Infant Potty Training

I haven't tried it, but I believe the proper phrase is 'parent potty training'. You will have to be the one to take them until they can communicate that they want to go potty? Are you ready for that?

I wait until the child is ready (I potty train my children about 2.5yo) and they are wearing underwear day and night from day one on.

I do have a friend that potty trains her little ones when they are about 18 months old...some kids are ready for that at that age.

Good luck!

Hi A.,

Well, in my humble opinion, I don't feel that infants need to be potty trained. With my older daughter, who is now four, we didn't even broach the subject until she was nearing three years of age. She is now totally potty trained. It was not without its bumps, but it's done, so that's all we wanted. We'll do the same with her younger sister, who just turned one.

I know there is a school of thought about infant potty training, but to me, it sounds more like a novelty than anything that's really necessary.

Just my opinion.

E.

Some advice from a grandma....just enjoy your baby. The only person that will be potty trained in this instance is you....you'll be trained to take your child to the potty. An infant isn't physically able to be potty trained....they don't have the muscle control or the cognitive connection and it would be a waste of your time.

i know a couple of moms who have practiced Elimination Communication (EC) and have had much luck. It also bonds you even closer, learning to read them so early in life. I would reccomend using what us in the cloth diaper world call "doublers" in their pants, it's shaped kinda like a pad, used to increase absorbancy in a diaper (made of cotton or hemp usually), just so you don't end up very wet. and with EC, there is not the pressure that you have to be on it 100 percent of the time, and it still works. I personally love using cloth diapers so I didn't look into ECing, but I say go for it. Sounds like quite a journey. congrats on the new soon to be baby.

A.,
I did not do the whole no diaper thing, but I did a version without knowing anything about it.... at about 9 months, I realized that I could tell when my daughter was going to poop. I would put her on the edge of a toliet and she would poop in the toliet.

I had been using sign language with her since about the age of three months (starting with milk then drink). So I taught her a sign for pooping (we made one up). she would sign when she had to poop and we would go to the potty and she would go (at about 9 months). This made potty training very easy (not to say we still didn't have accidents, but I am sure that they were much less than most experience... and hardly any poopy diapers starting at 9 months was a blessing!!!).

One thing that made me happy about getting her out of diapers early was the thought of all those chemicals wrapped around her tiny, developing genitals. I can not imagine that is very healthy. I think that I would have tried this had I known..... then again I was pretty tired. What ever you chose to do, do it with love and patience. Think of everything you do as fun and bonding and then nothing is alot of work. It is all in how you approach every task (and that can be hard when you are sleep deprived).

The first year flies- enjoy EVERYTHING about it. And yes, children are smart enough to do this!!! Look at other countries!!!!

I highly recommend teaching your baby sign language!!! It does not have to be a whole bunch of words, but it is so rewarding and bonding to be able to communicate things like drink, milk/nurse, eat, cat, dog,finished... they feel more in control and you know what they want. It was a blast!!! and people are sooooooooooo amazed and think you have a genius child!

One other thing... reading books and learning is great, but there is nothing that should replace your motherly instinct- trust it. All children are SOOOOOO different. What works for you and your child may not work at all for someone else (and visa versa).

All the best and have FUN (that is way important!!)!
C. Hiebel
www.candlewealth.com/soy4u
www.braveheartwomen.com/kolohe

I know someone that tried it, and was successful with both of her children but it takes ALOT of time and you have to watch your baby carefully to figure out their signals, and not all babies signals will be obvious.She also taught her babies baby sign language.

My children's nanny was from Ghana and there they potty train infants. If you have ever seen an African woman with an infant on her back, one thing you haven't seen is a wet back!!! They train the infant to eliminate by making a sound like a snake for "'peeing' and a grunt sound for "poop". The practice is very common in many countries. You just need to be in tuned with your infant body language. I am always amazed at how smart babies are. We don't give them the credit they deserve!!! I am pleasantly surprised that there is talk in this country about doing it. We stifle our children so much in this country out of fear and convenience. I wish you the best and I hope you try it. There is a lot we can learn as mothers from mothers in other countries!!!

All the best and I hope you have a great birthing experience!!

