Success Stories on Potty Training an 18 Month Old!

Hi C.,

My oldest son potty trained at 18 months as well, and yes because "he" wanted to! Just keep putting him on the potty when he needs to go. If he gets to the point where he isn't interested anymore, just let him be & he'll come around to it again when he is ready. My boy didn't have any set backs, but I can understand at such a young age that they might.

Take care!

Sounds like you are doing the right thing now!! My boys were interested also (twins) and I just set up the potty chairs in a big room we had and let them sit there when they wanted to. One of them would get a book and pretend to read while he sat. Cracked me up!! They learned fast!!

My niece was fully potty trained before she was two. You should get the book "Diaper Free Before 3." My sister-in-law used that method and it worked for her. You basically just have to "read" their cues and tell them (not ask them) that it is time to go pooty. You put in in their day as a part of the routine like bath time or brushing your teeth. She got a small "my first potty" from baby Bijorn and carried it around everywhere in a plastic grocery bag. She had her wear real underwear during the day.

i am in the process of potty training my 18 month old and it seems to be going good! we set her on the potty about every 30-45 mins and have her sit there till she goes. this works well for us. also when she is at home she is in panties not a pull up. this makes it easier for her to know when shes wet (even though it means some clean ups for me). she only wheres a pull up when we leave the house or she is going to sleep. we give her a reward when she goes potty an after dinner mint (it was the only thing kinda sweet that she would like she doesnt care for candy). she seems to do well with this method. my neice and nephew were both fully potty trained by 13 months day and night. so keep it up make it fun for him so he wants to do it again and again. good luck!!!

Hey there how are you? I liked your little paragraph about you. Im 31 a stay at home mom i have two boys. One will be 4 end of this month and the other is 18 months. My little one watches my older one go potty and wants to try. Or he will let us know he has already gone. I think he will be easier to potty train then my older one. Take care love to hear back from you Love M.

My twin boys were early trainers too. It was summer, we were outside all the time, they peed outside and in the shower. And they just got it. There is something about a boy being able to see it come out, it helps them make the connection. My baby is 16 mos. old and he too is starting on that same path. I believe some kids just get it and are easy, so you might as well use that to your advantage. My only advise, lots of praise and excitement! And stay on it! Dont resort to rewards or bribes unless he needss them. My boys didnt need them for peeing, but poop was a little more challenging. Nonetheless the last one (of my twins) was poop trained by 2 1/2! And I had them both night time trained by 3. Hoping it all goes as smoothly with my newest one! Good luck and just know you will be the envy of all your friends!

wtg! my daughter is 18 months and was 100% potty trained 2 months ago today. what i did was paid attention to when she would go at the same time everyday such as 4 minutes after she woke up(she would stay dry through the night for some reason).

Hi C.,

I agree with the other mom's to encourage him, and if he is interested to keep at it. My kids were excellent pottiers by two. I remember at my son's eighteen month check up when his doc told me to go get a potty chair I thought she was nuts.

The key is to just let them do it. Encourage and support but don't push. It sounds as if you are doing everything right. Remember though at this early age he could go back and forth with his interest. I would have low expectation but heap on the praise.

Pull ups also worked with my kids psychologically.Changing from a diaper to a big kid pant who was ready to go to the potty, helped them to see they were no longer babies. Also, most stores have their own brand which are cheaper and just as good.

Good luck.

My mother potty trained all three of hers before 18 months (she did it earlier than most and that generation was highly motivated to potty train because of cloth diapers). One thing she did was take the porta potty in the kitchen while she worked, sat us down and made grunting noises and we coppied her. I guess it worked.

Hi, C.,

My daughter (who is 15 1/2 years old now) trained herself by the age of 15 months. She started using the toilet at about 12 1/2 months. She pretty much did everything early, except walk. She was talking by about 8 months. She could verbalize and say "potty" by 12 months. By 15 months she could use a full sentence and say, "I have to go potty NOW!" and she would go. By about age 2 she could wipe herself clean too.

My thought is: If your child can verbalize the need to go, can go when taken to the toilet, and can wipe (with help or without help), then who really cares what age the child is? My brother didn't start using the toilet until he was 5 1/2 years old! I thought my mom was going to have to put him on the Kinder-bus with a lunch bag AND a diaper bag! So, if your son is expressing the desire to use the tiolet - let him. Count this as a blessing.

