Potty Training a mostly pre-verbal child?

[insidevoice]

I know that in many respects my  child (2.5) is ready to use the toilet.  He strips off his diaper as soon as it is soiled or wet, he has a fairly regular 'schedule' of wetting and bowel movements. 

However, he does not communicate well.  He has very limited expressive language, though his receptive language is a little better.  Has anyone managed to PT a chilld who does not communicate well?  Any suggestions?

[justKate]

Does he say or sign or signal yes and no?  My DD is 26 months, and she's not very verbal, but good with yes and no.  I just ask her every 20-40 minutes whether she wants to sit on the potty.  If she says yes, we go; if she says no, we don't. 

What about just taking him with you when you go, or taking a stuffed animal to the potty and then telling him it's his turn, so he gets used to sitting on it?

[schlafmanko]

It's definitely possible.  Before the rise of disposable diapers, most kids were trained by around 18 months, and a lot of them wouldn't have been talking well then.  We did elimination communication part time when my daughter was 4-9 months, and then shifted out of diapers entirely at 16 months.  Part of the elimination communication approach is paying attention to non-verbal signals around peeing and pooping, and when you see them or if your son starts to go, point out verbally what's going on (by saying "PSSSSS" or "you're peeing" or whatever) and put the kid on a potty.  It forms a pattern that's pretty easy for a kid to pick up and start to anticipate.  The other component is putting your child on the potty regularly, especially after naps or at other times when he's likely to pee / poop, and pointing out what you want to happen there (i.e. PSSSSS or "you're peeing" again).  I like to pee at the same time as my daughter, since originally that seemed to clue her in to what was going on, and I think both of us like that it's a grown-up thing we could do together.  Taking her whenever I go to the bathroom works for keeping my daughter dry and clean, and I figure we'll gradually build toward more independence.  She doesn't talk much at 18 months, but sometimes communicates her needs non-linguistically: grabbing the potty, taking her pants down, etc.  Your son'll probably come up with his own signals.

[Caterina]

I agree with schlafmanko. Our DD was out of diapers around 15 months (we part-timed EC'ed from birth) and she communicated her needs through signing mostly. We used tapping the index finger on the nose for pee and pulling one index finger with the other hand for poo (they're ASL signs and you can search them on the internet). Signing, plus the cueing sounds (ssss and 'uh uh' for us), narrating for her, as well as offering any time we felt that she might need to go, taking her with us when we went etc. gave her the tools she needed to let us know. Of course, we still had accidents, but for us they were well worth it. Good luck!

[JudiAU]

Regular potty sitting a la traditional potty learning might help. We sit on the potty when we wake up, after breakfast, before we leave the house, etc.

[insidevoice]

Woot.  Regular undies and lots of reminders after a couple early good timing catches seem to be working pretty well. 

We'll stick with undies at home for now, and use diapers for bed/nap/out and about for a bit. 

[cmftblynumb]

i think it certainly is possible.  we're potty training our 22 month old DD and her comprehension is much more than she is able to communicate to us.  i decided to begin our training based on the following:

1. she does communicate some things she wants, (though never  anything about poop & pee)

2. she doesnt mind sitting on the potty

3. i know her cues (she squats when she wants to poop and with pee she gets this focus in her eyes  and stands quite still)

we've put the potty out where she plays and where we hang out, to make it accessible.  she's naked waist down when we're at home & wears dipes only at sleep times.  i make her sit on it immediately after she's had something to drink or eat and every 45 min - 1 hr.  we began a sort of informal 3 day potty training and today (day 3) she went and sat on the potty all by herself - several times! -  when she needed to go.  

i really thought her lack of communication would hold this process up, but im amazed with her progress.  im hoping her communication will catch up soon, we keep telling her to tell us when she wants to go.

good luck!