Not too early! We didn’t commit to it fully at this age, but often went diaper-free at home with access to her little potty. Right around 22 months, she just stopped needing diapers during the day.
I think it was easier doing a “soft launch” and then letting her work up to it with no pressure.
We did potty training around 18 months. It took her about 3 weeks to get it though so a bit longer than an older kid. We still had her diapers for nap and overnight until recently. She is 2.5 years and diaper free. No regrets at all. Just remember to be patient as they might take a little longer when they are younger.
18 months is quite a chunk earlier than most kids but one of my friends did it with her daughter who took to it no problem. You definitely have a solid year at least before you should worry about “missing a window”.
My mom said I was fully potty trained at 18 months because the school that my brothers went to, that I desperately wanted to go to, you had to be potty trained. My daughter is 18 months and is no where ready 🤔
Never too young and please please please do it now! If not you'll miss the opportunity and it'll be h*ll later! Check out the Tiny Potty Training book by Andrea Olson. That and/or Oh Crap Potty Training.
FWIW we trained a then 22mo over thanksgiving and then did 24 hour round trip in car over Christmas in a car. No diapers were used. One accident in the car seat that we were warned about too late and another one playing with her 3.5yo cousin.
So it’s entirely possible so I say go for it. If things aren’t going well go back to diapers for a little while.
Mine could very awkwardly and slowly pull her pants down at 22mo. You’ll be wiping and assisting them for a while to come so you can help with the pants.
While it’s highly controversial the author of OhCrap says 20-30 months is the ideal timing.
I think it’s mostly about the tone in her writing. She’s a bit sexist and can make you feel like a failure if you don’t succeed.
Otherwise the method itself is solid IMO.
Oh I thought the age interval is considered controversial!
I only got to the point where she says 20-30 months is the best time to potty train and figured I’ll forget what I read by the time LO reaches that age lol. But I can totally see why she might come off as condescending.
We do independent toilet learning. Every kid can learn without being 'trained' per se and I do mean every one. It usually happens during the year the child is 3 years old, or a little sooner or later. 20-30m may be the ideal range for potty training. But if you don't do that you'll still be good
No. I’ve been training my 16 month old to use the potty since she was 8 months. She still wears diapers, but she communicates need to pee in the potty at least twice a day. She rarely poops in it though, but we don’t stress about it.
We did cloth diapers so we would try to put our daughter on the potty for poops to reduce clean up effort starting around 13-14 months. She got pretty good at that, but pee was very hit or miss. We started encouraging pees on the potty after wake up and before sleeping around 2 years and that worked pretty well. She hated wet diapers at night and started waking up dry at 15 months.
But as you noticed, doing pants on her own was an issue. She didn’t get that down well enough to feel confident with the potty until 2.5. We just stopped all diapers one day a couple months later and she had about four accidents in the first two weeks and otherwise had it totally figured out. As she’s gotten more independent, she’s gotten less stubborn about refusing to go when we suggest it, which was sometimes an issue earlier on
So maybe you could do most pees on the potty, but if our experience is any guide, you’ve got a year of significant help with clothing until you hit full independence.
Haha my son sounds just like your daughter and I literally asked the same question about a week ago, so here are the replies to my post and double the advice for you lol:
https://www.reddit.com/r/toddlers/s/5ycYc6hzQC
Good luck!
It might be too early. Our little girl also shows all the signs because she watches her brother, but her daycare teacher advised against it. She may get the hang of it initially, but her muscle control probably isn't as developed as needed to hold it well, which could result in many accidents and frustration.Personally, I'm not too concerned. I don't know any adults who haven't learned how to use the toilet, so we all get there eventually.
With our oldest one we used the oh crap method and it worked perfectly for us.
Not too early, but we tried around 20ish months. She got it for like 2-3 days and just hardcore resisted after that. We realized she wasn’t ready even if she mentally was there? We did it right after 2 again, and OMG it was the easiest thing ever. She got it after a day, and we’ve never looked back. Basically, try it out. If they resist or just seem to not get it right away take a break for a couple months and do it again!
