As far of this motherhood thing is concerned, I’d say I’ve been pretty comfortable. I mean, I look back at old photos now, and I can see the fear in my eyes, haha, but whatever. I may or may not have mentioned, I never really held a baby until Marlowe. Maybe my little brother? Maybe not? I don’t even remember. Actually, looking back, there was this one time that my friends shoved their daughter into my arms, but she was probably about a year old, so she could hold her own a bit more than a newborn. I went into this whole thing thinking: I’ve got this. It’s common sense and trial and error, right? Sure. I figured out teething, sickness, breast-feeding, introducing new food, healthy eating, and much much more, with little to no help. It all kind of just came naturally. Now, there’s potty training. Well, soon? Or now? I’m not sure. Soon, let’s go with soon.
I have a few basic idea of how it’s going to work. I know it’s going to be messier than not. It will also probably bring a few laughs…. sad, sad, laughs. And knowing Marlowe, it’s either going to be incredibly easy (as easy as it can be) or be incredibly challenging, but not somewhere in between. (But maybe easier since she seems to be progressing in anything more physical/motor and leaving everything else for later). Part of me wishes I had practiced EC (elimination communication) with her when she was a bit younger, but on top of everything else that needs to happen around here, it just seemed like something that would take up even more time that I don’t have.
I’ve decided, I’m going to kind of, um, do what I always do: wing it. (Fake it ’til you make it? Party-hardy?) I’m going to practice my own mild (late) version of EC and watch her like a hawk… every time she begins that poop face, or slightly squats: it’s off to the toilet we go! It’s been going pretty well so far, I mean, it’s difficult because I’m not here with her for the beginning/middle part of the day and she’s not here all of Tuesday, but otherwise: so far so good, I guess. We’ve (slowly) lazily at it for maybe two weeks now. We’ve had one successful (large) poop (baby pictured above, poop not, unless you want to see the poop, because I obviously took a picture of that too), one decent pee, a few tinkles, and another very successful poop and pee yesterday morning. (As I’m typing I’m realizing the intense #momlife going on here as I tell you about each successful poop my daughter had. errr). I’d say that’s not too bad, right? Maybe… she is only 17 months old or so?
I mean, when do people begin potty training anyway? I really have no idea. I’m content starting now, and working slowly to the big girl status goal. In the morning’s we sit together and wait a few minutes– when she wants. We’ve also got a few potty books next to her toilet for her reading pleasure. Also, when we take off the diaper she looks at it and says “byebye!”… thats good, right? Sure, I think so, and if not, then its at least pretty darn adorable.
So tell me: when did you begin potty training your little ones? Or when do you plan on starting? Do you practice EC? Did you use candy bribes? Fun charts? Clapping? Songs? Were their butts diaper free? Was it messy? Was it easy or a disaster? What are the best tips you’ve heard? What do you plan on doing? I want to know! Let’s talk about poop.
67 Comments
I have no potty training advice except to say that my experience thus far has been hell :). I'm wondering how long the whole voting thing goes on for the Top Baby Blogs? Is it ongoing constantly??? I like to offer my vote but posts with the link are getting lower and lower. Anyway, just curious if the voting ends eventually 🙂
I agree with so much that has been said before although we are waaaaaay off potty training… I think go with your instinct is best. I'm going to attempt this summer with Stanley because it seems easier to me to be outside in the limited nice uk weather rather than when we hit winter and there are too many clothes to remove etc! However if he's not ready I'm leaving it til he seems like he is. I have heard it makes things worse if you force it….it can set them back. So from what i can tell M wants to do it which is great! I'm sure the little lady would make it clear if she wasn't up for it!
