Potty Training an 18 Month Old

My little girl started using the potty to poop first. She was about nine months old and I could tell when she was about to have a movement and so I started putting her on the potty. That worked! So then I taught her a sign (we used sign language starting about three months for things like milk, then onto drink, eat, all doone etc). She could sign to me that she had to poop at the age of nine months and potty training after that was very easy (not saying that we did not still have accidents- we did)!!!

All the best!
C. Hiebel
www.candlewealth.com/soy4u
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She is the perfect age. I have 3 girls and I usually introduced the potty at 15 months of age. (make sure they are off the bottle first-they will drink less) By 18 -20 months girls are usually potty trained. Boys take longer. This is also the perfect time of year (summer). They can walk around in training pants and not be cold. Good luck

i feel very unqualified to answer a mother of 4! but everything i've read said that girls train earlier than boys, and that there is indeed a window of opportunity around 18 months old. so no, she is not too young i don't think. my pediatrician is not a fan of potty training before 2, but then again, my child was not showing signs of readiness at 18 months.

i have a friend who has 4 kids, and her youngest was so easy to train she said the child basically did it herself. maybe all that watching others go potty is training enough! :) best of luck!

Hi T.-
I had a friend that had a 18 month old that wanted to be potty trained because she wanted to wear her princess panties!! I don't think that that it is too early. My son's doctor practically yelled at me when we took him to his 24 month check up and he hadn't been potty trained. You just need to spend more time in the bathroom with her so she has the time to go. My daughter would spend up to 15 minutes at a time in there. I sometimes would run the water hoping the sound would help her along! We did the ABCs and sang songs and after a while she would do her business but would say she wasn't done so we could hang out longer, LOL!!! Anyway, 18 months is not too early... have you ever heard of the weird parents that start potty training in the child's first month of life? I know!!!! Good Luck!

Go for it!!! My youngest was potty trained before she was 24months and although she stills has night time bed wetting (a family trait) she has been completely trained for a year and a half. She had a big sister to look up to and mimic, as yours does as well. Just make sure that you get her a potty that is her size. If she only uses the regular toilet she can have trouble baring done to have a bowel movement because she is so small and doesn't have a anything to brace her feet against. She may have more accidents than an older child but it will be worth it. Enjoy the freedom. Good Luck!

Had the same issue with my daughter. She had a problem with adhesions so it made it very uncomfortable to be in a diaper-especially when it was wet. She was out of diapers by 20 mos but I will say she had lots of 'accidents'. My son, on the other hand, came out of diapers the week of his third birthday and had practically no 'accidents'. I'd check w/ the pediatrician about adhesions. If she has them they can prescribe premarin (I know-kind of funny-the pharmacist was confused about who it was prescribed for). Apparently, our little girls don't start producing estrogen til they are 6 so the premarin helps with the adhesions. If she is all fine down there-go ahead and work on potty training-otherswise she will drive you crazy with the diaper issue. Try panties on under the diaper/pull up maybe. I teach preschool-2's, so have lots of p/t/ tricks. You've p/t'd 3 tho, so I imagine you have your own bag.

Why wait. My daughter is almost 2years old and I've started allowing her to wear panties in the evenings. If your daughter wants to go let her. Allow her to sit for 5-10 minutes with a book or some other toy(s). It takes time. My daughter just the other day woke me up at 3am to go potty. Although not happy about it, I was proud of her.

I've never had my kids go that young, but she does sound like she is wanting too. I agree, go for it! I would use a timer and explain to her the best that you can that when the timer goes off, we'll try. After a few times or a day, you'll probably be able to notice the pattern/timing as to when she goes potty and be able to help her out.

Things to relax her, sound of water, other sounds while you are waiting instead of complete silence in the bathroom and feeling pressured to do something. Just a thought.

At first, I was replying with tips on HOW to potty train, then noticed you never asked HOW, you only asked WHEN. Since you have already trained three other children, I know you know how to do it. So....to answer your question for real....every child is different, but girls do tend to potty train earlier than boys, and even if your other girls did not, it is not unusual for a child to begin their potty training at 18 months. All four of mine began at 18 months and were trained by 24 months (all girls) and my mother to this day SWEARS that I potty trained myself by nine months -- says I used to crawl to get my litty potty and would sit on it and go and was trained before 12 months of age. So, apparently it just depends on when it starts to bother a child to have messy pants and your daughter is for sure showing that sign. Good luck to you and God bless you and your family for your sacrifices as a military family serving this country.

She's not too young. I have a 19 month old and she's trained. I still put a diaper on her at night, but for weeks, it's been dry every morning, so I'm not even sure if it's necessary. Like yours, she started showing me signs of interest a few months ago. She asked to go to the potty and when I put her on it, she pooped!

That made me think she might be ready, so I just went for it. It took time and patience, but now I'm so happy to not have to worry about diapers. They take a little bit longer when they're that young, but with practice she'll learn.

my son starting training at 16 months. He went through a phase where he stopped, and we now starting it up again. Luckily, he already knows what to do and we are just working out him telling us when he needs to go.
18 months is a great time to start.

Try teaching your child the signs. It reduces frustration for both you and your child and gets the message across.

I say go for it!!! Both of my kids were easy to train and started going on the potty when they were about 15 months old. Were they trained -- no but it was easier. What I did with my daughter was watch for her signs of needing to go and we ran to the potty and just sat there until she did it or gave up.

Both of my kids were completely day trained right after their 2nd b'day. Good luck!