a question about potty readiness

[littlejenh]

My DS is 21 months old. His baby sister is going to arrive any day now (I was "due" 5 days ago!). I intended to hold off on potty stuff until after the baby was born and we'd all settled in as a family of four. However, he's begun to show a strong interest in all things potty-related. Not only does he want to go in and "help" DH and me, he has started squatting over somw of his toys (a dump truck - heh, and a bucket) and exclaiming "pee!" I wonder if I'm doing him a disservice by holding off, since he seems so interested. I also worry, though, that with a newborn in the house, I won't be able to devote as much time to getting him to the potty as he needs. So, BTDT mamas, what would you do?

I apologize for the typos. It's hard to move my phone's cursor to fix mistakes.

[Xerxella]

He seems a little young yet to make the big jump, but hey, maybe he is, every kid is different.  With me both kids talked about it f.o.r.e.v.e.r. before finally making the leap.  They were both a little over 2 when they went diaper free.  But, if you want to give it a try it's no big deal to try and then go back to diapers if it's not working. 

Just start asking if they want to sit on the potty.  We would do this when it was convenient for us like at changing time and before bath.  Before long they started going when we put them on the potty.  So after that we just went bottomless around the house for a few days while talking about it constantly and they did great. 

[lifeguard]

Ds was out of diapers at 22 months but I will admit those first few weeks were full of accidents & clothes changes - it was a lot of work. Before we did that though we did have ds sit on the potty in the morning & after naps & he was successful with that for several months before we took the big leap.

[Marissamom]

I would start introducing the potty, but keep him in diapers until you're ready to go into it a little more full-time, no reason you can't let him use the potty when you do or when he asks but keep him in diapers so there's no accidents and less stress. 

[Nicole730]

We just started having our 16 month old use the potty because she would sit on there with her diaper on.  When I take it off, she pees in the potty.  I'm just taking her to the potty quite casually and leaving her in diapers.  I would suggest something like that for your son.  I did start potty training my son at 25 months, my daughter was 2 months old at the time and I didn't think it was too much work.

[belltree]

Why not just go with the flow. We've had exactly once accidents since my 21 month old is diaperfree (2 weeks ago). And we are busy parents and just moved. Give it a try, and if it doesn't work for him or you, you can always go back to diapers. Sometimes it is good to use the chances you get. There are always things that at first don't seem convienent or difficult, but if your child gets to learn to use the potty it will make your life easier in the long run.

[mamabelle]

We are in a similar, but not quite as intense, situation.  Our 23 month old was very curious about the potty at about 18 months so we bought a potty and he would sit on it but only with his diaper on.  We pretty much ignored the topic except to answer his questions.  We are due to have a baby in November so we figured it'd be better to wait until after that transition to really work on potty learning.

2 weeks ago though, DS insisted on using the potty and having me take his diaper off.  He pooped in his potty and was SO proud.  We high-fived and danced a bit, and went over the flushing and hand washing routine.  Since then we have let him take the lead and ask him if he wants to go naked, wear underwear, or wear a dry diaper. He goes in the potty 100% when he's naked, but adjusting to the underwear was definitely a next step beyond naked.  He wants to do it all himself but has had to work to learn how to pull pants down.  My understanding from reading books and talking to other parents is that with the under 2 age group it is usually a slower process and each step takes a bit longer and this has definitely been true for us.

He's in daycare 4 days/week so that will be the next step.  He seems to be doing okay switching back to diapers for daycare, when we leave the house, and at night but we're looking at approaching these next steps.  We do watch him pretty closely when he's in underwear so I would definitely have the same hesitations as you with a newborn on the way.  One book I checked out from the library and was surprised to like was "Potty Training Boys the Easy Way," as they advocate little learning sessions without diapers instead of going totally diaper free.  This might be more manageable for you and less stressful for your child.  The advice I hear above all is to let the child lead.

I just realized that your post is now over a week old so you've probably welcomed your newborn- Congratulations!