Potty Train - West Orange,NJ

18 months is too young for potty training. They don't have the proper control yet. You will only make both you and her frustrated. Wait at least until she's 2-1/2.

Hi F.,
First, I'd be curious to see what signs she has shown of being ready? Successful toileting depends on child readiness, not parental desire. If your toddler shows signs of being aware that she is pooping or peeing, is uncomfortable in a dirty and wet diaper, can manipulate her own clothes and is dry for a couple of hours at a time, you may be able to introduce the potty. I would suggest, if you are using disposable diapers, to make a switch to cloth. Many kids dont' realize they are wet in disposables. With cloth, they realize what happens when they pee, they get very wet - and then they start to recognize how it feels just before that happens. I would take her to the toilet about every hour and a half, dont' force her to sit a long time, but that's the method I used with my son - thick waterproof cloth training pants and visiting the bathroom every hour and a half. Keep in mind, he was a month shy of three, not a baby. If you want using the toilet to be expected behavior and not something optional that she can choose to do or not do, do not ask her if she wants to or has to use the toilet, just take her, without giving an option.
Good luck!

Good luck! I tried to potty train my daughter around 2 yrs after she showed interest in the potty. I took one weekend and put her in underwear and let her run around all day without pants, gave her lots of fluids and took her to the potty every 10-15 mins. The first day and a half she did great with only a few accidents then decided she did not want anything to do with the potty. So we stopped and went back to diapers. She will be 3 in Feb and we started again a week or so ago because she would go on the potty or always ask to go on the potty. She is doing great and is exclusively in pull ups and underwear now. She wakes up from most naps and even overnight dry. She tells us when she has to go although still has accidents. It happens. It was so much easier to wait til she wanted to do it then trying to so it when I thought she "should." So much less stress involved too. My advice is to try it if you really want to but if she's not interested then wait til she is. It will go so much faster and be easier on you. Another thought based on my daughter's growth, 18 months may be a bit young for the bladder control required or to consistently recognize the "got to go" feeling. Good luck!

Unless she is telling you she has peed and pooped as soon as she does it, and also beginning to tell you BEFORE she has to go, she is probably not ready :(, sorry, probably not what you want to here. I have freinds who EC their kids and they are trained at 14 months, but if you have been going the standard diapering route up until now, you probably need to wait longer. But here is what I do at that age: work with them on getting dressed and undressed, pulling the stool over to the toilet (or just sitting on thier little potty) maybe with a routine of reading a book while they do it, washing their hands every time they are in the bathroom. That way when she is ready to train all the "other" things besides just being physically ready to pee in the potty are already second nature. It makes potty training when she is ready more focused on just that.
Best of luck!!
K. (currently potty training my 32 month old!)

Although 18 months is not impossible to potty train, I agree that 18 months is early. A couple of key signals to look for is 1. Is she waking in the morning, and from nap time dry.
2 Is she showing interest in the potty.

If not then potty training can take so much longer. In my opinion around 2 1/2 is the perfect age. It can be done in a few days when children show the signs of readiness. Also, summer time is a great time to do it because they are wearing less clothing (less dirty laundry)so they can walk around in just their undies . Good luck!!

i dont think 18 months is too early my daughter wanted to use the potty at like 15-16 months. the best way i think is to make it fun try and make it seem like its the best thing to go on the big girl potty she'll love being a big girl i know mine does

I think 18 months is too early, even for a girl.

go for it.. my kids both started at 18 mo. and were potty trained by 2.... just put her on every hour.. for a few minutes.. when she goes..cheer.. and give her something.. like a goldfish cracker.. but only give her this when she goes.. good luck...

Dear F.,
I potty trained my daughter last January. She was 18 months old at the time. We cloth diapered all long which does make potty training a lot easier. The easiest way I know is to keep you daughter naked from the waste down for a few days. When you see her start to urinate say "pee pee" and put her on a potty right away. We kept a potty in each room for the first few weeks. It took my daughter 3 days before she was reliably telling us before she started to go. Of course in the beginning there are a lot of accidents... don't make a big deal just be consistent and give lots of praise when she goes in the potty.
I think that 18 months is the perfect time to potty train. Most kids show some interest at this time and if not trained now kids often have a much more difficult time learning later on. Its only in the USA that we wait until kids are 3-4 years old. Most other countries potty train the summer after the first birthday!!

Best of Luck and please let me know if you have any questions.