potty training for 17 month old

aniwa

Hi,

My little girl is showing signs that she might be ready for potty training even though she's only 17 months. I wonder did any of you have an experience in potty training such a small child.
She is coming and showing us that she is wet or soiled, she's trying to take her nappy off. She would happily sit on a potty with her nappy on, sometimes even without. She would even put her teddy on it and make pee'ing sound.
However she can't communicate when she wants to go, she always comes after she's already wet and I can't really tell when she wants to go either.
Any advice how to encourage/convince/explain to her how to use the potty? I don't want to push for it but even in the creche they saw those signs and told me to try. Got few tips from them but no success yet.

Thanks!

Boober Fraggle

I'd leave it, tbh. I don't think that sounds like readiness to train, I think it sounds like normal developmental processing from her.

I think they need to know before they have to go, and to be physiologically able to hold it before they are ready to train.

I do know other people who feel otherwise, but I wouldn't put the hassle on myself.

2xj3hplqgsbkym

Boober Fraggle wrote: »

I'd leave it, tbh. I don't think that sounds like readiness to train, I think it sounds like normal developmental processing from her.

I think they need to know before they have to go, and to be physiologically able to hold it before they are ready to train.
i
I do know other people who feel otherwise, but I wouldn't put the hassle on myself.

Completely agree. My son was doing that for a long time before we started training and I still think we started too early, he was 2 and a half when I did it and it took a long time.

clappyhappy

17 months is very young, although my little one was fully trained by 21 months. She was very independent and refused to put a nappy on.
I found her to be much quicker to train than the boys,youngest was almost 3!!!!!
Personally I would encourage her.

Suucee

My lo is 15 months and for the past few months we sit her on potty when running her bath 9 times out of 10 she does a wee and has done a poo in it. We started this as she kept pooing in the bath so my sister said to try as she might go in potty instead.
A few times when she has had a sore bum ive let her run around bare and after about 10 or 15 mins if she hasnt had an accident id sit her on the potty and she might go. I show her what she has done but all she wants to do is flush the toilet . She knows shen she gets off potty its time to flush.
Dont get me wrong she has often just wee'd on tge floor when going around bare.
Im not trying to train but getting her used to it for when i do. She doesnt understand when she goes. If she is going around bare and does a wee she doesnt bat an eyelid so i think its coincidence when she does do it in tge potty.
Especially the poo.
She does say poo though. If asked did she do a poo she will repeat it. On one occasion she said it out if no where and she had infact done it but again i think it was coincidence as sge has said it randomly since when she hadnt poo'd.
I couldnt imagine her being capable at 17 months to communicate when she needs to go. It would be great though.
If you do try let us know how it goes.
My sister said my niece never wore a nappy after her second birthday but my nephew was still having accidents until he was nearly 4 and took ages to train.
So it really is down to each child individually.

yellowlabrador

Now it's summer, let her run around at home with no nappy on for short spells.
'In my day' children came out of nappies much sooner than now. My daughter is 30 this year and when she was born, pampers were a luxury item. I mainly used cloth nappies. When my mil used to babysit, she's hold my daughter above a potty after each feed as that is what they did in her day. From the age of about one, I used to sit her on the potty a few times a day, and I didn't fuss if she used it or not, but by 18 months she was asking for it and she was out of nappies, with the occasional accident by 20 months in daytime and 2,5 at night.
I think we were driven by the expense and effort of having to wash and dry nappies, often without a machine to help us.

aniwa

Hi All,

Thanks a lot for your input. I can see she doesn't know that she wants to go so I probably just leave the potty on display anyway and try to encourage her but with no pushing.
She's so funny when she has an accident while running with no nappy, she would stop and shout "ooooo!!!" then take a towel and clean it herself!

