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Parents of Toddlers

Pottie-train time yet?

22 years ago

My second child is a 16 month old boy. Is it just too early to start pottie-training?

Comments (6)

Becky_M
22 years ago
Is he showing interest in the toilet? Does he mention it when he poops or pees? Does he pull at his diaper, or act like he wants to get on the potty when you go?

If not, he's probably not ready. 16 months is awfully early to be trying to do it if there's no initiating interest on the child's part.
HaleysMommy_mypage_com
22 years ago
I think it is never too early to get used to a potty. Even if he isn't using it to actually go to the bathroom. Having him sit on it "like a big boy does", even with his clothes on is a good start. He will gradually learn what it's real use is for and want to start using it. When it looks as though he might be ready, try putting him in "big boy" undies and see what he does when he wets himself. If he is disgusted and embarassed, he is probably ready. If not, you at least tried and might want to wait a little while before trying again.
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For some reason, she felt empowered.....and didn't need to control you with the potty issue. For a lot of years, kids learned not to soil their pants well before the age that is the norm these days....do you suppose we have suddenly evolved into a species of creatures with late maturing bladders? Do you suppose your great-great grandmother washed on a washboard the diapers and other clothing, or her children for 4 years?...2 or 3 at a time?....and stoked the fire and made her bread etc? I know my children pottied themselves by 2 years.....and I know my brother and I did.....and I know that my grandmother said her children were trained before 2 ( my brother is 10 years younger....and my grandmother lived with us...so she expressed her opinion.....a lot!) It seems that Freud started the whole "anal retentive" thing. We used to put a child on the potty at 6 months for a little while at a "certain time" each day. If by chance, they performed....the bells and whistles all went off! But...it got them used to the potty....and I used that time to put on my face, brush my teeth and curl my hair. Now it seems we are afraid of scarring a child's psyche by putting them on the potty too young.....but not afraid to give them Karate lessons at 3. A child that has never worn a disposable, nor a pair of waterproof pants will be very uncomfortable when wet. And you'd be surprised at how fast they catch on to how nice it is to always have a warm, dry bottom. I think that after...or about...age 2 it becomes a control issue.....the child is using the potty issue to have some control. I belive it's the same sort of thing that sometimes leads teen age girls with parents who are perfectionists to become anorexic. It's the one area of their life over which they have total control.....when to eat and when to poop. I suggest finding another area of her life to control....like total choice on what to wear.... But....please don't misunderstand.....I wouldn't want to return to the cloth diaper, wash board days for anything!! Linda C
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My little boy started using the potty at 2 years just number 1, we were so happy, then about 2 months down tne road he was still going #2 in is pants. He new what he was doing he would go in a corner poop and then tell me to change him. My husband who is the strict one decided on taking away all of his spiderman toys, when he went #2 he would get one back. His favorite was his spiderman shoes oh was he mad, it took 2 days and he has never had an accident again, I am also a firm beliver that pull-ups are a joke, I mean they are ok if out and about but what is the diffrence between diapers and pull-ups, do it the old fashion way buy the underware, let them pick out some cool ones.
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Why don't you use the cloth training pants? When they potty in them they can feel it, and it gets cold and they don't like the coldness so eventually they don't want to potty in them anymore. You do need to have plenty of extra clothes ready, but this is just a phase and it may take a while but pretty soon they get the hang of it. My niece is in training pants right now, and every time she pees she can definetly tell and does not like the way it feels at all, then comes running to mommy to change her. The concept is to have her running to mommy or the potty before she wets herself. Also they are alot cheaper than buying pull ups, which I did not think they worked very well, especially when they poop and you go to pull them down and everything else comes down too all over the place. These you rinse out and wash them in the washer. Also when I bought the training pants I bought a package of the cute little underware with his favorite cartoons on them and told him when he can learn to use his training pants he can wear his big boy pants. He was very enthusiastic about being a big boy and really wanted to use his big boy pants.
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I teach dogs to ring the bell when they have to go out. I know that sounds hard but it is very simple. Hang a large bell from the nob of the door you want him to use (I bought a large sleigh bell at the craft store) and hang it low enough that he can reach it with his nose. I also use operant conditioning to train, all positive with click and reward. ok, this is what you will do; have a treat ready, call him to the door, ring the bell and then immediatly open the door tell him "good boy" and give him the treat yes, even though your the one that rang the bell. Do this often. Your teaching him that ringing the bell means the door opens. It took about 3 minutes working with Gus to learn to ring the bell when he was 3 months old. I have a bell inside and outside that Gus uses. I hope that helped you, I know it sounds hard, but it's really not. Depends from dog to dog how long it will take for them to learn this. We don't give them enough credit, they can learn amazing things. Kathy Picture of my dog Gus below Here is a link that might be useful:
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anna_ca
22 years ago
We bought a small baby bjorn potty and started our 11 month old on it. Whenever i put him on it he'll huff and puff and squeeze out atleast a few drops!. But, when he poops, by the time I remove his diaper and sleeper he would have finished it in the diaper itself.
Terri_PacNW
22 years ago
I agree with both Becky and Haleysmommy...
Both are right on...
*We make the potty chair a part of the bathroom at around 12-13 months.*I have 3 boys. My first one was Day trained at 16 months, on his own initative..
My second, did not train, until about 3 months before his 3rd birthday(not that I hadn't been trying for over a year), but he was fully trained when he decided to. (that was the key to him...when I finally totally backed off and didn't pressure him at all, he decide it was time.)
My 3rd, is now almost 21 months, and he likes to sit on the potty chair, but has only peed in it once.

