what age to potty train?

[marina294]

Im not sure what age you should start and was wondering when everyone else did?
the reason i ask is MIL wont stop going on about it -oh you have got another one coming you need to train her before then. In my opinion she is nowhere near ready she cant communicate with me yet (only says mum dad ball etc) and tell me when she needs to go and cant remove her own clothes etc.
We have got a potty chair in the living room (to get her used to it being around etc) but when she has nappy free time she will just pee where she is standing etc.
But MIL has been trying to put her on the potty at her house(i didn't know she had) when she looks after her because oh i know when she is going to poo when she crawls under the table so tried putting her on it-needless to say she refused . Now she has gone out and bought one of those seats for her house (for when shes there). i keep saying she is not ready yet.
I dont want to force her if she is not ready i dont want her put off because they keep trying to sit her on the bloody potty when im not there and also im not sure i want to be dealing with poo and pee all over the house whilst dealing with a newborn.

Sorry about the rant but what age would you recommend we start?

 

[lisa9999]

We started in Oct - when she was 2.5 years. It was pretty unsuccessful so we left it for a bit and then tried again about a month ago. She is really good now - dry all day - slight issues with no 2's still but thats another story!!

I dont think your LO is old enough yet personally.
I had my mum and my MIL badgering me about it too - it drove me crazy!!

 

[Librastar2828]

I have no real experience but I don't see the harm in maybe putting them on the potty every now and then nd it doesn't mean you have to religiously potty train.

My mum had my sister dry during the day at 14 months and like your mil wants to put lo on the potty all the time. So I'm trying to maybe introduce it at nappy change times so he associates it with going for a wee. My lo at 18months can only say the odd word and would no way be able to tell me when he needs to go but he is very good at understanding instructions so think he could pick it up. I'm having another and would love him to be dry by then and will in force it soon but will give up and wait if all fails..

No harm in trying.. Others may have a negative experience but I'd say give it a go

 

[clairelou44]

Dont be pressured into doing it just becuase you have a baby on the way, I attempted to potty train Keira at 18 months just so that she would be out of nappies by the time I had Connor, but she wasnt ready so we left it and in the end she wasnt ready until nearly 2 and a half by which time Connor had been here for 6 months so she was used to the new arrival and it went really smoothly. Look out for the signs, Im just about to start potty training Connor, he is 2 years and 2 months and for a few weeks has been telling me when he does a wee wee or poo poo, and he has just started asking to go on the potty. You will know when they are ready, there is no rush

 

[marina294]

thanks i will be waiting till she is a bit more understanding anyhow . also when you try to put her on the potty she gets straight off and takes it apart so pointless at the moment anyway. so it seems from 2 years onwards is pretty much average and im in no hurry to get her trained yet thanks for all the replies

 

[Seity]

When they seem ready. My oldest son is 3 in two weeks and isn't ready yet.

 

[tommyg]

I'd say wait for her to show signs shes ready however if mil is happy to clean up pee and poo let her, might mean LO will get the idea and it will save an argument with mil.

 

[pinkie77]

I've not 'trained'any of mine, they've showed me when they were ready and i just followed their lead. They were 22 months, 18 months, 30 months and 24 months

 

[DaisyBee]

Megan wasn't ready til 2 1/2. And then it took 2 days of no clothes below her waist and she had it down. She is still wearing nighttime diapers.

Mil was also trying to get me to potty train before Jordan was born. We tried a few different times, but Megan was not ready and it wasn't worth continuing. Jordan was only 3 months when Megan trained. It was not great timing for me... But it was when Megan was ready to do it, so we made it work.

 

[readynwilling]

its so individual baby to baby. My DD decided she was not popping in her diaper any more at 18 months. so i have not changed a dirty diaper in 6 months... but peeing is a different story. We've been trying recently - and its going pretty good, but we still have at least 1 accident a day. And she was an early talker, so was able to communicate and knows all about the potty (from popping on it) and still hasn't quite gotten the hang of pee. They are ready when they are ready!!

 

[xdxxtx]

I first put my kiddo on the potty when he was 10 months old. I didn't plan on potty training him - I just wanted him to know what it was and what we used it for. It was to prevent him from being afraid of it or from struggling with training at first...

Anyway, now he's 13 months old and uses the potty 2-3 times a day. He can't tell me when he needs to go, but he will save up some pee for those trips because he knows what times I put him on the potty twice a day (and I add the third one in randomly just to test him). Also, he will take off his diaper after he has peed or gone poo and he will walk towards the bathroom if he has to pee and isn't wearing a diaper, so obviously he is learning, now I just need to learn to pay better attention!

18 months tends to be the recommendation for starting potty training, and that is when I am going to start "true" potty training. However, I see nothing wrong with teaching a baby earlier than when they're ready for training HOW to use the potty.

 

[qpaulina42]

I think any time after 12 months is probably good. Especially if they can say something that could signal potty (or can sign potty). We did at 17 months, but I think we could have done it much sooner (and will try with LO#2). I helped with clothes for a while and now she does them on her own.