Oh and a good one for next to your potty…
http://www.amazon.com/Story-Little-Mole-Knew-Business/dp/1856024563
i reviewed it on my blog a while ago. if you get a minute to look i think you'll like stanley's face at the end… 🙂
http://sarahillustrator.blogspot.com/2011/11/on-tuesday-we-read_21.html
good luck with the rest of the potty training! x
Great job Mama & Marlowe! I am sure she will be out of diapers sooner than you think. She seems very precocious and learns fast. I did potty training for my 3 yo daughter when she was about the same age as Marlowe. She was out of diapers 2 months after, with the occasional accidents at night. One thing I learned which some of the mamas have said in the previous comments as well, removing the diapers completely helps a lot. I found that by letting her using her underwear, she learned faster. There will be accidents, pee and poo around the house, while she plays, or whatever, but you must be patient. And awarding Marlowe is a great idea as well, stickers, or things like that. My most horror accidents were outside the house, when we went shopping or visit someone else's house. But again, no pain no gain 🙂 Good luck to you and Marlowe, I am telling you….it will all be much better afterwards 🙂
Great job Mama & Marlowe! I am sure she will be out of diapers sooner than you think. She seems very precocious and learns fast. I did potty training for my 3 yo daughter when she was about the same age as Marlowe. She was out of diapers 2 months after, with the occasional accidents at night. One thing I learned which some of the mamas have said in the previous comments as well, removing the diapers completely helps a lot. I found that by letting her using her underwear, she learned faster. There will be accidents, pee and poo around the house, while she plays, or whatever, but you must be patient. And awarding Marlowe is a great idea as well, stickers, or things like that. My most horror accidents were outside the house, when we went shopping or visit someone else's house. But again, no pain no gain 🙂 Good luck to you and Marlowe, I am telling you….it will all be much better afterwards 🙂
Bailey always hated messes. She would sit on the potty for hours upon hours and just play, but never would go. As soon as she got to the point of no return, she would grab furiously for her diaper in an effort to go on it. Once Bailey realized she could either wear a bulky diaper and sit in her own waste until someone would change her OR go in a potty and be done with it, no messes … she went for the toilet. Since she went 100% potty trained, she's had less than 5 accidents … only one of them being of the brown kind. She started sleeping sans pull-up about 2 months ago & has only wet the bed once. It's very, very easy. Just be rational. Good luck!
Hi Drea! I've been reading your blog for several weeks, and just HAVE to comment and tell you how much I sincerely enjoy reading your posts! I love the honesty and attitude you convey, and, oh yeah, you can actually write WELL, which is a big, big plus. I have a little nephew around Marlowe's age, so it's fun to see all the development steps she reaches right along with him. Good luck on that potty business!!
Hi Drea! I've been reading your blog for several weeks, and just HAVE to comment and tell you how much I sincerely enjoy reading your posts! I love the honesty and attitude you convey, and, oh yeah, you can actually write WELL, which is a big, big plus. I have a little nephew around Marlowe's age, so it's fun to see all the development steps she reaches right along with him. Good luck on that potty business!!
my oldest just did it. and yes, I did reward her with candy and LOTS and LOTS of praise. I think she was ready before I was if that makes sense… I had to buckle down and commit to doing it. once I did it was 3 days and we were golden. easy peasy. good luck!
I'm not a mom yet ( huge sad face), but when my mom was potty training me at around 1.5 years old, (this is going to sound harsh, and I probably wouldn't do this with my kids) but she first sat with me for a few days, and then she would let me walk around in my undies. If I peed on myself she wouldn't change me right away, and of course this was uncomfortable for me! (I would think) and she said after a few days of this I started going on my own. It sounds harsh but my culture is VERY different from the American way of seeing things, so it worked for us! However, you are doing such a good job with Marlowe! and I bet just sitting with her in the morning, after lunch and before bed, she will get the hang of it in no time! 🙂
Drea, starting now is seriously amazing. As I was telling you via instagram… Bennett is going on 4 and they started half-ass training him before I met him (over a year ago now) but with no real consistency it never stuck- and now it's a nightmare… MY nightmare. I just can't get him to tell me when he's had an accident. I try "big boy undies" when it's just us in the kitchen or something but it's so hard because he's gone in them before without even telling me. It's so frustrating. I tried everything… calendars, charts… when they got a puppy I made a potty training race chart… but the parents never really enforce it so my 30 hrs a week doesn't do much. So *HIGH*FIVE* girl, Marlowe is going to be potty trained before Bennett, and that is seriously amazing, keep it up! You guys rock.
Love & miss you!
Katie
My daughter started using the toilet around 18 months, but we moved and she just stopped completely and then didn't potty train until she was almost three, but at that point it was all the way. No accidents, dry overnight. It was amazing. I got her a little potty and left it in the living room for about two days, and she was done with diapers. After that we put the potty away and she used the big girl toilet.