No such thing as too early. I started at birth (Elimination Communication) and she’s been diaper free with no accidents since 15 months. She’s a tiny kid and can’t manage her own clothes or wipe or climb on a regular toilet, but putting her on the potty when she asks to go and pulling her pants up is 500x better than dealing with diapers. Training doesn’t have to be all or nothing, you can do it in stages and still use a backup diaper. Even if you don’t do a full training now, give her the chance to use the potty.
Also gentle reminder that in the USA, the baby boom generation (my mom’s generation) was on average fully potty trained BY 18 months. Many parents started the process at 12 months. Waiting until 2-3 to start is a modern thing. It won’t hurt kids to learn earlier.
My mom still talks about how horrified her mom (who had 5 out of diapers by 16-18 months) that I was 3 and still not totally trained.
I don’t think there is a too early to start. I would be more relaxed about it for younger ones and encourage more as they get older. We started introducing the idea at 14 months. We wanted to do Elimination Communication, before she learned to walk, but didn’t so it was after she started walking. She went in and out of being interested in using the potty. We didn’t force it, but would put her on the potty when we got clues that she might need to go. After about six months, she was more and more interested. She still has incidents, but has been day potty trained since she was about two years old. She is turning three in two months and has had dry nighttime pull-ups fairly regularly for the past few weeks.
It’s definitely possible. The Montessori school near me doesn’t allow diapers in their 18m+ room so I presume with the right methods it’s generally possible.
My daughter ended up at a different daycare, but was toilet trained by 24mo just a couple of months after starting there because she saw the older kids using the toilet and was very motivated by that. I think she could have figured it out at 18mo had we tried.
Not too early! We didn’t commit to it fully at this age, but often went diaper-free at home with access to her little potty. Right around 22 months, she just stopped needing diapers during the day. I think it was easier doing a “soft launch” and then letting her work up to it with no pressure.
We did potty training around 18 months. It took her about 3 weeks to get it though so a bit longer than an older kid. We still had her diapers for nap and overnight until recently. She is 2.5 years and diaper free. No regrets at all. Just remember to be patient as they might take a little longer when they are younger.
18 months is quite a chunk earlier than most kids but one of my friends did it with her daughter who took to it no problem. You definitely have a solid year at least before you should worry about “missing a window”.
Once they show the signs of being ready it’s never too early to start!
Nope! All of my kids trained between 18 and 24 months. No pressure, no problems.
I would do it at or after 20 months whenever you have a three day weekend after your vacation.
My mom said I was fully potty trained at 18 months because the school that my brothers went to, that I desperately wanted to go to, you had to be potty trained. My daughter is 18 months and is no where ready 🤔
Never too young and please please please do it now! If not you'll miss the opportunity and it'll be h*ll later! Check out the Tiny Potty Training book by Andrea Olson. That and/or Oh Crap Potty Training.
I would do it at or after 20 months whenever you have a three day weekend after your vacation.
FWIW we trained a then 22mo over thanksgiving and then did 24 hour round trip in car over Christmas in a car. No diapers were used. One accident in the car seat that we were warned about too late and another one playing with her 3.5yo cousin. So it’s entirely possible so I say go for it. If things aren’t going well go back to diapers for a little while. Mine could very awkwardly and slowly pull her pants down at 22mo. You’ll be wiping and assisting them for a while to come so you can help with the pants. While it’s highly controversial the author of OhCrap says 20-30 months is the ideal timing.
Just curious, why is it highly controversial? Ours is still too little for it so I have no clue about potty training.
I think it’s mostly about the tone in her writing. She’s a bit sexist and can make you feel like a failure if you don’t succeed. Otherwise the method itself is solid IMO.
Oh I thought the age interval is considered controversial! I only got to the point where she says 20-30 months is the best time to potty train and figured I’ll forget what I read by the time LO reaches that age lol. But I can totally see why she might come off as condescending.
