Potty Training

[TahliasMom]

Ok I know my DD is only 8 months but my mom is insisting that I start potty training her. My mom was born/raised in Eastern Europe and it's very common practice to potty train as soon as they can sit up unassisted. My brother was potty trained by 1 year, me by 1.5 years. To add to the pressure we're going to Eastern Europe to visit family in May, DD will be 1. I'm not sure where to begin. I started to look at potties but does anyone have any suggestions? Any books? Everything I'm finding is for 18 months and up.

TIA!

[writermama]

You might try looking for information about elimination communication -- a diaper-less system used with babies. I don't use it, so I can't tell you much more than the fact that it exists.

You can find information about it on the mothering dot commune message boards, here:

http://www.mothering.com/discussions/forumdisplay.php?f=227

Prevailing medical thought in the US currently is that true potty training is impossible until certain neurological and physical developmental steps are reached, different for each child but usually no earlier than age 2. This school of thought suggests that early potty training isn't really a case of training the baby, it's a matter of training the parents.

However, in other parts of the world, there are different systems that seem to work just fine.

Oh, you might also try posting this question in the Baby Butts section of this forum.

Good luck with whatever you decide to try with your DD.

-Karen

[dknees]

I worked in a toddler room for a few years, and have ultimately helped potty train 23 kids. Each and every child is different in the age, readiness and approach to take with potty training. Personally, I think it'd be too hard on your dd to try to potty train her now, then go off to Eastern Europe. Her routine will be completely turned around, everything will be new to her (the sights, sounds, traveling that distance - even if you've made the trip with her before, it's not likely she'll have much memory of it) and I think you'd be setting both you and her up for failure. It's hard enough for ME to regulate going to the bathroom when traveling, much less dealing with a child on an airplane (or at the gate) who's gotta go NOW! Does that make sense? I also think traveling is traumatic, even if it's "fun" traveling, and even if she is completely potty trained before the trip, you're going to have some regression here.

The other issue I have is, does she seem to have a "schedule" when she's wet? Does her bladder seem to be getting stronger, or is she still a "liquid-in/liquid-out" kid? If she's not showing signs of being able to hold it, even for a little while, she's probably not ready, in spite of your family traditions.

[TahliasMom]

Karen
This sounds very interesting. Thanks for the link info. Something I would definetly like to try.

[TahliasMom]

Thanks for sharing your experience. Gives me a better idea of what to expect. I guess I'll have to become more in tune with DD's schedule before I can start. I'm also worried that the travel will be a total shock to her and the potty thing might be put on hold.

[wendmatt]

1 sounds awfully young. You could tell your family you started but she hadn't got the hang of it yet and with the travelling you wanted to keep the diapers to be safe while travelling.
DD was 22 mths and all of my friends around here think that was really early!
That said, put a potty by the bath and sit her on it before bath time so she knows what it's for, sometimes she'll go and praise her, that's about all the getting ready advice I have, sorry!