Nora is 19 months old and since I'm pregnant and exhausted I haven't been doing great with the rushing to the potty when she looks ready, however, she does sit nicely on the (adult) potty every night as I run her bathwater. 9 times out of ten she pee pees in the potty 🙂 the tenth time she either pees on the floor seconds before or after her potty time 🙁 oh well! She's learning! I need to get myself in potty training mode ASAP before I have another lil pooper to change!
I started late EC with my little boy William 2 weeks ago. He is 21 months now and everyone else's kids seem to be starting so I thought why not? Well, I watched him like a hawk too and I thought we were doing really well… and then, without any warning signs, he did a poop right on the carpet mid walk – and just kept on walking like he didn't even feel it! I swooped him up and landed his butt on the potty and did the whole "poo poo poo" thing but he had pretty much finished. So he got up and I started cleaning his poop, and then I heard a trickle sound. I looked up to see William staring down at this stream of pee coming out of him all over Mama's lovely blue rug. Then he looked up at me with this really sad face, held his hands over his mouth, and said "oh noooooo!" It was heartbreaking because he knew he'd done wrong but actually it was all my fault for rushing into it all.
Now we are taking it slowly, talking about it lots and reading some fun books about other little children learning to use the potty. He knows what his potty is now and what it is for but his bladder control is obviously not there yet so we are giving it time and being nice and relaxed about it. Also, he is starting to tell me when he's done a "oo-oo" now which I am super happy about. It is a million times better than a friend picking my son up for a cuddle then telling me I should go check his nappy lol! x
P.S. I love the lime green potty! I live in the UK so no doubt won't be able to get one over here but will definitely try and hunt one down. x
I love your relaxed approach to motherhood. I hope I can have the same attitude when I become a mother next month.
Each kid is so different when it comes to potty training but I think the number one thing I can recommend is to not take it too seriously. Potty training can get very stressful and it's easy to lose your temper when it's not going well. My son had a hard time potty training, possibly due to the fact that we moved halfway across the country, had a 2nd child and bought our first house all during the crucial potty training years – so there was a lot of room for regression AND he was a boy – and I've heard boys are harder to train than girls in general.
We spent about two years potty training him with a lot of set backs and short tempers and messy accidents and various tactics like sticker charts and rewards and going diaperless or using pull ups or sitting on a toilet for hours on end – and at the end of the day, I'm not certain that any of my efforts made much of a difference. When they are ready, they figure it out pretty quickly and there's not a whole lot you can do if they aren't ready.
That said, it sounds like your clever little girl is already getting the hang of it which is awesome! Keep doing what you are doing but if she has any set backs, I wouldn't stress out too much about it because she is still pretty young on the potty training spectrum and has plenty of time.
Violet is potty trained during the day but not at night, she still wears a diaper. She ALWAYS wakes up with a wet diaper. The doctor said it is "natural" for this to happen until around the age of five (god help me). When I was training her I set the timer eve 25 minutes and whether she had to go or not, I put her on the toilet. At first it too some bribing. stickers did NOT work. She could give two shits about stickers… ha! I made some natural fruit leather, so every time she went and *tried to go, I gave her a little bite. If she actually went I gave her two bites. Eventually she didn't need a reward at all and she would just tell me she had to go. worked for us! When she's ready she's ready! You're on the right path 🙂
I began potty training Giovanna at around 16 months but only because she wanted to sit on the potty so bad. I had no idea what I was doing I just learned as I went just like everything else since becoming a mama. My mom got her this elmo seat to put on the big girl potty and she wanted to use it immediately! At first she just sat on it and I would read her potty books and sing songs, and then one day about a week later, she peed! It was the sweetest sound I had ever heard! A few days later she made a poop face and I rushed her to the potty and she finished on the big girl potty like a pro. Now she is 19 months and she doesn't always, but many times throughout the day she'll say "Pee-pee, potty!" and run to our bathroom lift the toilet lid, get her elmo seat and begin removing her diaper. Lots of people think we started far to soon, but I really think it's important to let your child lead you. We may be ahead in this area, but she is still nursing and I'm trying not to rush weaning her, I'm just following her lead.
Exactly. I think following their lead is important! If M doesn't want to sit on the toilet: we don't.
