Potty Training..... - Kansas City,MO

I just wanted to respond to the nay-sayers about the 18 month old. I think 18 mo is an ideal age to start potty training, and I feel that I have had way less emotional struggles with this than my friends who started their kids at 2.5 or 3 years. We did start putting kids on the potty regularly from about 8 months and generally didn't have any poop diapers from then on (unless unusual circumstances), but my kids were fully in undies at 19 mo, 22 mo, and 18 mo (the 18 mo old was my boy, he did have more accidents than the others, but I delt with that better) I'm not sure what to say about how to go about it, except having 3 potty chairs accessable and with fun things to do on them and have them go often and before any different activities. I never pushed it much, never gave rewards or punishments, just worked it into our routine. Whew!

K.

I agree with many of the Mom's below . . . 18 months is really early especially for a boy. We started my son right after he turned 2 and he is almost 2 1/2 and we are still working on it. I regret starting that early - ugh! Boys seem to take longer as I have a 4 1/2 year old daughter and I think she got the hang of it within a few weeks BUT she was almost three when we started working with her. I think we pushed my son too early for the simple reason we didn't want to buy diapers anymore AND our daycare lady pushed us because like you, she had a few kids that were going through the same stage. Again, all kids are different and boys do take longer. Good luck!

Not to be a naysayer, but speaking from the experience that we just had with PT'ing our 3 1/2 year old son-I would discourage the parent who want to start PT their son at 18 months. Generally, boys take longer then girls to be ready and from what I've read and witnessed by starting so early you are could just be prolonging a process that in the end will leave everyone frustrated and full of anxiety. We stopped and started with our son a few times from the time he was 2 1/2...like some mama's on here told me-he was not emotionally ready-even as recently as Feb of this year. Then suddenly a few weeks ago it just clicked and he's pooping and peeing in the toilet on his own. It was crazy how simple it was once he 'got it'.

My rec would be to focus on the 3 yr old girl-get her established, make sure the boys have been watching the praise and excitment she gets and go from there. If they show interest then by all means encourage them, but don't push it.

I'm afraid if you do you'll just be up to your ears in poo-poo and doo doo!

I have started potty training my 2 year old also. I have him go to the potty every 2 hours whether or not he needs to go or not. I also give him a couple of M&M's as reward for potty in the potty and do the potty dance with lots of praise. You will also need to take them to the potty as soon as they wake up that really enforces the idea of potty in the potty as that we all usually have potty when we get up. This will work with all 3 of them. Hope this helps

If I can give my advice I would say not to even start the 1 1/2 yr. old boy and wait until he's around 2 years 8 months or so. I know kids are different but that seems to be a good age in my experience and less accidents and they are ready and it goes smoothly. I don't know if I would start your son either if he 'just' turned 2. I know I tried earlier with my first son and it was just me training myself and not a pleasant event and we had to start over a few months later. I have potty trained 8 kids and one grandson so I know it takes time and you have to set aside the day or days to do it quickly and easily. I used treats like mini marshmallows, M & M's or small thing like that with some, a toy at the end of training with some, and charts with stickers with some. It depends on the child. I would set a timer for every 15 min. at first so they get it in their mind and think about going and then if they go in the potty move the timer to maybe every 30 min. but keep it up all day until they are going everytime they need to and no accidents. If it was me doing this I would start with only the 3 year old girl. Then in several months start your son and lastly the little one. IF your little boy would go sit on a potty when the little girl did maybe he would go and maybe he's not ready either so be patient if he's not.

Here's the best educational website I've ever seen on potty training. It gives a few variations on"readiness" checklists, plus tips on various training strategies, the best ages to start them, and the advantages and disadvantages of each approach: http://www.parentingscience.com/toilet-training-readiness...

You may see ideas you can adapt to your situation. But my strongest advice would be to wait until each child shows actual readiness. Then the training tends to go very quickly, with few accidents.