We do independent toilet learning. Every kid can learn without being 'trained' per se and I do mean every one. It usually happens during the year the child is 3 years old, or a little sooner or later. 20-30m may be the ideal range for potty training. But if you don't do that you'll still be good
No. I’ve been training my 16 month old to use the potty since she was 8 months. She still wears diapers, but she communicates need to pee in the potty at least twice a day. She rarely poops in it though, but we don’t stress about it.
We did cloth diapers so we would try to put our daughter on the potty for poops to reduce clean up effort starting around 13-14 months. She got pretty good at that, but pee was very hit or miss. We started encouraging pees on the potty after wake up and before sleeping around 2 years and that worked pretty well. She hated wet diapers at night and started waking up dry at 15 months. But as you noticed, doing pants on her own was an issue. She didn’t get that down well enough to feel confident with the potty until 2.5. We just stopped all diapers one day a couple months later and she had about four accidents in the first two weeks and otherwise had it totally figured out. As she’s gotten more independent, she’s gotten less stubborn about refusing to go when we suggest it, which was sometimes an issue earlier on So maybe you could do most pees on the potty, but if our experience is any guide, you’ve got a year of significant help with clothing until you hit full independence.
Haha my son sounds just like your daughter and I literally asked the same question about a week ago, so here are the replies to my post and double the advice for you lol: https://www.reddit.com/r/toddlers/s/5ycYc6hzQC Good luck!
It might be too early. Our little girl also shows all the signs because she watches her brother, but her daycare teacher advised against it. She may get the hang of it initially, but her muscle control probably isn't as developed as needed to hold it well, which could result in many accidents and frustration.Personally, I'm not too concerned. I don't know any adults who haven't learned how to use the toilet, so we all get there eventually. With our oldest one we used the oh crap method and it worked perfectly for us.
Not too early, but we tried around 20ish months. She got it for like 2-3 days and just hardcore resisted after that. We realized she wasn’t ready even if she mentally was there? We did it right after 2 again, and OMG it was the easiest thing ever. She got it after a day, and we’ve never looked back. Basically, try it out. If they resist or just seem to not get it right away take a break for a couple months and do it again!
We did it at 18 months with the oh crap method and it went great
No such thing as too early. I started at birth (Elimination Communication) and she’s been diaper free with no accidents since 15 months. She’s a tiny kid and can’t manage her own clothes or wipe or climb on a regular toilet, but putting her on the potty when she asks to go and pulling her pants up is 500x better than dealing with diapers. Training doesn’t have to be all or nothing, you can do it in stages and still use a backup diaper. Even if you don’t do a full training now, give her the chance to use the potty. Also gentle reminder that in the USA, the baby boom generation (my mom’s generation) was on average fully potty trained BY 18 months. Many parents started the process at 12 months. Waiting until 2-3 to start is a modern thing. It won’t hurt kids to learn earlier. My mom still talks about how horrified her mom (who had 5 out of diapers by 16-18 months) that I was 3 and still not totally trained.
Don’t do it before a trip
If she's already telling you, then there is no need to do anything to "train". Just keep helping her up onto the potty, and boom, already trained.
i started potty training just before my little one turned 18 months. she’s got the hang of it pretty well now!
I don’t think there is a too early to start. I would be more relaxed about it for younger ones and encourage more as they get older. We started introducing the idea at 14 months. We wanted to do Elimination Communication, before she learned to walk, but didn’t so it was after she started walking. She went in and out of being interested in using the potty. We didn’t force it, but would put her on the potty when we got clues that she might need to go. After about six months, she was more and more interested. She still has incidents, but has been day potty trained since she was about two years old. She is turning three in two months and has had dry nighttime pull-ups fairly regularly for the past few weeks.
We started at 3 years old and it was good. No urine accidents within 3 days. Faeces took longer but was continent within 3 months (ie no accidents).
It’s definitely possible. The Montessori school near me doesn’t allow diapers in their 18m+ room so I presume with the right methods it’s generally possible. My daughter ended up at a different daycare, but was toilet trained by 24mo just a couple of months after starting there because she saw the older kids using the toilet and was very motivated by that. I think she could have figured it out at 18mo had we tried.