Like you, when I first her pee hit the toilet I squealed with joy! Such a good sound! 😉
Okay, I have strong feelings on this. I think it's good to try when the child shows signs (telling you they've gone, acting uncomfortable bc of dirty diaper, interest in the potty, etc.) for a good period of time (say, a few months). Always err on a bit too ready than not ready enough.
After potty training my son and working in child development, I don't think most children (especially boys) are ready before 2 or 2 1/2. I've seen a lot of parents push it early on and end up with a 6-12 month potty-training process that leaves parents and child frustrated. But, of course, each child matures at a different rate. I potty-trained my son at 2 1/2 and he was totally trained within 6 weeks.
My tips:
-do not use pull ups. They are really just a glorified diaper. Go cold turkey to underwear (they sell slightly padded "training pants" that help).
-Avoid a lot of outings during the training. If you're going somewhere, cut off liquid an hour before you leave.
-Keep the potty chair somewhere really accessible.
-Stay positive and never scold a kid for having an accident.
-Also, this is kind of personal, but having been a teacher, I didn't like that 5 and 6 year old kids were using words like "potty", "poop" and "pee". I think those words are kind of inappropriate, so with my son we didn't use these words. We used technical words at first, but then I found I was just as embarrassed when he loudly told me he needed to urinate while we were in a restaurant. So, I taught him to say, "I need to go to the bathroom" when it's #1 and "I need to go to the restroom" for #2. Kind of weird, but it was important to be that he not use words like poop and pee.
Good luck!
Good tips 😉
I like the codes for #1 and #2. I might have to try that when she's a bit older.
Thanks!
I helped to potty train a toddler I used to sit for. We started around two and a half I think and threw cheerios in the bowl and told him to aim for #1s. I've always wondered what was up with EC. I'm not looking forward to potty training but I've got some time..
Yeah, as far as EC, I wanted to look more into it when she was younger, but time just kinda passed us both by. I don't know anyone who's personally done it, though I have seen a few internet moms do it and it seems to be working well for them. Maybe the next kid.
I've read that 18 months for girls and 24 months for boys is a good age to start potty training so you're right on track. my son is already 28 months and we still have not been very aggressive about it. He'll sit on the potty when I go to the bathroom, to keep me company, but otherwise he's not interested. A friend of mine had her daughter trained at 18 months but it took a lot of trial and error and a weekend of potty boot camp where she left the diaper off the whole time and dealt with the mess. I don't have the time or stomach for this so we're just going to wait and see… hopefully he'll decide the potty is the best thing in the world.
Like you, I don't think I could deal with the no diaper/mess thing. I'd end up stepping in something I did not want to step on. It's good that he's sitting on it! M wants to randomly sit on it… I'm just hoping she's understand it's a toilet not a seat! 🙂
Oh, but M's actually used it as it is supposed to be used. She's doing really good.
But M's used it as it is meant to be used. She's doing really well.
well, i obviously have no advice about potty training. 🙂
but i cannot believe she is potty training already! i've followed your blog since almost the beginning, and I remember when she was born! I have a soft spot for the both of you, and i'm really proud of you both <3
We have a soft spot for you too! 🙂
wow, she is an early starter and that's great! we are doing the same with Lily right now and i'm just winging it and doing it our own way because i found that when she felt pushed, she backed away and wanted nothing to do with it. i seriously thought that it would be much easier and successful than it has since she was such an easy baby, weaning herself off and all that but potty training is kind of an issue. a non issue issue if you know what i mean.
my take on it is, if they have interest, great. if not, then they are not ready. we have had lots of successful poops and pees in the toilet, lots of bedroom pee accidents, poop in the shower (oh so gross) and we are just taking our time with it. every day while we are at home i ask her if she wants panties or diapers. she chooses and we go from there.
as far as bribes, we don't do candy but there are wings involved. Lily really wants wings, she thinks she is a fairy so we bribe her with that. as soon as she has potty training down, we are going to get some wings!! 🙂
oh, and we do a potty chart also. good luck!
hahaha too cute with the wings! only a hispanic 😉
what is a potty chart?
i picked up this potty book and it has a little chart in the back. if she goes poop/pee in the potty/toilet then she gets a star on there and same goes for flushing and washing hands.