I had thopught it sounded very intersting too. I have never done it but think it would be worth a go especially if this is your first and you can really focus on it. I did not hear about it until child 7 or so and never felt like I had time to try something I didn't really know how to do and knew no one who did. I would love to hear how it goes and be your cheer leader if you need it! ____@____.com if you need encouragement let me know!

Sincerely,
K.

Dear A. ---Please save yourself some frayed nerves and let your baby be a baby for awhile. I think infant potty training is both nerve racking and unproductive.
You have little enough time to rest as your baby grows....but putting the poor little one on the pot every few hours just adds stress and strife to what should be a time of love, peace and bonding....
Take a nap..
Good luck mom,
Nana

I used it with my son and loved it. We started when he was 5 months old and used a combination of EC and cloth diapers. By 8-9 months he was pooping in the toilet all the time. We also used sign language and taught him the sign for ‘toilet’. That was really helpful. They definitely know when they have to go and can hold it if they know that you will respond. I realized one day (when he was around 18 months) that he had the same diaper on for a couple of days (clean obviously :), and realized he was ready for trainers. He has been out of diapers (day and night) ever since.

For those that say this is ‘parent training,’ they are right, but so is every other part of raising an infant. They give us signs that they are hungry, tired, over-stimulated, cold, etc. Our job is to learn these signs and respond to them. All EC’ing is, is learning to pick up on and respond to the sign that they have to go to the bathroom. You don’t force them to do anything. You just give them the opportunity to go (in the toilet, a bowl, outside). I don’t think it is any more work than diapering, just different in that you have to take them to the toilet (or bowl or outside) instead of waiting till they go and then changing the diaper.

My advice would be to try it. If you feel overwhelmed by motherhood in the beginning, then maybe wait a little while till feel more in control. As someone else said, the beauty of EC is that it is not ‘all or nothing.’ You can just focus on specific times that you know they have to go (say after naps or after nursing) and/or at specific time intervals. If you miss some, it is no big deal. If you ‘catch’ some, well, that is that many less diapers you have to wash (or throw in the landfill). If you have specific questions on how to go about it, just let me know, I’d be happy to help.

S.

A.,
In China, most babies wear split pants and the moms or nannies are "trained" to take the baby and place them while holding the child over a potty... they make a certain sound every time the child pees or poops and the baby is "trained" to emlinate with these sounds.

I have known quite a few children adopted from China who are regressed back to diapers and learn the American way of potty training.

Good luck with your baby if you decide to try this Chinese method of training.

Grace and peace,
B.
deaffmommie

I have seen several clips on talk shows about the infant potty training. I dont know why I get this feeling, but I just dont like it. Although it could possibly make things easier as far as diapers, I just think its pushing them too much. I am a 43 year old mother of one son who is grown (23). Trust me when I say that it is all gone way too fast without rushing things along. I always wanted to have several children. We were unable to ever conceive another. I thank God every single day for my two grandsons. I just want them to enjoy being a baby/child. I probably sound old fashioned to you. Perhaps I am, but someday you will look back and say to yourself, "where did the time go?" My son decided he wanted to use the potty on his own at 13 months. All children are different. His oldest son was 2 1/2 before he wanted to start. I hope this helps you. Good luck!

L.

Great idea! I started my son when he was 1 1/2 years old and used m&m's to bribe him. It worked some but the thing that really worked was his watching an episode of "Little Rugrats" when one of the kids thought something would eat him from the toilet. He seemed to do so much better after then. Funny, isn't it? Anyway, I breed miniature schnauzers and begin potty training them as soon as they're walking. I have 1 puppy I'm selling now. She just had 2 so if you know of anyone wanting one, I've got a boy. The early potty training works. I'm also a photographer and have a website. I do maternity/newborn packages with an Anne Geddes style. Site's address is: uniquemomentsstudio.com.

Take care of yourself and your little one on the way. Let us know what you find out on the potty training.

