What Age Was Your Daughter When You Started Potty Training?

We started when my daughter was a week or two shy of age 3. However, it wasn't exactly a conscience decision to wait...circumstances simply led to this. Once we started, there were no pull-ups and no training pants -- she went commando for one day. After day 1, regular panties from then on. She was trained, with no accidents in a total of 3 days. In retrospect, I think it might have helped that she was a bit older and had an understanding about what we were doing -- and could put her own effort into it. It worked for us. This did NOT work with my son!!! Girls are so different, aren't they!?!

(PS...we used pull-ups at night until her body was developed enough to wake her when she needed to go. This was about age 4 1/2 for her.)

My oldest daughter, who is almost six, was an extremely mellow and very bright child, so I thought she would potty train early...but she didn't. I didn't want to push it, but I set the potty out in the living room and encouraged her occasionally.

We went with pull ups for awhile. She started potty training around 2 3/4 years (maybe closer to 3) but on the plus side, once she did, that was it. No accidents, no fuss, nothing...she just decided one day she would use the potty and that was that. It helps to wait long enough to where they KNOW what's going on with it...cuts down on the mess and fuss, I think.

I really didn't have to work much with her. We went right to underwear, but she did wear a pull up at night until she was about 3 and a half.

Good question. We started around 18 months, then again around 2 years, then again after baby sister was born at 2 1/2 and now have a recently turned 3 year old who is still not trained. I posted a question earlier today about such issue. :) We cloth diapered (doing disposables now due to skin allergies), let her run around naked, only in panties, rewards for sitting on the potty, charts, incentives, videos, books, having her watch me, talk about going every time it makes sense to, running water, having her sit on the potty every 10 minutes, never used pull-ups, etc, etc, etc. We did a week long "boot camp", and several 3-4 day boot camps since.

Your question makes me realize that maybe more is going on with my daughter than I previously thought. I've read numerous books, talked to her pediatrician and have tried everything except shame and I won't go there. I've been told the brighter the child, the longer it can take. I don't think that is all of it. I think she wants to do it, understands the process and why we eliminate, but she doesn't understand the urge....or maybe she doesn't have it?

I just wanted to share a story that wasn't the typical, "we did it in 3 days."

Good luck. It can be an endeavor!

My youngest was at 27 months but she took longer b/c we started out using pull-ups were a huge waste of money and time. My first daughter was way easier. She was about 30 months and just trained in one day and never had accidents. Don't ask me how it was done. She just came home from Grandpma's house fully trained one day. Guess Grandma is magic. :)

It depends upon your daughter's readiness. My daughter was very interested in it and capable and was ready earlier than many. She was trained and wearing "training" underwear on her 2nd birthday. Within a month she was in regular panties and shortly thereafter was wearing undies at night as well. She had a grand total of about 3 night time accidents over the course of the following 7 years! Daytime accidents only happened with her when she was in kindergarten and thought she wasn't allowed to interrupt during reading group if it wasn't her turn to speak/read. (That only happened once...).

There are TONS of posts on this site about when/how to potty train. Check out the responses... I'm sure you'll find them all over the map. Why? Because all kids are different and the moms of those kids will have different answers depending on their experiences with their children. If your daughter exhibits signs of readiness, then go for it. Don't pick an arbitrary time or age.

Good luck.

I was a late bloomer in this area. Both my girls started at 2 1/2 or 3 yrs old. they did great and no accidents. idk if that is cuz I waited. One was very hard, the other was a piece of cake. took a potty everywhere in the car I went, did use pull-ups and let them decorate the portal potty with stickers for each session. Lots of reading books on the potty and waiting.... it did not work for me to keep going every 5 min... so we just sat and sat and sat until something happened. Good luck. Seems like years ago for me that I delt with this.

Right after 3 years old..
No pull ups.
Only took about 5 days with hardly any accidents and no accidents afterwards..

My older daughter started just before she turned 2, and was potty trained in a couple of hours. I did the "naked and $60" method - she was naked from the waist down, and so she felt and saw it right away when she started to pee. If I even thought maybe she would have to go, I'd run her to the potty. She had only a handful of accidents but pretty much got it right away. No pull-ups (those are way too much like diapers - being open to the wind is a much different feeling, therefore the child is constantly reminded they're not wearing diapers!). Oh, by the way, the $60 is to rent a carpet cleaner once you're done with potty training. LOL

My younger daughter, we started training her just after she turned 2. She took several weeks to really "get" it - but to be fair, I was working full time and traveling a lot, and DH wasn't as on top of potty training as he maybe could have been.

Anyway, in my experience, there is no good reason to wait to potty train. Just do it!

My daughter who is 6 potty trained at 2.5 yrs. We picked a long weekend, didn't go anywhere for 3 days just went potty every 40 minutes. By the 3rd day she was telling us she had to go. And I would say she was totally trained in a week and a half.

I potty trained my daughter at 18mo. I just put her in panties and she was potty trained in 2 days. She wore pullups to bed but within a couple months was wearing panties all the time.

With my older two, I waited a little longer than my friends with girls the same age. Mine were both about 26 months when they showed signs of readiness (though my second dabbled in potty-training from 18 months on because she saw her sister use it). We went straight into panties - that I let them pick out at the store - while we were at home; pull-ups if we went out. I rewarded them with 1 M&M for a pee, 2 for a poop. They were both 100% potty trained within 2-3 weeks.

My oldest... I planned on doing 3-day trining at 21/2, while I was on maternity w/2nd. Well, best laid plans and all, it didn't happen. Baby was born, we moved, and one day things settled down, she was a little more than 3, (and was learning how to use the 'pause' feature on the tv remote) Put on a movie, gave her all the apple juice she wanted, and literally in 45 minutes, she was trained, no accidents, nothing. She is 5 now, and still wears a pull-up at night, though. She knows she needs to get out of them, but we haven't pushed the issue much at all....she is the type who will run in the other direction if she's pushed. My 21/2 yr old recently started pretty much poop-training herself! So we are full-on pooping in the potty, but she has no interest in peeing on the potty yet. She will very soon, and I'm sure that with a bit of nudging she will be trained by spring with minimal drama.