Oh, that's a good idea. I might just make one for my son.
try it. Lily likes it 🙂
we tried potty training a couple of times. it went nowhere fast. instead, we just started talking about the potty and how babies only wear diapers, not big girls. finally, the day she turned 2.5, we stayed home with her and plopped her on the toilet every 10-20 minutes. she has been potty trained ever since. i like to think of it as potty trained in 1 day 🙂 but really, it was several weeks of talking about it first. we did not use candy, treats, or anything of the sort. 2 months later, she was fully night trained as well (with only maybe 3 night accidents since then).
good luck!
We have a few books that say big girls use the potty and babies wear diapers… those and everyone poops" are next to her toilet. It's hard to know if she really understands that yet since she's so young, but hopefully!
We brought the potty out when my daughter turned two. We read her some stories about it, got her the Potty Power video (she loved LOVED the songs), and just kind of let her do it in her own time. We never "trained" her (partly because she had speech, and behavioral issues that took up most of my energy), but one day when she turned three she just decided she wanted to use the toilet and she never looked back. We only had one accident so far (she's four now). So yeah, I don't think there is any one or right way to do it. Each kid has their own time. Also, I never wanted to make that big of a deal out of it because my daughter can be very contrary, so if she knew I really wanted her to do it, it might have become a power struggle….she's a force, but I love her! 🙂
Yes! I totally understand not making a big deal out of it! Marlowe (me too) is like that. This morning I asked her if she wanted to come potty, she ran away, I said "ok! another time!" and let her be. If I drag her on it she's going to freak out on me! 😉 I'll have to look into Potty Power! Thanks so much!
All five of my kids started at different ages, with the earliest one potty trained completely at 18 months and the latest at 3 1/2 years. The best advice I got from my mom was to relax and that by 18 they are all potty trained!
By 18? Hopefully! 😉
I began potty training my now 2 year-old daughter when she turned 18 months-old. I've always heard the 'normal/usual' age to start potty training is between 18 months-old and 3 years-old, though my pediatrician mentioned it first at her 2 year-old check-up. I did know about a baby who began potty training as soon as he learned how to sit by himself (I could have never done that!) I can tell you that since she turned 18 months-old we have not changed a poop diaper, only wet ones sometimes. I do think the transition has not happened fully perhaps because 18 months-old is too young. May be I should have waited until she turned 2 years-old because now she can actually tell me 'potty' when she has to go and now I only change very few wet ones. I for sure never waited for her to be fully ready (my mistake), she did showed some signs, but not all of them. She has learned a long the way. Of course, we have never reprimanded her for wetting a diaper or having poop accidents where she is not suppose to (like the on floor or the bathtub). But I thought it would take max 3 month for the transition to happen fully. I think now by the time she is 5 years-old this will be forgotten. Sometimes I think we rush and want our children to learn everything so fast. The time for them to learn something will eventually come when is time for them to learn it.
It's awesome Marlowe has her books next to her potty, books help and have helped my daughter Audrey too!
Drea, I think you are an amazing mother!
P.S. forgive my lack of grammar and spelling, I'm a foreign still learning how to write in English.
I decided to start potty training my now 2 year-old daughter when she turned 18 months- old. I've always heard the 'normal/usual' age to potty train is between 18 months-old to 3 years-old, though the pediatrician mentioned it for the first time at her 2 year-old check-up. I do know about someone who started potty training her son as soon as he learned how to sit by himself (I could have never done that). Anyhow… we began at 18 months-old. For us it has been a long transition (kind of). I can tell you that I have not changed a poop diaper in 8 months, but I still change wet ones sometimes. To me, my daughter has done great, at 2 years-old she is not fully potty trained, but it helps A LOT not having to change poop diapers. Now I've been thinking, I should have waited until she turned 2 years-old to start potty training, maybe the full transition would have happened sooner. She has learned to tell me 'potty' when she has to go and now I only change very few wet ones. I guess I just thought the full transition would only take about 3 months the most, but it didn't.
Each baby is different and Marlowe might transition fully sooner than Audrey. It doesn't really matter. Whenever my daughter has not transition to something and she should had, I always think by the time she is 5 years-old all these will be forgotten. Sometimes I think we rush and want our children to learn everything so fast, we should enjoy this lovely stage. They will eventually learn it when time is due for them to learn it.