It works. But don't expect your infant to be able to verbalize "I have to go potty" Being diligent about toileting your infant every couple of hours is tiring. I say what's the big hurry? Don't stress out your little one. They will potty train when they are ready and it troubles me to see new moms try to push their kids into it too early. Just relax and ENJOY all the blessing that come with infancy - including diapers. :-)

Hi A.,

I've never heard of it but it's not something you really want to push on a child before they are ready. Since you are a soon to be mom, boys don't usually finish potty training until they are almost 4, girls sometimes are by 18 months. But again, you can't push a child too hard potty training just because you are tired of changing diapers. You can tell a child is ready when the diaper is dry every time you go to change it and they can tell you they have to go potty.

Congratulations and good luck!

Best regards,
L. R.

my mom has told me that over seas they would feed the baby then in about 10-15 minutes they would hold the infant over the tolet or traning bowl and say go potty(peepee or poopoo) untill the child had gone I don't know if I would have had patience for that though I have a little girl that will be 2 years next month.

I have to put my 2-cents in. Why would you want to do this? So many moms want to shorten the job of being a parent. Don't they realize this is a lifetime job? Not potty training, tho. I have potty trained several babies. I'm amazed at a mom who tries to potty train a baby who is still on the bottle? I found out that after a child is eating from the table he no longer needs the btl so milk in cup. Only then an you help him to become conscious of when he needs to go. The rest is easy! Use the big pot! Spend quality time while waiting for the juices to run so to speak! Read a book, have things for potting only! Then when they are able to potty have a nice surprise! they get to choose what color m&m they can have. So often we try to work with our kid like they are adults! They are not! Neither can we potty train like a puppy! It will take time but you will know when you try if it is time if not wait a week or so. For little girls often you can talk about pretty panties to wear when we don't potty in them! Get her excited and wanting to wear them. Guys are a little different! Often Dads have more luck with them and why not? If he isn't around then bite the bullett and do the same with him. He won't need to stand at first nor will he be interted in pretty panties! Good luck and make it pleasant both for you and for your baby! Do not force it. A few days often makes the difference!

Dogs can be housetrained at just a few weeks, but humans can't? I like to think we're smarter than that.... I think the concept sounds intriguing, but I'd say my biggest concern would be about expectation. Starting a concept of communicating in some way when they need to go is great, but expecting them to actually potty on the toilet could be disappointing and frustrating to both mom & baby. I can see where it could be preferrable to the baby to be able to raise it's hands or give a sign when they need to go potty and you run them to the potty. I mean babies don't like to sit in their own stuff either! I think it's a subject I know very little about so my opinions are merely that and to be taken with a grain of salt! Sounds like a fun thing to research and do a little work on, but the healthy approach would be to not set any expectations, just try it out and see how it goes. If the baby cries or if you're sitting the baby on the toilet for long periods of time, that could just confuse and torture the poor little one. I have no idea what stage of infancy you're talking about, in my mind it's infants before crawling/walking stages. I'd think at the movement stages you could put a baby toilet in the toilet room with you and just keep that an open option, and you both visit the potty often together. Be sure he/she sees that YOU use a potty and perhaps they will want to try it too. I'd always keep it an open and free thing and never any pressure as this can be problematic. My daughter was fully pottytrained before she was three, and she did it totally on her own, just decided one day she wanted to be a big girl and didn't want to wear diapers anymore, and it went smooth as pie. I don't think most people are that lucky, and I'm expecting too - and certainly may not be so lucky this time! But I do believe that just being sure that when I go potty I say "Oop! I need to go potty!" and walk to the potty (she followed me everywhere, as most kids do), and she is such a mini-me, she does everything I do, says everything I say, so I just make sure she understands why I do all the things I do. Ha, had a funny experience the other day - have to share - I try not to use any profanities :o) The one time I slipped, was recently (she's 5 now), and she must've been sick, and she had a sudden accident in her pants, and I was talking to my husband on the phone and said "Oh no, she sh*t in her pants" and sure enough, as soon as I got off the phone, she looked at me with the sweetest little face and said "I'm sorry I sh*t in my pants, Mom." Ahhh!! It was so hard to keep a straight face. But no reaction is best. So I didn't react, then later explained to her not to say that, and she said "I know, hate, I don't care, and Oh my God are potty words. I just didn't know sh*t was one of them." You're a ways away from that sort of thing, but you have some funny days ahead of you! Congrats on the pregnancy!