I might have to eat some crow - Potty training at 18mos

luvmykids wrote: The little girl I babysit twice a week is actually pt'ing Last week her mom told me she was going to start when she ran out of diapers and I thought she was crazy....and told her so But here she is today, in panties and so far no accidents. She has told me every time she's needed to go and even pooped in the potty, I am shocked, never heard of it actually being successful at 18mos!

My2Beauties replied: I was pt'ed at 18 months....not bragging or anything though

It is really early though, my mom said she just got lucky, I've not heard of most kids doing it until at leastthe age of 2! That's so early, but kudos to the baby girl for being so good at it

Sam & Abby's Mom replied: that's a girl for ya. We rock. LOL





Just kidding -- Abby is almost 2 and she's not potty trained, yet. <sigh>

punkeemunkee'smom replied: Tay was pt'ing at home at around that age BUT we waited for a long time to push it when we were out. Mostly because when we went with Bill it was either pull ups or outside because some places you just don't want to go in the bathrooms!

A&A'smommy replied: yeah that is VERY early and she got VERY lucky a LOT of kids wont even pt until they are 3

BUT good for her I'm jealous!!!

msoulz replied: We underestimate them apparently! Erin is almost 2 1/2 and is quite content in her diapers. But we're trying to get her to change her mind!

Boys r us replied: We DO underestimate them! Both of my boys were potty trained by 18 months.
we just started working with Alliebelle and she's doing really well so far...though this is just the beginning stages. If you all asked your grandparents when their kids were potty trained, I guarantee you their answer will be closer to 1 than 2! My personal opinion is that parent's lifestyles get in the way of kid's capabilities..a couple of generations ago, the mom was always home to raise the kids and therefore potty training early on was no big deal..today, we're on the go..our society is far too busy to worry about going to the potty when a diaper solves all problems

msoulz replied:
Do you have any great tips for the rest of us??

HuskerMom replied: I'm so jealous! We're going to start potty training when Keith is 2, I can't wait!

Calimama replied: Wow I want Miabella to be potty trained!

Hillbilly Housewife replied: Um, I did post about my kiddoes PT'ing about that time, and it actually being EASIER than training a 3 yr old, 4 year old, or even at the extreme, 5 year old. They're physically READY to use and train those muscles when they can go up the stairs one foot at a time rather than two steps per stair. Usually around that age.

Kids WILL pt around 18 months. The parents are really what delays them, no offense meant to anyone... leaving it up to "when the child feels ready" is the first way to make that child learn that they're the ones in control of the household, not mom or dad, right along up there with the delay tactics before bed and the picky eating, and not only do you miss the muscle training opportunity, you now have to deal with a little person who makes up their own mind on things and throws a tantrum. Much easier to distract a tantrumming 18 month old in a diaper than distracting a 4 year old in a diaper.

lisar replied: Lexi was pt'ed at 18months. Raygen on the other is now almost 3 and we are still working on her. We are getting there but man-o-man she has been hard. No diapers just LOTS AND LOTS of accidents.

My2Beauties replied: I did start Hanna at 18 months and she was a breeze, just so you know, she was fully PT'd no accidents (except #2 for a while) at 22 months.

bawoodsmall replied: I would agree that kids can be pt'd earlier as long as they can talk. A lot of kids dont talk a lot at that age. How do they tell you they have to go or is it more you are just taking them all the time? Aiden is starting to be ptrained but still wont tell you he has to go and I honestly dont see it happening anytime soon. If I ask him to go potty he says no. I could use some tips if anyone has them. Did you all use pullups or go straight for the undies?

stella6979 replied:
I personally think Pull-Ups are a waste of money. They are just like diapers. I say go straight for the undies. And I won't lie, we are in the process of pt'ing as well and if avery poops in her undies, I don't change her right away. I don't punish her or anything but I don't let her sit down that way she feels it and realizes how yucky it is. She's getting there, but we still have some work to do.

Edited to add that I certainly don't let her sit in it for very long, just 5 minutes or so.

Danalana replied: Crow is good with ranch dressing!

stella6979 replied:
EVERYTHING is good with ranch dressing!

Danalana replied:
*HI 5*

kimberley replied: that's great! i think there's a window of opportunity around 14-18mos but then it won't happen til 2.5 lol

bawoodsmall replied: I did that with Emily but Aiden scares me in this area. Prob cuz number one he wont tell me he has to go. I am thinking about doing undies with plastic pants. Do those things work? I do not want pee all over my couch if possible.

stella6979 replied:
Hmmmm....we haven't tried the plastic pants, but I guess it's worth a shot. And funny you should mention pee on the couch, I spent half the day yesterday steam cleaning our cushions.