Lastly, it's awesome she has her books next to the potty, books help and have helped my daughter Audrey too.
P.S. forgive my lack of grammar and spelling, I'm foreign and I'm still learning how to write in English.
Um you're learning how to write English?! You write better than me!!! Good job! Good luck with Audrey! It sounds like you are doing great!
My daughter is now 4 and she was super easy to train. she was just turning 2 and already taking off her diaper and trying to put on a new one herself so we figured she was ready 😉 All I had to do was explain that we were going to go pee and poop in the potty and she was off and trained in literally a day! My son was pretty much the same way only it took a little longer than a day. Now my youngest–oh she's another story! Super stubborn. just turned 3 and we've been trying potty training off and on for months. I think we are finally getting it….a neighbor gave me some great advice: just put her in underwear so she feels wet when she goes potty and can associate the feeling of having to go with being wet. I keep her in a loose dress so its easy to keep changing the panties and every 10 mins or so I make a big deal out of what a good job she's doing keeping her panties dry and give her a small treat. Like an m&m. Adn then every little bit we try to go potty and she gets another treat for going potty. The other day she wet herself and was wearing Cinderella underpants and man–she was VERY upset that she had "peed on princess"–so I've been using that….."oh no, you pee peed on your pretty princess panties…….next time lets keep them dry and pee in the potty"………
haha. I'm seriously laughing at the peed on princess! Sooo good that your first two were great at it! The universe had to make it fair and give you a stubborn one!
my friend always held her few month old little daughter over the tub/sink/toilet or a pot, whispering "psshhhhh" and she immediately started started to pee! i was impressed!
i wonder how it´s going on with potty-training (she´s 14 month now).
marlowe looks sooo cute on her little throne reading!
<3
hehehe. I could picture me whispering "pssssssh" and nothing happening…. then me moving her and her peeing on me or something. Good for that mama and baby man!
Ok, so I just tried to post this from my phone and I think I failed. Sorry if I'm double posting. 🙂 Anyways! We are just starting potty training, too. My baby is seventeen months old and while that's considered to be on the early side…I know he's capable of it. Instead of getting a freestanding baby toilet I got a bamboo toilet seat that sits on the actual toilet, that way we don't have to later transition Gus onto the big toilet. It's working out really well! Gus goes on the toilet right after he wakes up, right after he eats, and anytime he gets his poo face on, and guess what?? I'm rarely changing poopy diapers. It's AWESOME. Right now I'm just catching him at the right times but we're working on bathroom sign language and reading potty books while we wait things out on the toilet and it seems to really be working, especially with chocolate covered raisins as a reward. 🙂 And FYI, cloth diapered babies tend to potty train soon because they're more connected to their bodily processes because they can really feel when they're wet because they aren't in a disposable that is super absorbent and makes them feel dry when they're not, so you've got that going for you! Good luck!! So far for me…it's not been a stressful thing and I think a big part of that is that I'm not making it stressful. It's just a learning process for my kid, just like using a cup or silverware, you know?
If she's already pooping in the toilet, you are doing GOOD. Really good. I'd say that if you are getting her to do that without candy/treats/stickers/etc just keep going without it. Sounds like consistency and praise might work for her alone!
Thanks Jenny!
We just started potty training, too! I'm using a bamboo seat that sits on the actual toilet so we don't have to later transition to getting on the big toilet and so far, so good! I'm also just winging it, too. No books, no certain style.. we just head to the bathroom after my guy wakes up, after he eats, and whenever he gets his poo face on. My kid, Gus, is seventeen months and supposedly its early but I know he's capable of it. FYI, cloth diapered babies tend to potty train sooner bc they're more connected to their bodily processes bc they aren't in super absorbant diapers that make them feel dry even when they're not. So, you've definitely got that going for you!! Good luck. We have been having a super easy time, thanks to regular visitation to the bathroom and chocolates covered raisins. I'm rarely changing poop diapers anymore and it's AWESOME.
wow…. I didn't even think about transitioning her from the potty to the toilet. Eeeep. Thanks mama! And I'm happy it's working so well for you! Hopefully it'l be an easy road here too!
My mom just told me I was potty trained in about a week… due to bribery with M & Ms. Every time I went in the potty I got some. Makes so much sense.