Good luck to you,
A.
North Las Vegas, Nevada

I had 2 really young boy potty trainers, and both were a result of having watched older brothers potty train.
They were ready and it was their idea, they never turned back, and there was never a struggle.
However, both of them are bed wetters. I don't know if it is just coincedence, but I've been told by other moms that it is not unusual for young potty trainers to wet the bed longer than late potty trainers.
I'll take the bed wetting though!Using one pull up a day, vs. several diapers you have to change is preferrable no matter how you look at it.
Congratulations!

My youngest daughter did that too... pulling down her pants, going potty, even washing hands afterward and turning off the light!! When I got her some panties and gave it a real try, she peed freely all over the place. I did not push it and she enjoyed the novelty of being able to do it at will, but I waited until she was 2 1/2 to really potty train in earnest. Now she is 3 1/2 and she will still get "busy" and wait too long a couple times a week, so I'm not sure that mine is a success story, but it is good that your son knows the drill. You can get him some bob the builder underpants and let him know that when he is ready to use the potty all day long, that he can choose to wear his big boy underpants. Good luck!

Hi C., I always used reward and discipline with all 3 of mine and it worked super, my I started traing my first son at 19 months, disn't show any signs or enterest, but i had already decided before I was ever pregnant that I would not have a two year old in diapers, so he was 19 months, by 20 months he was trained, my second child also a son, was trained by 19 months, he wanted to wear big boy underwar like his brother, I told him tgen you have to go on the potty like your brother, and for him that was it, my third child was a daughter, started her at 19 months and then we got orders to move to Japan, so pit the trainig on hod til we got over there and got settled but she was trained before 22 months. J. L.

Since you're a SAHM, I'm guessing you are at home a good deal of the time... if so, you might try what I did: Leave the diaper off. You may have a few cleanups (Amazingly, I had only two) but if you're paying attention it could be just the ticket. And, if you provide a way for him to access the toilet (We bought a tiny urinal, see www.peterpotty.com, or there's a great stepstool for the big toilet, see www.thepottystool.com), you may find he'll "carpe peeum": Seize the potty! Sorry, I couldn't resist >;)

Hi C.,
Boys are harder to pottie train than girls, and 1 1/2 is to young, for most children. Stop trying for awhile, but always remind him that big boys go like Daddy when you change him, and make it fun. Also, maybe Daddy can start taking him to potty when he goes, why should you have all the fun?
My son was 3, and finally I figured out he was afraid of the whole, and I sat him backwards on the pot. It worked like a charm and when he was ready he did it like he was suppose too.
Have fun with your son, and don't push him to grow up just yet.
C.

My son was like that at that age... I would just put him on the potty, with a diaper on or not... (per his comfort with it), and he would sit there when I was sitting on the toilet too, and sometimes he would make pee, even if it was in his diaper while sitting on the potty chair. Hooray! Then I would high five him and cheer him! And he would tell me whenever he was about to pee, or actually just peed' (in his diaper), and holding his thingy.

Or I would leave his diaper off during the day when I was home, and put the potty chair right there... and he would go sit on it sometimes and actually pee. Or sometimes not and pee on the floor. But it's okay.

Main thing is I went according to his comfort level. But he could indicate to me when he needed to pee, and would go sit on the potty chair. Most of the time.

Then he is now going through a phase in which he does NOT like the potty, and refuses to take off his diaper. So, I don't push it. He only just made 2 years old, so that's fine, to me.
He gets kinda "possessive" over his diaper nowadays... and HE wants to decide when to take it off. LOL. So well... as usual, it fluctuates. But no, I don't think of him as "potty trained" per say. But he has been interested on his own before 2 years old. So that's good.

But, go with it... since your son is "interested." But don't push. Keep him positive about it. That's GREAT! Keeping in mind it ebbs and flows and success goes in spurts....
Just try and keep consistent...
Good luck!
Susan

C.,

It's never too early, if the child is showing interest and especially when they learn by example (other siblings or classmates).

Sooooo...when you're home, let him run around in underwear... granted it will get messy at times but that is great encouragement... Just sit him down and explain to him. Remind him every so often, do you need to go to the bathroom, and also attempt the underwear over night with no drinks 2 hrs before bedtime and also bathroom visit when he brushes his teeth before bedtime. NOTE: I do recommend you place an absorbent blanket or something absorbent just below the sheets just incase.

If you happen to wake up at night, wake him and ask him if he needs to go.

This will be a good start.

Good luck and congratulations on this early start!