Boys r us replied: No pull-ups!!!!!!!!! Those are just glorified diapers that cost a lot more per unit!

I suggest taking them every 30 minutes.

~Roo'sMama~ replied: That's awesome! Andrew will be 3 in June and he was just pt'd about a month ago. We did kind of wait a while with him, but it worked out really well. It took two days, and he's had two accidents since then - both because he didn't want to stop playing to go potty. We'd tried pt'ing a couple times before and he just didn't want to do it. My sister didn't pt her son until he was 3 1/2 and it was a breeze with him too. But I think we're going to try it a lot earlier with Allie - I was planning on about 18 months with her. she's already pretty interested in the toilet because she see's Roo on it... whenever she sees the toilet she runs up to it and says "pee pee! pee pee!"

My sister who pt'd her son at 3 1/2 has a friend who has a little girl the same age as my nephew. She started pt'ing her daughter at 18 months and gave my sister a really hard time about not starting with my nephew, but now my nephew has been trained for over a year and the little girl is still pooping and peeing in her underwear ALL the time. So I don't think there is one right way to do it - I think it depends on the kid.

luvmykids replied: She sits on the potty about 10 minutes after eating or drinking and has gone every time. I think a big help too is there is no more sippy cup for her to carry around, so I know when she drinks and will likely need to go again. The crazy thing is she took a 3 hr nap and woke up dry!

I didn't even think of trying this soon with my kids, they all pt'd within days of turning two with no trouble but man, I would have saved a lot of money on diapers doing it six months earlier

sparkys2boys replied:
My boys were both trained around this age to. We set a timer and went potty every 30 mins. Yes it takes alot of work at the time, but was so worth it in the long run!

bawoodsmall replied: ok...so at what age did they actually start going on their own? When they were actually ptrained.

coasterqueen replied: Every kid is different.

Mine both were in pull-ups. Kylie was in pull-ups well before a year because I got tired of her pulling her diaper off. Megan would have been at the same age but she was too darn tiny for the sizes the pull-ups come in so I had to wait until she got bigger.

Kylie trained in a few days (at her own free will) at 27 months and Megan just trained 2 weeks before her 3rd birthday (at her own free will). Megan had more accidents to start out with but now has none. Kylie only had accidents for the first few days.

We did not use pull-ups for pt'ing purposes.

MommyToAshley replied: I do think being around other kids is a big motivator -- I've noticed that younger siblings (or even kids that are at a dcp where there are older kids) tend to want to potty train earlier because they want to be like the big kids. Sooo... instead of eating crow, you should be patting yourself on the back.

luvmykids replied:
No, I think I have to eat it Her mom told me the plan on Thursday when she said "There are only five diapers in the bag and when they're gone, they're gone". After I told her she was crazy I went to Walmart and bought her another pack for the weekend, "just in case" it didn't go as planned

I definitely admire her for realizing her daughter is ready. Like I said, with my kids, it didn't even cross my mind

msoulz replied: OK, I am inspired - but one trouble we already have is getting her to stay seated. Short of holding her down, which seems a bit traumatic, I can't get her to stay. What did all of you early trainers do?

luvmykids replied:
This little girls mom invested in a really padded seat, and started leaving it out around the house for a few weeks before they started just so Gentry could get interested in checking it out.

Mine all went straight to it but they were two.

stella6979 replied:
I usually sit next to her and read a book or do flash cards.

TANNER'S MOM replied: All my kids except Justin were potty trained by this age. I will say the girls were easier. Justin just wasn't having it though. I was going thru a divorce, so that explains alot.

TANNER'S MOM replied: oh we didn't do pull ups either, they were diapers to my kids. We used the plastic pants at first. The ones with cloth on the side. And the big thick training undies.

My kids all told me when they went. If they can tell you they are wet or dirty they are ready, I think.

A&A'smommy replied: don't say that ALL kids will I know no one did but it was pretty close.. not ALL kids do we tried with Alyssa and she was NOT having it I tried again closer to two NOPE she didn't want to and I wasn't pushing her because it made is awful. Tried AGAIN at 2.5 and she mostly potty trained except she would get REALLY constipated and it hurt her little bottom SOO bad it was TERRIBLE so she was scared and she would hold it until she pottied in her panties it took us until she was almost 3.5 to get her not to be scared to use the potty

MoonMama replied: That is awesome! Let us know how that crow is.


Braedin will be 18 months old on Friday and is now tells us "I wet" "I stinkie" everytime he needs to be changed. My mom says its almost time to start PTing. I'm a bit freaked about doing it to be honest.