I think you could bribe me to do just about anything with pizza. Maybe I'll try that 🙂
We haven't officially started training our 15 month old yet. But we do put her on the potty before bath time (she has only peed once on it). I am not even sure when we will fully start training…maybe within the next 6 months. I still feel like she doesn't quite understand it yet. I am definitely going to reward with claps, cheers and stickers! Good luck!
This reminds me: MUST BUY STICKERS. Thanks 🙂 and good luck!
My mom tells me I potty trained before my first birthday, which I beleive is a LIE. My 13 month old thinks her potty is a scary device brought up from the depths of hell to torture her and screams bloody murder every time she sees it. I thought, the other night as she was making poop in the tub, hey, I'll try to stick her on her potty. Seems like a no brainer…she shouldn't mind. Um…you would have thought I was poking her with a hot poker the way she screamed. So. I put her back in the tub because well…what else could I do?? What a mess. Obviously, we are not ready, not one bit….but Marlowe looks like she's having a fine time of it. And I've heard that cloth diapering helps since they feel the wet more. Good luck!!!!
hahaha awww!
My 18 month old has started telling us "poo poo" either right before (like, seconds…no time to actually get her on a potty) or directly after she goes. I think shes more aware of her need for #2 than #1? Either way, its making me think we should start more aggressively introducing the potty. My pediatrician cautioned that sometimes they will do really well at this age and then regress in a year or so and start having accidents, so if we do start now to be prepared for some backsliding. But, I figure it must be easier to deal with one or two accidents at that point than to ignore her interest now…right? 🙂
Definitely! If Marlowe at all talked about poop or made any gesture to do it I would push her more! Thats awesome 🙂
My daughter just turned two, and we are barely getting started with potty training. It hasn’t been the easiest because of our schedules, but our sitter is trying to help us out so that’s a plus! Recently at her two year check-up, our doctor said that the average age to start is usually 3 years old, so we were right on track. But I’ve also heard a lot of people say that when they have a dry diaper overnight, then they’re ready to start potty training. So it could be earlier than two or later than 3. They all go at their own pace. Good luck!
Ah! I never heard the dry diaper thing over night (I've never really heard anything in regards to potty training) but that seems like it would definitely make sense! Her diaper isn't dry in the morning, but for our "morning pee's" she seems to be a bit more pee in there 🙂
Thats so nice of your sitter!
Yea, I did some digging on parenting sites, connected with a few moms, and found that out. We don't really have very many people that can give us advice here. And my mother says she doesn't remember much because it's been so long, lol! So I was left to fend for myself.
It's still hard to tell if you can go by that though. Emery will sometimes wake up with a dry diaper, and other times a full one. We've tried to wait with her in the mornings too, but she refuses sometimes. She'll hold it till we put a diaper on her. So, it looks like we'll just have to "wing it" too.
Drea- Ava literally just took her first poo in her potty. And then I got on twitter and debated sharing when I saw that you had a new blog post titled Let's Talk About Potty Training. I definitely laughed out loud. I'm taking the same approach as you. Starting now and just taking it slow and watching her signs. She often follows me into the bathroom when I have to go so she sees what I am doing. Maybe that's weird, but whatever. I figure since we are starting now while she is young (18 months) then we have plenty of time for trail and error. Yay for poop! #momlife
hahaha awesome. Marlowe has followed me to the bathroom from the very beginning… you know how it is… single mom life and no one to hold your kid. So she was in my arms, until she could craw/walk and then just kept following me. I never close the door anyway, I mean, it's just me, her and the dog 🙂
YAYYY AVA! Keep me updated on how it goes!
I have no kids, but when I worked at a daycare if the kids weren't potty trained by 3, we started to ask the parents to start. I think you are doing great! I know kids who were potty trained at 2, and I know kids who were potty trained at 4. 🙂 Whatever works for you guys! Sounds like she is doing great!
I know a couple people who take 1 day, and spend all day on the toilet and when they go potty they encourage and give treats. Otherwise they spend all day in the bathroom reading books, playing with toys, chit chatting. It seemed to have worked for them, they had accidents here and there, but nothing crazy. I was blown away that it actually worked!
Thanks! I know I was potty trained pretty easily, I'm hoping Marlowe will follow along 🙂
M and I would go nuts spending a day in the bathroom! Those are brave parents!