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When Should You Potty Train
By Mommie | November 19, 2008
I honestly haven’t even thought about potty training my son, now 19 months. I always hear that boys are harder and I have a nephew that is 4 and still doesn’t fully get it. I just figured it would occur sometime in the future.
Well my son has started to do some odd things, namely he’ll tell me when he’s ready to go poop. He’ll grab at his crotch and do a little dance, next thing you know there’s that all to familiar aroma. So now that he’s telling me, should I start training? Here’s what the experts say:
You have to look for certain signs, such as:
Signs your child may be ready (from About.com):
* Your child is staying dry for longer periods of time (often two hours or more). This indicates that her bladder capacity is increasing.
* Your child recognizes when she is in the process of urinating or voiding. If you try to potty train before this time, you’ll likely run into trouble, since your child isn’t really aware of what she’s doing and so is unable to control something she can’t understand.
* Your child is able to easily pull her pants up and down. She may not have had any reason to do so in the past, but luckily, of all the readiness factors, this skill is easily learned.
* Your child can follow simple instructions. There are many steps to using the toilet that we take for granted as adults. For example– go to the bathroom, turn on the light, pull down your pants and underwear, sit on the potty, wipe your bottom, flush the toilet, wash your hands– the list goes on, so this is a very important skill.
* Your child is able to sit and engage in an activity for several minutes without becoming distracted or irritable.
* Your child is walking and running well. Because the urge to potty is often sudden in toddlers, and because a potty isn’t always steps away, it’s important for your child to be able to make it to the toilet before an accident occurs.
* Finally, and perhaps most importantly, your child shows interest and desire. Interest in keeping dry or clean. Interest in wearing “big kid” underwear. Interest in what you’re doing when you go potty and a desire to do what you’re doing.
So out of all of those, my son does most. We bought him a potty chair and I put him on it every so often. He hasn’t done anything in there yet, but he doesn’t mind it really.
So is it too soon? Is he too young? Experts say that they are ready when they are ready, no certain age can tell. I don’t expect anything at all from trying this early. Right now it’s a chance for him to go without a diaper for a while:-)
Topics: Toddlers |
November 20th, 2008 at 9:06 pm
We just started trying to potty train our son (he is 25 months old). He always tells me right after he goes. Hopefully I can get him to let me know right before he goes soon. If not, he will learn in his own time I guess.
November 24th, 2008 at 10:21 am
My daughter started telling me when she had to go when she was 18 months old. So I ran out and bought a little potty. She loved to sit on it at first but now that the novelty has worn off she doesn’t want anything to do with it. She is 21 months now and is too young to understand bribes (like stickers) when she goes on the potty so I have just given up as of right now. I still ask her every once in a while if she wants to sit on it and she will she just won’t sit long enough to actually do anything. I feel like it is all part of the process. Learning the words, how to sit on the potty and flush the toilet, and when to recognize that she needs to go. It is all part of being potty trained.