CDing Mamas...

[SweetBabyK]

When did you LO show interest in potty learning? My DS is 13.5 months. When he pees or is wet, he most times hits his diaper. What steps should I be taking at this point? Any advice you can offer a FTM would be great! TIA

[Amanda L]

Thank you for starting this thread. My cloth diapered 16 month old sits on the potty every morning. It is more because he was so interested in what mommy does every morning than anything else, but I took advantage of his curiousity to get him used to it. He has just now started rebelling against diaper changes and paying more attention to his body, so I plan on trying to go with his flow (pun intended) and do a slightly EC approach more than actually training him since he is so young.

I would love to hear other's experience with this . . .

[JessieBird]

My DS is 19 mos and he started telling me when he is going peepee or caca about a month ago. I'm so excited! He also comments when he sees DH or I on the toilet, or the dog going in the yard, etc. In fact the chitter chatter about peepee and caca is pretty constant in our house these days.

Last summer, we tried about three months of going diaper free and EC. He was 6-8 mos old then and we had great success with timing (no communication on his part). Then I went back to work full time and day care provider was not supportive (though she said she would be, it just never materialized). However, we kept several potties around the house and continued to sit on them and be familiar with them. He then switched day cares and joined a group with slightly older children who use the potty and wear underpants. I think this has really stimulated him.

So we are doing very well with communication and it is clear that he can recognize the urge to go before it happens. However, he now doesn't want to go in the potty. He will sit on the potty at other times (to read books, brush his teeth, etc) but will only go on the floor or in a diaper. I'm not letting it bother me at all and we just keep talking about it no matter where it happens. I've just quit my job and as of August 20, I will be a SAHM again and I will put more effort into it then. We may just go diaper free for a while again to see what happens. Since he seems to prefer to go in a diaper, I think I need to break the association between peepee and caca and diapers.

I'm looking forward to hearing what other mamas are doing at this stage!

[confustication]

My son just turned 2, and he prefers underwear to diapers at this point, as well as taking off diapers (I thought snaps were toddler-proof lol!) whenever he can. When awake and in undies, he will generally just not void, he'll wait until he has a diaper on. He does not use the potty. He is aware of being wet, but does not communicate it well- instead choosing to take off the diaper himself.

Also, he is non verbal, with some delays, so it's a bit more like working with a 12-18 mo in terms of communication.

[spmamma]

DD was 23 months when I potty trained her. I think she started taking an interest in what I was doing in the bathroom a month or so before...

[honeybunmom]

Dd was 22 mos when she pl'd. Ds is 15 mos. As soon as he can answer/point when I ask where are his toes/knees/eyes etc. that'll seem ready enough for me that he can put two and two together and follow along. I think he'll be on the gummy bear reward system as opposed to the M&M reward system I used with dd!

[gagin37]

ds is almost 23 months and really doesn't have much interest yet, even though we've introduced the potty and have him sit on it during the day.

[iris5426]

DS is 19 months and has been interested for about a month...we took a VERY part time EC approach from the beginning, setting him on the potty when he wakes whenever we thought to do it, sometimes every day, sometimes once a week. In the past month he started tapping his diaper when he has to go, or even trying to take it off. Anytime he shows a sign that he wants to go we'll stick him on the potty, and I'd say 85% of the time he goes! He doesn't talk much yet, so it's pretty much all been non-verbal cues so far.