Ready to Potty Train?

I would just follow her lead. If she really is ready, then she'll start doing something when she sits in the potty. If she isn't, then she'll loose interest for a while. Especially with the transitions coming up, you don't want to push her. She understands when she is wet/poopy, which is a good start. But she may not be able to tell when she is about to go, or have the control to hold it/let it go. You don't want to frustrate her. So when she asks to go potty, help her sit on it and cheer her on. But don't push the issue.

Potty training is very much our thing right now. I have all boys. My oldest will be 4 in Sept, I have a 2-yr-old, and a 5-month old. I have been trying to potty train my oldest for a year. Yes, an entire year. I discovered a book this year called How To Raise An Amazing Child the Montessori Way. It talks about how children go through windows of time when they easily learn something. They can still learn it even after the window of time has passed, but it's much more difficult. I believe I missed that window with my oldest on potty training because I felt exactly as you do. I wasn't quite ready to deal with it all, also having my kids less than 2 years apart. I regret that decision whole heartedly. I highly recommend supporting her now while she's ready. Just tell yourself that it's better to be a little more crazy right now than really frustrated about it for a long time later. I hear girls are much easier than boys, too. Oh, and by the way, because things have been so difficult with my oldest, I've been working just as hard with my younger two boys as well. The 2-yr-old, yes, still with the "training in a day" approach (except that it is "training in months" instead), but I recently have become converted to Diaper Free Baby. This approach has you helping your baby eliminate in the toilet from as early on as newborn. I know it sounds crazy, but it's also not an all or nothing option. I do it part time with my 5-month-old and he eliminates about once a day in the toilet. I'm a fan of anything that is going to make a full-time transition easier. Best wishes!

www.3daypottytraining.com
I am sure she is ready. The first day is intense and by day three she will be a potty master. Two months is plenty of time to get all the kinks worked out. The best part is you get a personal mentor to help with any and all issues.

There will always be an excuse to not do it now, but you will be so relieved when you are done. I did it when our son was 22 months, two months before we had our second baby and we only had a few minor issues once the new baby arrived.

It sounds like she might be ready. We started our daughter at 9 months old. Nothing crazy just grabbed a potty and anytime my husband or I were in there she went in there too. At about 18 months we bought her dora panties. She would wear them for an hour every morning the same time and gradually it got to the point where she would wear them every day all day. Seemed after 2 months she was completely trained. We tried that focus and potty every hour and she ended up fighting so much that she would hold it. Seemed to work much better if it was on her terms. I do believe it's whatever works for both of you. I was working full time at the time we were trying to potty train and once I quit my job it was almost overnight she was fully trained. They sense it and if you aren't ready until you move then hold off until you get settled in your new home. Good Luck to you!

When you change her diaper, ask her if she wants to go potty. Put the new diaper on after...or an hour after.

In response to #3, I think it's fine to take small steps instead of doing it all at once, at least until after the move. Keep doing what you're doing with her, but don't push her to the next level of going without diapers/pullups. But be prepared just in case she decides on her own that she wants to use the toilet more. Keep a plastic cover on her mattress. When my second son was using the toilet often, but not yet able to hold his bladder, he decided he was done with pullups and he put on underwear from then on. I couldn't convince him otherwise and I was forced into several months of taking him to the bathroom every hour and washing a lot of peed on laundry. At one point when we had a new baby, I could not keep up with the laundry and washing my son's sheets and blankets every other morning was putting me in tears. So I asked him to please wear pullups at night again. To my relief he was willing. We continued helping him go to the bathroom at night and when he was keeping the night pullup dry all the time, we allowed him to stop wearing them. With both my potty trained kids there was some fighting involved because sometimes they are on board with it and sometimes they don't want to be responsible. So you have to ask yourself how much fight can you handle right now. When I have a new baby, my energy is very low and fighting a toddler over potty training is too much, so I find other ways to do it. Whether it be asking my husband to take over the majority of the potty training or keeping the kid in pullups until I can handle more. Good luck to you with everything you have going on!

I used "Potty Training in a Day" with my first and bribery with my second. Both techniques worked perfectly and in one day! The reason for the different techniques was due to the child. My first one had just turned 2 and needed a bit more description as to what was going on so "Potty Training in a Day" was a perfect solution. My second one was the same situation as you are in, I had a baby that was nursing and felt way to exhausted to even take a day to potty train. So although he showed all the signs that he was ready, I wasn't. (BTW - I do think you daughter is ready.) Needless to say, I waited 4 months before I finally broke down and trained him. During that 4 month period, he would occasionally go potty on the toilet himself, I never directed him or even showed him but it was not consistent. Once I chose a day to do it, he was easy because he already knew how to do it he just needed motivation, hence the bribery.

Long story short, go ahead and wait if you want, I don't think it made a difference with us at all. That being said, after he trained so easy with the bribery, I wish I had done it earlier just so I wouldn't have had to change diapers on two kids. It sure was nice to just change one baby.

Good luck!

I have a three month old girl and my two year old son came to me and wanted to wear his big boy underwear, we went for it. I would pick a weekend or time when you have a spouse or others to help and go for it. I did the three day potty training method and it worked (it took a little over a week), but in the long run it is so much easier than changing diapers. She sounds like my son and he now (only three weeks since we started) goes to the potty seat takes down his pants and does it all by himself (I go in to give high fives and clean up the party chair). If I were you I would take advantage of her eagerness and enlist some help. I don't know if it would make it harder if you waited or not, but it sounds like she would catch on quick and make your life WAY easier in the long run. We tried with our son once and it just didn't work out, we waited and then it went better. Give it a try no pressure if it does not work wait a while and try again.