At what age did you begin potty training?

[kathkeane]

I have 5 kids. Never had any trouble potting training.

1. Begin when the child can stay dry all night. If they cannot stay dry through the night, their neuro system is not mature enough.
2. I hung a basket in the bathroom with surprises in it that they could not see. If they went on the potty I would lift them up and they could pull (blindly) a "surprise" out of the basket. (Yeah, and like coupons, one per "transaction" :) (hehehe)
3. It is MUCH easier if there are other children around. After naptime, they all line up to go potty. Just like animals in a herd, they understand exactly what to do if the entity in front of them is "going" and they hear the toilet flush, etc.
4. Sometimes they will surprise you. My 18-month-old tore off his diaper by himself and stood up on the toilet seat to whiz. I almost fell out.
5. My youngest would go with me to the drug store to get diapers, etc. When he started getting the cart and pushing it down to the purple Pampers, then swinging by the refrigerated section for a Coke and some Doritos, and then pushed the cart up to the clerk...I told him "Bud....if you can do all that, it's time to ditch the diapers." That was that.
6. For the girls, let them pick out a pair of very fancy panties and explain that those are their big girl panties and we don't want to get them dirty, soiled, etc. For the boys I let them pick out spiderman, hulk, or whatever, same principle.

For the young mothers out, there, believe me, you get what you are expecting. Demand good behavior when they are neurologically mature enough. Reward good behavior and IGNORE bad (this hint was given to me by American Indians...and I always appreciated that thought)....normal kids want to please.

If potty training is very difficult, it could be a sign of a different problem, autism, or a urinary system/neurological problem.

Good luck!

[niftyneon99]

DD we started trying at 18 months -- it became a great toy......she is 6 now and still has frequent accidents.

DS1 I held off until he was closer to 3, I think he was around 2.5 years. My mom wanted me to start him earlier and I refused to as I knew how frustrating it became with dd. DS1 was trained within a month, very few accidents even now that he is over 3.5 years old.

DS2 we are somewhat trying (he is 2 years 5 months) as he really shows interest in going on the potty, and does go on the potty if you place him there or even more recently he takes off his own diaper and goes. The only problem is that he doesn't usually hold it until he gets to the potty. He'll 'go' and then tell you, but once you tell him to go sit on the potty he'll 'go' again. Once we've had a BM on the potty :)

I'm not really forcing DS2, and while I"m not thrilled to continue buying diapers (especially since my stockpile was depleted back in August!) at least I'm not wasting my pull up stockpile yet lol. I really hope that he is PT by age three though, as it will make it much easier to have all the kiddos using the potty :)

[BabyB]

I used a mix of cloth and disposable diapers on my son as he grew. With the cost of diapers I was very motivated! We got him a potty (Baby Bjorn) at 12 months and sat him on it before bathtime and sometimes he would go and we would get so excited and clap and cheer. He began to like it and the habit of peeing before bath was set in by 18 months. One night he didn't go, stood in the tub and screamed "pee pee" so we held the pee cup up to him and he stood there and went in it standing up. From then on he had to stand to pee.

I ended up splurging for the Peter Potty boy urinal, and that is where he goes pee. He is still wet in the morning about 40% of the time since he sleeps in another room and we don't hear him wake all of the time, but other than that he has been potty trained since about 22 months old. We put pull ups on him for long car trips, but he won't go in them. We don't do treats, just LOTS of praise! Our house company have been know to have to clap and cheer after some of the potty times!

Don't wait too long. I think that a lot of pediatricians don't push it enough for fear of offending someone! I have to say that we are very happy we did the work, and have a potty trained 28 month old boy!

[StifflersMom]

My original smart allic comment was going to be I started potty training when I was 19, haha but I assume you want my sons ages LOL

I have 4 boys, 12/9/7/4, since they are all about the same time apart, I was really afraid of having overlapping diapers, theres was nothing more scary for me, than having 2 kids in diapers at the same time. The first 3 boys were breezes, while I was pregnant with their next brother, I would get to work on potty training, but only if I knew they were ready. You just can't force it, or you will have more mess and heartache. They all learned VERY quickly, and didn't have any accidents overnight. NOT ONE!! I thought WOW that was easy, what are these mothers talking about, potty training is EASY

NOT!!!! my youngest child 4 now, was a nightmare, he just would NOT potty train, I was finally after 12 straight years of diapers (i never had a break between one person in diapers to another) looking down a short road to no more diapers. My older boys all started between 2 and 3, but Wi wasn't having it. At first he was terrified of the potty, and petrified of our potty. He would throw these fits, and we just couldn't force it, so we brought the potty into the living room and encouraged him to sit on it with clothes on. Nothing seemed to work, finally one day while I was doing something, my 7 year old (younger then) sat on the potty himself and talked Wi into doing it too! YAY!!! A couple more months of practice and he finally got it. He still has accidents at night. But thats what GoodNites are for :D He was 4 when he finally got it down. And I can finally say GOODBYE TO DIAPERS!!!!!!!!!

