.

Make sure you potty has a high front cause little boys tend to have aim issues. My son hated that he was on the potty but still got his socks wet.

If he went we did a wee wee dance.

Let him watch you go to the potty and have his close by. My daughter loves to go to wee wees when i go.

If it works great if not wait a few weeks and try again.

If you have success and he's going to the potty regularly try putting him in underwear. You my son really started to realize the whole deal when he noticed that his underwear were wet. Also you can make a big deal about his big boy underwear. Is he walking?

Summer is better than winter for this. My son really learnt a lot when I let him run around in the backyard with no clothes on and mention to him when he went. It got to the point that he would tell me i went wee wee and then slowly i need to go wee wee and I had the potty out there with him.

Anyway hope this helps. Twelve months is really early though for a boy but good luck. Going to number 2s should work out but catching all of the number ones would have been very hard with my son at that age.

M.

Do some research on elimination communication. Here is a good place to start:
http://www.thediaperfreebaby.com/

My daughter has been "poopoo" trained since 1 year old. She has only pooped in her pants 2 or 3 times since she turned 1 year old -- and all of those were my fault. I'd like to say I did something fancy -- but I didn't. I started putting her on the potty at about six months. At first it was only at night before bed. The very first night she peed in the potty. A few weeks later she pooped. After a while we increased it to 3 times a day. Morning, before nap and at night before bath time. At about a year she just started pooping in the potty before nap and before bed and quit pooping in her diaper. I did not try to potty train her -- I just gave her times to go in the potty - no pressure just opprotunities. The advantage -- less diapers -- we usually only use about 2 or 3 a day and of course -- no poop clean up;-) She is now two and I have just started to actually potty train her - which she has taken to very well. So my advice is to just give him opprotunities to go in the potty but don't expect him to really be potty trained.

Hi Stephanie,

I have posted on early potty training before. I'm cutting and pasting some of my old posts. Please forgive the use of s/he since they were in response to other moms.
I do agree with the other moms who say that it's the parents being trained and not the kid. But, isn't that what we all do as parents? We read our kids clues on tiredness, hunger, illness, etc? Reading potty clues is just another facet.

Definitely, I would say to try it. Just to try. Don't push, and no pressure on yourself or have any expectations from her. Just make sure YOU are not stressed out about it.
I have been ECing my son since 11 months. He is mostly potty trained at 2.5 yrs old. More info on EC at www.diaperfreebaby.org and http://groups.yahoo.com/group/IPTLateStarters/
If you want to try, start easy. As other people mentioned you can do it before bath. Or do a step further, take her when you have to go pee. Or, add another step, pee after waking up. Or, sit on the potty after meals.
Also, just heads up that you may think that you are done potty training and then she will be teething and start having accidents. Other developmental milestones will cause them to have accidents too. (This is what I've read from the yahoo group.)
I disagree with the others who say to wait until 3. You are "diaper-training" your child.

I've been doing Elimination Communication part time with my 2 yr old since he was 11 months. I know his pee and poop patterns pretty well that I can put him on the potty when I know he needs to go. It's better than having a smooshed poop diaper that you have to wipe up when your nose is only about 3 feet away from the poop. And, if you are ever stressed doing EC, step back and put the diapers back on. It's not supposed to be stressful. Also, you don't have to do it all the time; we do it part time.

This is a good book to get you started:
http://www.thediaperfreebaby.com/
You might be able to get it at the library.

Good luck!

M.

from my understanding potty training that early isn't really kid training it's adult training. you have to learn to recognize how often he pees and poops and at what intervals and put him on the potty at the correct times so that he goes in the potty. i'm sure if you dig deep enough you can find books from people who have potty trained that early.