Early Potty Training - Virginia Beach,VA

I have an almost 5 yr old who was doing the same thing when she was 18 months old. She would pee on commandand tell me she wanted to go, the only problem was that she could not "hold it". She was constantly having "accidents". I realized that 18 months was too young for her to be able to stay dry so we packed up the potty and brought it back out in a year. She was trained in about 3 days that time and it was MUCH less stressful! Good Luck!

My daughter is now 17 and she started going to the potty at 18 months. I would suggest that when around the house to use panties and only when going out use the three/ply panties. Sometimes they get confused when using the pull ups. She will continue to do fine...Good Luck!

You are doing well. What i suggest is letter her practice pulling them down. Don't just walk in an pull them down. I suggest you get panties they are easier to pull down. I would only put pull ups on at nap time and when you leave out the house. That way she can practice pulling panties down and you can congratulate her for doing the whole system so well. Good luck it's looking good so far.

B.,
I am a pre-school teacher in a class with 15 - 24 month old children. Some children do show a lot of interest and actually begin potty training early - just like your daughter.
My advice to you is to continue as you are doing. Praise her when she "goes" and say "good try" when she wants to go to potty but does nothing. Don't be upset about "accidents."
YES, she is TOO young to go to the bathroom by herself and also should never be left alone sitting on the potty (she could fall - or put her hands into the potty). And she is too young to be able to get training pants up and down. Continue to go with her and help her. Show her how to pull her pants up and down. Hold her hands and help her with this. After she turns 2 - she should be more able to pull her pants down but will still need a lot of help with getting them up properly.
At her age - I would not recommend training pants yet. Continue with the diapers for at least 3 more months. Then you could try pull-ups for a couple months.

I hope this helps.

A.

the character undies at target, especially the curious george ones, are very small. good luck!

Go for it! I really think my oldest daughter was ready at 18 months. I didn't realize there were definite windows of interest that would come and go. I didn't take the time to let her really get it down and that window didn't open up again till she was 2 1/2. Even if she can't go completely by herself now she will eventually and you'll already have the hard part down. When our second came along (they're exactly 2 years apart) our oldest wanted nothing to do with the potty. Most of my friends say their oldest was the same way. Depending on where she is in the progression you may see some regression when your next comes along - but you'll already have a good foundation.

Keep it up, Mom! Think of all the money you'll be saving on diapers!

*I should add that it is possible - my brother was potty trained at 18 months.

My daughter had a litte potty in our bathroom when she was young. One day ( at about 18 months), she started using the potty correctly, even dumping the urine out and flushing the toilet. We took that and ran with it. We had a few hiccups in the road but generally speaking, it was a success. She is now almost 14!! Much different from my son, now 6, and still using pull ups at night :o). DOn't sweat the accidents. They will happen but I would definitely support her and let her run with it. Now the hard part, finding underwear to fit :o)

I just finished training my 2-1/2 yr old son and had great success with "How to Potty Train Your Child in LESS Than a Day." It stresses repetition, positive reinforcement and rewards (it's very outdated circa 1970s, but still worked great!). A friend recommended it and had trained both her son and daughter at 18 mos. I didn't feel my son was "ready" until recently so didn't even bother to try earlier. We went straight to underwear, and have only used pull-ups at night. Good luck!

That's good that you are following the signs of your child and ready to go forward with potty training. My son is 21 months and we started when he was 18 months and he is doing very well at it. One thing we did was buy the potty with the music on it, that way whenever 'something' went in the pot the music would turn on. The music was his reward and he would clap as soon as he heard it, knowing that he did well. Then when getting off the pot, myself or my husband would do 'the potty celebration dance' with him and that would make him even more excited b/c he knew he did a good job. So be encouraging and also be patient.

We started my son going to the pot every 30 min's for the first week so he would get used to it. Then gradually increased the time, now he goes on the pot every 1hr 30 min's or whenever he tells us 'potty'. Don't be afraid to leave them on the pot for a while - most likely they won't go immediately at first. We would take our son to the bathroom and sit him on the pot and leave out and come back once we heard the music. Our sitter recommended not staying in there with them so that they won't think that it is a requirement for someone else to be in there with them in order for them to go potty.

Hope this helps. Good luck.

Try Linda Sonna's books on potty training... she has sections on early training and knows a number of different methods, so you can pick and choose one that fits your daughter's pace. There are very valuable and detailed ideas for trouble-shooting.

I would have your daughter practice pulling pants/panties up and down even she doesn't need to go (does she have a doll she could dress?). Also, when I shopped for my son I looked for outfits that he could easily get into and out of himself--pants with elastic waists, underwear that was a couple sizes too big, no more overalls, no belts, that kind of thing. Of course, in the summer little girls can wear dresses (though for their dignity I always thought a little pair of bloomers underneath was most appropriate, as little persons are often hanging upside down).

I expect it will be some time before she can go all by herself. My son is 4 and still likes company when he pees. He likes to comment on how much he has produced. Sigh. Men.