Anyone planning on potty training later?

[t2009]

I see all the threads about potty training & I think about DS (22 months) & I just know he's not ready but I keep feeling like he should be.

He's interested in the potty -- We have a seat for the toilet that he'll sit on. But he never goes. He also doesn't seem to really "get it" yet. He'll point to his penis and say "poo poo."

I'm really torn, because he's gone through a growth spurt & selfishly I don't want to buy him more cloth diapers (seems like he's getting close to outgrowing his prefolds & one-size pockets). But I don't want to torture the poor kid either if he's not ready. And in about a month I will be home with him most days of the week so feasibly we'd have time to do some potty training and/or naked time.

What would you do? Just wait until he's older & seems more "ready"? Or consider starting? Also, for those of you who waited, was it ultimately "easier" to do both day & night potty training at the same time?

Thanks!

[tzs]

to me it seems like he IS showing that he's ready. he's showing interest in the potty and knows pretty much what happens. i haven't BTDT yet, we are just sitting on it at this point and only "went" once...the first time. but i'm making it part of her routine while she still enjoys it. 

i'm sure you'll get some better advice on how to proceed but if i were you i'd at least keep at it in a relaxed manner before he hits an age where it becomes a struggle.

[GISDiva]

My DS sounds very much like yours and mine will be 3 in April.  He's been sitting on the potty on and off for ages now, but it's slow going.  I did have to bite the bullet and buy more diapers for him (Thirsties and Antsy Pants, if you're interested) and it's a good thing I did because we're still not anywhere close - at least I don't think we are.  I've thought that before about other things, but he's the type if kid that won't do something until he's already good at it, if that makes sense.  Who knows!  *haha*

I'd just keep it casual and take his lead.  I made the mistake of pushing too much for his comfort a while back and he went a long stretch without wanting to go near the potty at all.  Rookie mistake. :)  I'm not doing anything special, just asking if he'd like to sit on the potty now and then.  He gets really excited when he pees now, and we give stickers for his efforts, but I really don't think he knows *when* he has to go yet.

[larzanna]

Yep, me.  I am not even going to think about potty training until 2+, and at that point i mean i will get a potty and let it sit in the bathroom.  I don't think i am going to really start until he is 2.5 or even 2 3/4.  I just would rather wait until he is REALLY ready and have it take less time w hopefully less accidents. 

That would be lazy me :)

We do talk about it and have an open door policy with the bathroom so i hope that some of that is planting the seed..... 

As far as your diaper situation, i am a paper diaper user, so i would say just use paper diapers for the few months that you will need them.  (targets are really good and really cheap, oh and run kind of big too!)

Or, try and get some cloth ones used.  But if it were me, no i would not force it, way too much work IMO. 

-L

[sapphire_chan]

Being comfortable sitting on the potty is an awesome first step towards future potty learning.

But buying more diapers will let you relax about things, so I think they are a good purchase even if you did start more active potty-teaching at this time.

[emm09]

DD is 22 months old too and she doesn't quite get the concept of it either.  She's very smart and verbal but she still doesn't say "pee" or "poop" and doesn't give me an indication when she's about to go.  She sits on her potty chair just fine when mommy is going potty but she just doesn't understand yet that the chair is actually for going potty in.  We made the mistake of trying a naked potty weekend with her.  After less than a day we realized it was not going to work.  We're holding off until there's more definite signs that she's ready.

[Summersquash]

DD is 26 months and doesn't want to sit on the potty, EVER.  She totally understands the concept of pee and poop and will announce "you poopin'" or "you peein" when she is doing those things (love the backwards pronouns).  But when I ask her if she would like to sit on the potty, I get a resounding NO!!!! nearly every time.

So I am guessing that is her way of telling me that she is not ready yet.  I also read somewhere that for some children, being able to take on/off their pants is another sign of readiness - and there is absolutely no way she could or would do that.  So we are also planning to wait.  I guess we don't have much choice if she refuses to sit on the potty!

[t2009]

Thanks, everyone for the feedback & reassurances! Glad I'm not the only one out there -- No offense to anyone, but the posts about potty training 16 month olds kind of freak me out just because that's so not us! 
 

Originally Posted by larzanna 

Yep, me.  I am not even going to think about potty training until 2+, and at that point i mean i will get a potty and let it sit in the bathroom.  I don't think i am going to really start until he is 2.5 or even 2 3/4.  I just would rather wait until he is REALLY ready and have it take less time w hopefully less accidents. 

That would be lazy me :)

We do talk about it and have an open door policy with the bathroom so i hope that some of that is planting the seed..... 

^^ Yeah, I'm totally feeling like it might be my laziness contributing to my "plan" to potty train late, so I think that's why I was seeking reassurances that it's OK! But also, there are going to be a number of changes ahead for DH, so I'm wondering how they're going to affect our ability to potty train in the future... I don't think things will be "settled" for our family until he's well over 2.5 (moving, family role changes, probably transitioning from crib to bed at some point...).
 

Originally Posted by sapphire_chan 

Being comfortable sitting on the potty is an awesome first step towards future potty learning.

But buying more diapers will let you relax about things, so I think they are a good purchase even if you did start more active potty-teaching at this time.