I discussed the potty training at length with his physician, and the dr said sometimes boys just aren't ready, and if you try when they aren't ready you will just be trying longer, you cant force it, just do like the others on the thread suggested. Sometimes keeping the potty out of the bathroom helps, and letting them watch either mommy or daddy going potty (depending on their sex), sticker charts one sticker for #1 and two for #2, prizes after they reach so many stickers. A book to read while trying to potty. And if all else fails call Kate Goesling. SHE IS THE MASTER OF POTTY TRAINING!!!!! I bow down to that woman!!

[searcher]

I started my first two as soon as they could walk well. Between 1 to 1.5 yrs old. My third and last one I nursed longer, until two yrs old and started potty training after weaning. Between 2 to 2.5 yrs old. I have to say- this was the one that had bed wetting problems until about four yrs old. I don't know if that has anything to do with it though.

[enginerd]

I was going to start potty training DS at 2 1/2 but at 29 months he told me one day that he had to go potty. I helped him on the toilet and that was the end of the daytime diapers right then and there. Every hour or so for the first week I would take him to the potty and let him try. Luckily we were on vacation that week so I was with him 24/7. He never needed diapers in the daytime after that and never had an accident. Nighttime, however, was a different story. He wet at night until he was 6 years old. I didn't want to change sheets so just put him in pull-ups. He is very slim so he was still wearing a 3-4 size at six years old to fit his hips. The overnight wetting stopped all of a sudden also. One day he quit and that was that. Never had an accident after that.

[searcher]

I've heard legends of kids potty training themselves like that. So they do exist!!

[aimeemarie]

Originally Posted by kathkeane 1. Begin when the child can stay dry all night. If they cannot stay dry through the night, their neuro system is not mature enough.

However, a lot of kids wet at night for a long time. DD has been trained for a year and still wets at night. (She is 3 1/2.)

I dibble dabbled with it from 1.5 to 2 years of age, didn't do much after she turned two because I just had a baby. On the weekend of her 2.5 birthday we hid the diapers and put underwear on. I do not mess around with pull-ups. She was pee trained in a few days. Had issues with poop training until a few months later when we had an official "Poop Party" and that worked v. well.

[rteacher2]

It's nice to hear tha boys do take longer to train. My son will be 3 soon and I have a long way to go with training.

[CJOVANALST]

We just started seriously training, DD is 19 months old, but it has been 5 months in the making. We bought a potty at Christmas and set it up in the bathroom that night. We began by letting her sit on it while we used the bathroom and then in January I began putting her on it naked right before her bath every night. Recently she has been wanting her diaper changed anytime it has a little bit of pee in it. After using a pack of diapers (size 3's) in 2 days, I decided she is ready. She is already peeing in the potty several times a day. I am using Pull-Ups... she likes showing them off and does not seem to delay her at all. I know my daughter... she easily gets involved in playing/coloring/etc and will ignore the urge to pee until she is wet. This happened today when I got busy with the 2.5 month old and missed a trip to the potty. She has told us a few times that she needs to go. I will continue this method until she is trained or it stops working.

Although I do not like to judge (but find it is a fault regardless), I do not believe in punishing/belittling a child by making them stay in soiled undergarments or by making them feel bad for having an accident. Children thrive on encouragement, support, and assistance. When they are learning to use a fork/spoon, do we simply say "if you can't get the food in your mouth using a utensil, then you can go hungry" or "you got food on your face and clothes... I guess you'll just have to stay dirty until you can use your spoon correctly. you are responsible for feeding yourself now." ???? NO! We encourage every small victory and see progress as a result.

I just hope that whatever any parent decides is best for their child and their lifestyle is truly best for that particular child. Everything we do to teach our children to be more independent shapes their future behavior. Even potty training.