Moonbeam

I do not think she is ready but I would leave a potty out for her,put her in pull ups and let her use it when she wants to.

galah

yellowlabrador wrote: »

Now it's summer, let her run around at home with no nappy on for short spells.
'In my day' children came out of nappies much sooner than now. My daughter is 30 this year and when she was born, pampers were a luxury item. I mainly used cloth nappies. When my mil used to babysit, she's hold my daughter above a potty after each feed as that is what they did in her day. From the age of about one, I used to sit her on the potty a few times a day, and I didn't fuss if she used it or not, but by 18 months she was asking for it and she was out of nappies, with the occasional accident by 20 months in daytime and 2,5 at night.
I think we were driven by the expense and effort of having to wash and dry nappies, often without a machine to help us.

funny, my mom kept a diary of when we were small, and that's exatly what they did as well - I have pictures of me aged 1 sitting on a potty...

average_runner

Just finished potty training with our little one. It takes more than a week for sure. But she now uses the toilet, tells us when she needs to go etc. She is almost 3. We did try in April but she wasn't ready.

iguana

I don't see why she wouldn't be ready, she is clearly very engaged with when she goes to the toilet. The thing is that until she experiences the alternative properly she isn't going to know that she has a continuing choice about whether or not to go in her nappy. I'd suggest getting a potty and putting her on it at regular intervals, like first thing in the morning, after a nap and between nappy changes. Keep it no pressure and fun but keep doing it for 3 or 4 weeks if she is happy to, even if it doesn't seem very successful. That will be enough time for her to learn that she has a real alternative to using her nappy and that if she wants she can use the potty. If she is ready, once she makes that realisation, she will start to tell you before she goes that she wants the potty and if she's not then you can leave it for a later time.

average_runner

iguana wrote: »

I don't see why she wouldn't be ready, she is clearly very engaged with when she goes to the toilet. The thing is that until she experiences the alternative properly she isn't going to know that she has a continuing choice about whether or not to go in her nappy. I'd suggest getting a potty and putting her on it at regular intervals, like first thing in the morning, after a nap and between nappy changes. Keep it no pressure and fun but keep doing it for 3 or 4 weeks if she is happy to, even if it doesn't seem very successful. That will be enough time for her to learn that she has a real alternative to using her nappy and that if she wants she can use the potty. If she is ready, once she makes that realisation, she will start to tell you before she goes that she wants the potty and if she's not then you can leave it for a later time.

The reason she might not be ready, is if she can control the muscle area down there. You also know by night time nappies on how wet they are.

iguana

average_runner wrote: »

The reason she might not be ready, is if she can control the muscle area down there. You also know by night time nappies on how wet they are.

In the Majority World the average age of potty training completion is 18 months. Most humans become physically capable of complete bowel and bladder control between 12 and 24 months. But I'm not talking about the OP 'training' her child or having any expectations, just about giving her daughter the ability to make an informed choice and then following her lead on it. A toddler can't know what it's like to defecate or urinate somewhere other than a nappy unless the are provided with that alternative on a regular basis.

littlemissfixit

In my experience, you can very well try from now but chances are it could take a couple of months and daily accidents, mostly its physically that it takes them longer at that age. Everyone I know who started this early have the same outcome, personally couldn't do with the hassle.
Actually just trained my daughter, she's just over 2and half and it took 3 days of a couple of accidents a day before she was completely trained, so unless I was really trying to save money on nappies I'd do the same again every time!

aniwa

I can only try on the weekends as I am at work during the week and she's in creche then. They tried to put her on a potty there but she wouldn't sit on it. At home she has no problems, but she only sits for a few seconds and then run somewhere else.
Iguana, I like your idea of giving her the alternative. I think she knows what the potty is for because she would put her teddy on it and make the "wee" sound and when she sits on it on her own we do the same for her. We just didn't caught the wee yet. Maybe when we finally do ( I realize it will be by luck only) then she will get it? I'm not under any pressure, if it won't work now then I will probably leave it until next spring/summer. I will be home then on maternity leave (baby is coming in November) and by that time she will get use to the new baby and maybe she will realize she's a big girl
For now it's decided that the potty is staying on a display and that we will keep reminding her about it and maybe one day she will surprise us.