^^ I think that's a good point... definitely going to bite the bullet & buy some... maybe I'll check out Antsy Pants or getting some gently used diaps.

For now, I'll try to institute potty time before the bath (since DS always seems to pee in the bath anyway...) & we'll see what happens (if anything). Thanks, ladies!!

[alittlesandy]

Originally Posted by t2009 

Thanks, everyone for the feedback & reassurances! Glad I'm not the only one out there -- No offense to anyone, but the posts about potty training 16 month olds kind of freak me out just because that's so not us! 
 

I know exactly how you feel! Before I began reading forums and books, I was happily clueless. I thought talking happened after two and potty training happened around three. Now I see endless examples of parents whose kids are talking in complete sentences and potty training before two, lol.

I bought a potty for my son who will be two next week. I made the mistake of leading him to it instead of letting him discover it on his own. Now he is suddenly terrified of it and the regular toilet. Oh well! I'm backing off for now and will wait until he seems curious about the process.

Also, he's not verbal at all (has been tested but there is actually nothing wrong), and I feel like kids have to be a little verbal before potty training, or they won't be able to articulate when they need to go.

[tabrizia]

Honestly after the year and a half trial to get DS to finally use the potty I refuse to deal with potty training anymore.  DD and newbie can potty train themselves when they are ready.  In the end that is what DS did anyways.  DD does show some interest and when she asks we put her on the potty seat, but other then that, I am so not dealing with it at all.  I figure she'll train before college as will her soon to be little brother.  Other then that I am just not dealing with it.

[~cassie]

My son is 2 1/2 and we aren't doing it either.  He does pee on the potty when he wants to and pooped just this morning for the first time but we are being very relaxed about it.  I will get him up in the morning and ask him if he would like to go pee on the potty, no big deal if he doesn't want to.  I also ask after diaper changes, and he knows how to squeeze a little pee out so he fully understands the concept, he is just not quite ready yet.  We will probably wait until about March or April to go full steam ahead.  My other 2 boys also potty trained themselves right about age 3, I did try with my oldest around 2.5 and it went so bad!

[Skippy918]

My son is 2 1/2 and he's not interested yet either.  Plus we have another baby coming in April, so I'll probably see if he's ready over the summer.

[elisheva]

My ds1 wasn't really interested until he was ready when he turned 3. We did try a few times around his 3rd birthday, but I had a newborn and couldn't deal with poop accidents, so we waited. When he was ready, I let him go nakey in the house for a week and, presto, he trained himself. 

Ds2 is interested in teh potty much earlier now (he's only 29 months) and is totally "trained" on his own if he's naked in the house (I can't keep clothes on him so that's pretty much 100% of the time). If he has pants on, he will pee in them and very rarely poop but he seems to be getting the hang of this himself. I sometimes try him in undies and trousers when we go out but he almost always has a pee accident. I know it's not pc here at MDC, but we use pullups (I'm sure there's a CD equivalent) and ds2 will still tell me he has to pee or poo sometimes and be able to hold it till we get to the bathroom - just not always...thus the necessity of the pullup for me anyway.

I'm a firm believer in following the child's lead. But, you have to be ready, too. If I were perhaps more diligent about putting ds2 only in undies 100% of the time and just dealing with accidents, maybe it would work out. But maybe not. I can't handle the accidents right now so we are where we are. 

[MangoMommy]

I've found it's different with different children.  My first, a very verbal child, started potty training herself at 18 mo. I was pregnant and did very little except have a few potties around the house and let her be naked a lot. She just started using it one day and that was it. She probably only peed on the floor a few times. She wasn't night trained until about 3 (I did use pull-ups at night) when she told me no more pullups. She probably has had 3 accidents ever. I did nothing,I wish I knew how to make my next child repeat that LOL. I *know* I just really lucked out with her.

So my son I started the same deal, about 24 months he started being interested in what I was doing (handing me toilet paper, etc) so I got the potties out. I could get him to sit before bath (we'd read a book) and we did that for awhile, he would not use it at all in the daytime, and would pee on the floor like no big deal.  So I casually started at 24 months, never pushing (he would tell me NO and I'd just accept it) but closer to 3 he finally really got it, and potty trained at 3. And he still had accidents at night until he was 5. Even at age 3, IRL, he was one of the youngest boys I knew. Most pottylearned/trained a little older than that, closer to 3.5 I'd say. Girls were younger, prob more like 2.5. 

My youngest is 20 months and has been showing interest. I've been letting her have lots of naked time, she rarely has an accident on the floor (she'll hold it or bring me a diaper) and I've had the potty out for a month or so. Today she drug the potty to me and she had peed in it! So I clapped, said "pee pee" and pointed and she clapped too. So I cleaned it out, and she sat and did it again!  She ended up peeing on the little potty a few more times before bedtime...so we'll see how she does with me keeping her naked and the potty out. I'll add she's decently verbal. Not as much as DD#1 was, but more than my DS was. 

My point being...some kids just really "get it" young, some don't but I've found (from also working at a daycare in the 2-3 yr old room) that you can't PUSH them when they don't want to/aren't ready. Potty learning/training is totally up to them. You can give clues (have potty out, talk about it when you use it, or changing their diaper) but it's really up to them to really take the lead. I have found that the harder you push, often, the more they push back. 

Good luck!