I have never given real thought to potty training because I didn't want to push it on my son too early. I figured I should wait until he is 2 1/2 or until he shows some real interest. Lately, when he sees me in the bathroom, he runs over pointing to the toilet and begins to take his shorts off. When I ask him if he wants to make pee-pee he says yes and asks that I take his diaper off. Is this something I should take seriously? Should I buy him an insert for the toilet? (And separately, do we think a potty is necessary, or can I just skip to the toilet insert?) Isn't this way too young to toilet train? Thanks!
Thank you all for your helpful advice and encouragement. I went out to buy him a toilet insert (if he's scared I will try a potty) and little stool for him to climb up and rest his feet on. Chances are he''s just faking me out, but I like everyone's suggestions to introduce him to a potty sooner than later. With much appreciation, HA.
My daughter began peeing that early on the toilet (poop training came later, but you take what you can get).
And both my kids only used a toilet seat insert with a stool on the floor for their feet to rest on. They had no problem with it and didn't even know small potties existed.
I recently found out my sister trained her three kids the same way, both of us agreeing that cleaning out a little potty sounded totally gross.
My son trained in under a week at 25 months. We used the Bjorn toilet seat insert (clean a potty - no way). The average age American kids used to be trained before disposable diapers was 18 months (that was trained, not just starting) so there is no reason not to. We just put DS in underwear and took him to the bathroom often. We let him come into the bathroom with us so he got the concept (think about this before you do it - it took us almost 2 years before we could pee without company). Good luck - it is FANTASTIC to be out of diapers - no more going into the landfills, way less expensive, way less stinky.
it is not too early to start training, especially if he is showing an interest. My son is 14 months old and he loves to sit on the potty-he hasn't gone yet, but he likes to sit. So I let him and praise any attempt at all. I would definitely take it seriously, but don't push. Follow his lead. As far as the insert, you can get them pretty cheap at walmart, etc. they even have some that fold up for travel, but I'd hold off on that until he is a little more comfortable. I am using the potty chair that looks like a real potty for my son. My daughter also started training at that age, and because I took it slow (I was pregnant and didn't want the frustration of regression) was fully trained at just over 2. Good Luck!
If he shows an interest, it's not too early. At his young age though, it's possible that this will be a short term thing, where it'll be fun and a novelty for a little while and he'll lose interest, or he'll just go occasionally, but it's no reason not to let him. See what happens if you switch him over to cloth diapers or waterproof cloth training pants, he may have more motivation if he really learns that when you pee, you get uncomfortably wet, which does not happen in disposables. Goodluck
Agree with the other responders -- it's great that he's interested and it's great to act upon that interest. I would only add that my younger child did this at a similar age and it turned out she didn't quite have the concept together yet. I didn't sweat it, just put her back in diapers without making much comment about it, and six months later she trained in three days. I considered the earlier interest and attempt a useful dry run (well, ok, not exactly "dry," but you get the picture).
I think potty vs. seat insert really depends upon the child's attitudes -- some of them don't feel secure on the grownup potty, no matter what you do. But if your son seems to be excited about using the grownup potty, he might be fine with the insert-footstool setup. We had a little potty but it wasn't used very long.
H.,
try sitting him on the potty in front of you first. He's young enough he might fit (look up elimination communication if you want some tips on how to do this).
you can get a little potty, you can get a big potty, you can get a seat insert, or you can just let him figure it out with your seat. My son actually did all four, and now just balances himself. Occasionally he uses the baby bjorn seat,which works well for my 6-10 month old. If anything I would recommend something HE LIKES and FEEL SAFE with. THAT might take some doing though - and borrow from a friend before you buy might work also.
Good luck!
M.
PS: if you dotoilet insert and he decides he is ready, make sure you have a step stool, or he'll be forever asking you for a boost - or just forgetting to go.
My son trained in three days shortly after he turned two. We did have to train him using underwear and rubber pants because at first he didn't understand the difference between pull-ups and diapers but now that he is trained we put pull-ups on him at nap and night time and tell him that they are sleepy time.underwear that will keep his bed dry if he has an accident. He seems to understand this. My son also wanted to get right off the potty when he first started. Let him set the pace. He will eventually sit on the potty long enough to pee. I don't know about the toilet insert; we started out using one but my son didn't like it. Good.luck!
Yes, take him seriously, he's not too young to train, and kudos to you for taking note of his interest! You're not pushing when he's interested and ready to try. Like Dana K said, prior to disposable diapers (and Pull-ups) the average age a child was trained by was 18 months. My little guy was interested at around 21 months, but I thought "He's too young" and missed my window of opportunity. He's currently 27 months, and we've been training about 5 weeks (with a 2-week lull due to his flat-out refusal to try) and he's doing good, though we hit some rough patches because he'd gotten more set in his ways.
We use a potty chair, but I have a toilet insert for when he's ready to sit up on the toilet. My grandson trained recently on a toilet insert, mom didn't want to train him twice, do what works for you.
Get him in cloth training pants and plastic pants, diapers keep them too dry so they don't have an incentive not to go in them, and transition to regular underwear once he's going regularly on the potty.
Do a little homework on this very informative website you might find helpful. 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...
Since your little guy is showing interest, go with it. He may at some point become overwhelmed either by some particular detail or simply the size of the ongoing obligation, and backslide. That's common, and usually temporary.
My grandson had a potty seat and concurrently learned to use the adult toilet, with a footrest so his legs didn't dangle. Some kids feel more secure and have better aim when straddling the toilet seat backwards. But some kids are insecure sitting on that big hole. Try it and see what works for your son.
buy a training toliet and let him sit on it as desired. eventually, probably 6 months or so down the road, he will actively train himself if you are lucky. or you might have to wait till he is closer to 3 or 4 years old like most children. it won't be the end of the world if that does happen. best of luck!
My 1st & 2nd (boys) were 23 months old, my 3rd (girl) was 21 months old. We had a little potty for them until they were taller/older/bigger for the toilet that we put a kids seat on with a bench next to it.
Even if he's not ready, seeing the little potty will get him used to the idea.
My son started showing interest at 18 months, so I put him in pull ups, and by the time he turned 2 he was using the potty most of the time and was ready for big boy pants.
