toilet training

[2CheekyMonkeys]

my DD is almost 14 months old. the other day i was sitting around a little bored and decided to put her on the toilet and see what happened. she didnt do anything but she loved being in there, so i did it three more times that day with nothing happening. anyhoo, the next morning i tried it again and she did a wee!! (who would have thought i could get so excited about a wee). so i tried her again a couple times and nothing but that afternoon she did another wee, and once more today.

my question is..... i started off just seeing what would happen not planning on being serious about toilet training but now that she has done a few and she knows where and what the toilet is (she walks up to the toilet wheni talk about it) do you think i should seriously train her?

is she too young? i dont think she currently understands what is happening it is just good timin on my part but is that a natural proccess of how it happens?

what do you reckon?

[paradise lost]

Hi Hollo,

I think it depends. She's obviously getting that when she does a wee in the toilet Mummy is happy/pleased/excited so it is a good thing to do, but children rarely have control at 14 months, so though if you put her on the loo when she's about to wee she can wee there, she may lack the ability to tell you she's about to wee or hold it if you can't take her right then and there. Most children get these abilities around 20 months.

So if you're happy to go on remembering to take her frequently then you could try doing that (would save on nappies/washing if nothing else) and if you'd rather wait to train her closer to when she'll be able to have more control, you could wait.

I was potty trained very early (around 12 months, as soon as i could walk basically) but my mum was a childminder and used cloth nappies so it didn't make her life more awkward to sit everyone on a potty every hour-90 minutes and it saved her work (washing nappies) to do it that way. I was still about 2 before i could say i needed to go and hold it until i could get there, but that didn't matter to her. My DD is 17 months and she has a potty which she sits on, sometimes clothed (she has access to it all the time) and sometimes with no nappy. She likes to sit and read there, but so far nothing has been "done" on it. I'm happy to hold off until she's bigger as having to take her nappy off every hour to get her to pee/poo in the potty isn't my cup of tea, and also XP who shares her care, will not be on board until it's less hassle for him so there's no point in even trying.

Bec

[Starfish]

Hi Hollo

I read that although young babies do not have the bladder control to hold wees and poos in, they do have the ability to "open" their bladder or bowels iykwim. (Google "infant potty training" for more information on this.)

I started infant potty training with DD when she was about 4 weeks old. Whenever I change her nappy, I hold her over the potty. Most of the time, she does a wee in it. Recently we have started catching poos. I am sure that she is still too young to understand what exactly is going on (she is currently 14 weeks old), but I think that she is starting to associate the potty with having her nappy off and doing poos and wees, etc.

So in answer to your question, it is probably too early to toilet train your DD in the traditional sense, but if you are up to it, keep putting her on the toilet and praising her efforts and take it from there. And yes, I get excited about poos and wees too!