I am a mother of 4 and all were potty trained by 18-20 months ,....I first figured they were ready when they wouldn't keep the diaper on ...everytime just in diaper the would peel it off...Thank god for the resealables...I would make it fun for them to go and after they would sucessfully use the potty all that was there at the time would cheer them on ...We made up what we called the 'Potty Dance'...We would dance around in circle singing " GO (child's name)YOU DID IT, WENT PEE PEE IN THE POTTY ALL RIGHT" clapping and getting all excited...they loved it and expected everyone to participate then reward them with a small token rather food or toy ...nothing too much .....but the more fun you make it the more they will want to play .....and younger ones w/older siblings tend to try and keep up ....nothing wrong w/getting him out of the diapers if he is doing the initiating he is ready ...go for it save some money stop buying diapers know they can be expensive....

Ok I used to be a nanny to a family with a little girl who was 3 1/2 years old I was really trying to potty train her I had an 18 month old at the time of my own. She actually ended up going potty on her own before the older girl. If they catch on and want to train and can verbalise you are just lucky and GO FOR IT. My only word of advise is keep extra clothes just in case and make sure you know where the bathrooms are at everywhere you go. My daughter had very few accidents and they usually would be if we couldn't find the bathroom they can tell you they need to go but may not always be able to hold it for as long as needed. Good luck won't it be great to be out of diapers YEA

My twins were boys. They didn't potty train until 3 and half years old. It was frustrating. One would be doing good and the other not, so the first one would stop. I went back and forth with them until I put them in real underwear and they realized if they went in their pants it felt yucky. My daughter on the other hand completely potty trained at 18 months and only needed a pull up at night. She was so easy compared to her brothers! I think it just depends on the child. I would go ahead and try. Maybe he's ready, if not you can always try again in a month or so.

Best advice: Potty train the "lazy" way.... Have your kids help!!

Put potty in bathroom. Every time twins go potty, have twins ask your son to go too.
If everybody tinkles everybody gets a prize... only sister tinkles, no prize...

Find those plastic easter eggs packed away from easter... find lost McDonald's toys around the house and put them in the eggs... It's a free reward! Keep reward basket in a visable place!

I also showed the boys how to Pee standing up... put a fruit loop or cheerio in the big potty, floating in the water... have your boy stand on your feet and show him how to "aim".
It's a fun game and he will want to play!!! Maybe Daddy can be competition? Sound's weird, but you gotta keep him interested.

I decided to play games with the big potty, so he would not be afraid.

Instead of little boy saying.. I have to Pee now..... I say... Are you ready to stand on my feet? It's more polite when in public....
Don't buy pull-ups.. they are sooo expensive.. Instead, purchase the thick underwear.
Have your son wear two at a time. It may seem funny to wear two, but it will be double thickness for boys. Chart his bowel movements to prevent accidents in underwear.
A little tinkle in the thick undies will give him a signal to go...

I am a mother of 2 boys and in two weeks, you will have a potty trained kid...
Night time might take longer. Still use the underwear. place a long piece of puddle pad material (mattress size) from the fabric store. Less bed mess and easy to wash...

Good luck!

I say if he's ready, DO IT! I know plenty of kiddos who were successful at being potty-trained early...the common thread with all of them was showing readiness! If he wants to go on the potty, make it available. We finally finished potty-training my 3.5 year-old son after a year and a half of reintroducing the idea different ways to no avail...He decided one morning a few weeks ago that he didn't want to wear a diaper anymore. Since then, there have been amazingly few accidents. (They've all been right in front of the potty...he wasn't able to get undressed fast enough :o). He's now in underwear 24/7 and we couldn't be happier! All kids do it in their own time. Lucky for you, his time seems to be sooner rather than later! Good luck to you :o).

P.S. You wouldn't happen to be Mandy's sister, by any chance, would you? Hanna and my daughter, Skylar, are buddies and in the same class. Mandy has also watched my kids and they love her!

Hey C.,

I want to say Thanks for sharing your story. My 3 year old is still about 1/2 potty trained but his younger brother who is 18 months now shows signs of being able to go potty on his own. I have not encourage it since I just figured it was too young but after hearing your story I will start to encourage him and see what happens...

Thanks again for sharing and it gives me something to look forward to.

Cyndee

My daughter also basically potty trained herself at 1 1/2. It lasted for 6 months and went great. Then she insisted on going back to diapers. So she wore diapers for 6 more months before we potty trained her again and she has been doing fine ever since then.

My son, on the other hand, never showed interest in potty training and we had to push it on him at age 4. We used lots of rewards as incentive. It took him until he was 5 to completely get it.

My point is that you should treat each child differently. Some kids need a push and others just need a cheerleader. Just stay positive and relaxed. No matter what, they all get there eventually.