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  1. #1
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    Question want to potty train 18 month old. when is it too early?

    so my son is 18 months. he says some words but doesnt tell us when he has to poop or pee...HELP! how do you teach them to let you know if he cant really talk?

  2. #2
    wendibird22's Avatar
    wendibird22 is offline Red Diamond level (10,000+ posts)
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    I think some will say that 18mos is too early and that the ability to communicate the need is important to the process. That said, you know best if he's showing signs of readiness. Could you teach him signs to communicate his need to go to the bathroom? I know of a few children with disabilities who cannot communicate verbally but can sign when they have to go to the bathroom.

    FWIW, DD1 started sitting on a potty seat at about 18mos and I thought for sure that I'd have her trained by 2yo. Well, she was 2mos shy of her 3rd birthday when she finally was trained. But, I kept that potty seat out and encouraged her to sit on it whenever she wanted and for however long. We also read lots of potty books. I think all of that helped speed up the process for later on when she was really ready to train.
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  3. #3
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    Fairy is offline Red Diamond level (10,000+ posts)
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    18mo is a great time to start with the potty videos and sitting on the potty seat and getting them aware of the toilet and that routine. But full on training with expectations of success is not likely in an 18mo. I think you're probably too early for that.
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  4. #4
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    yeah my husbands mom has him for two weeks and she said she was going to potty train him. we told her not to be embarrassed when he doesnt even listen to her cuz he cant hold his bodily functions and he cant tell you when he has to go.. he doesnt comprehend what it means. she said she potty trained my husband and his sister at 1...which i highly doubt. a one year old doesnt even know what a toilet is and what its used for let alone what his pee pee is ya know. so what would be a quick way to get my son to understand this type of stuff...ive heard to time when they usually pee and just bring them to the toilet at those times. like i know for sure that after lunch he always poops so i could feed him lunch then wait about 10 min then bring him to toilet? idk just needing some help
    Last edited by DoverAFBmom2; 11-09-2010 at 05:06 PM.
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  5. #5
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    Quote Originally Posted by DoverAFBmom2 View Post
    yeah my husbands mom has him for two weeks and she said she was going to potty train him. we told her not to be embarrassed when he doesnt even listen to her cuz he cant hold his bodily functions and he cant tell you when he has to go.. he doesnt comprehend what it means. she said she potty trained my husband and his sister at 1...which i highly doubt. a one year old doesnt even know what a toilet is and what its used for let alone what his pee pee is ya know. so what would be a quick way to get my son to understand this type of stuff...ive heard to time when they usually pee and just bring them to the toilet at those times. like i know for sure that after lunch he always poops so i could feed him lunch then wait about 10 min then bring him to toilet? idk just needing some help
    Huhh, my baby potty trained at 4.5 months old. We still have some pee pee accidents but mostly when I forget to watch for her (or I am too busy or we can't go to the toilet because we're out) but she can hold her pee for 2-3 hours at a time.

    Have you read any books on early potty training? I come from Europe and my mom was helping me with the baby so we always made the pee pee sound of our choice when we saw her pee (usually while she was being changed) or the poopy sound when she pooped so later when she was able to sit and we put her on the potty, we cued her to pee that way. And she figured out that she preferred to pee/poop in the potty than in the diaper. That said, however, all babies are different. Just wanted to say that 1 year old is NOT too early. My baby goes on the toilet with a trainer seat now, she is 14 months and she prefers it to a potty chair (I like it too, less work to clean up)

    You can start by putting him on the potty after he wakes up of his nap or in the morning after getting up. They always need to pee after sleeping (even if they have wet their panties). When you put him, make a cue sound (pspsps or something) if you see him peeing. Always do it, be persistent and he will connect the sound with the action. Then you will be able to put him on the potty and cue him to pee... and when he becomes verbal he can try to make the sound himself.

    I recommend the book "The Diaper Free Baby"
    http://www.amazon.com/Diaper-Free-Ba...2341585&sr=8-1

    They have instructions about potty training older kids too. But seriously, it's common sense, all of it, and I read it only AFTER we had potty trained our baby using the methods I was potty trained with.

  6. #6
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    Default Potty Training

    Hi:

    Our son began telling us poo poo and pointing to his diapers when he was 12-13 months old. We did not try to potty train him because we thought that it was too early.

    When he was 17 months old he started going to a AMI Certified Montessori school. They began potty training him on his 2nd week at school. All kids wear cotton underwear. It only took him 2 weeks to get use using the potty. At school he has very few accidents. At home we are still using diaper but he tells us that he has to poo poo. At this rate we will start using cotton diapers at home in the next few weeks.

    I don't think that out son is any different than other kids. Most of the kids in his class get potty trained as soon as they joined the toddler class. To me this implies that with proper training kids can be potty trained around 17-18 months.

  7. #7
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    hillview is offline Blue Diamond level (20,000+ posts)
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    For our house and our boys PTing when they turned 3 was the best time. It took about 2 days. They were ready and it took very little time or dirty clothes

    I agree with Fairy about having a potty out and around and letting DS try it if he wants to etc.
    /hillary
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  8. #8
    mmommy is offline Platinum level (1000+ posts)
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    My DD is 20 months, and she sometimes asks to use the potty, but more often she doesn't. We're not pushing it AT ALL, but we do make the potty available to her.
    My MIL is quick to tell me that she trained SIL before she turned 1. Maybe, or maybe it was more that generations' style of PT, which seems more like parent training to most parents today. In any case, being trained so early certainly didn't make SIL any more well off in the world - she's a basket case. And her own 4 yo is not trained yet.

    I think PT whenever you choose, but if your child is older your expectations for their participation in it can be reasonably higher.

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