It's all about the personality and what they want really...
aileen
22 years ago
It's not too early to start talking about how Big People peepee in the toilet. You need to start at least talking to him about what is wanted. Let him know that Big People dont' wear diapers. He may decide that it is a good idea. Lead him to the bathroom and encourage him to at least try it. Get him to understand that this is important and that this is something that he should try to do. Watch him carefully and if he gives any kind of signal that he is about to wet or have a BM, then take him to the bathroom. Be consistant. You can't try training him one week and then spend a day or two doing other things and being too busy to keep on with it. He will get the idea that you aren't all that serious about it. Try before the bath, bedtime and after meals.

With little boys, sometimes the daddy has more influence on this than mommy does. It one of those "guy" things. If he is tall enough, standing up to pee sometimes works better than trying to get him to use a potty chair. Have a low stool or a thick book to stand on helps.

Just waiting for him to show an interest isn't always a good idea. Some children, particually boys just won't get the idea on their own. Why should they?? Diapers are handy things and they are not bothered by being wet or soiled. Using the Potty isn't on their list of interesting things to do. You really shouldn't wait. He may not get interested on his own and then you will be faced with a child that will REALLY be hard to train.
smom40
22 years ago
Developmentally-speaking, toddler's don't have the sphincter control to be independently potty trained until they are at least 18 months old. This is a physiological thing,not a pscyhological thing. Kids who are trained before then usually have pretty concrete bowel habits and parents pick up on their child's habits and respond to them. And even if they do have control at that point, it's pretty darn early to do 'official' potty-training.

But I would also say this..There is absolutely no harm in getting a potty and start playing with it with him. Many kids go through a stage where it's new and interesting. Let him sit on it, stand on it, put it on his head, whatever. Get that play part out of his system so that when things actually get more serious in that area, he's not trying to play with a 'full' pot! LOL! (I'll leave that to your imagination..:)

And if you want to start the using Cheerios for target practice thing, try that too.

Whatever you do, don't put too much juice behind the issue. Each child is ready when they're ready and go at their own pace. If junior responds, then great. If junior balks, leave it for another day. Go with the flow on this (pardon the pun please! LOL!)...

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