My little boy is 14 months & I seem to have potty trained him unintentionally, at least for #2! Maybe others have had the same success but I thought I needed to share it so that others can avoid some grief
After hearing horror stories from a good friend of mine who has 4 children between 1.5 & 7 yrs who are still in nappies at night I was quite “nervous” about potty training. I signed to him from about 10 months old & he’s been sitting on a potty every now & then to “familiarise” himself with the bathroom. He knew the sign for potty but a few wks ago he started making the potty sign when he needed to go. I thought it might just be a fluke but he’s done it ever since. We were in church on Sunday & I thought he was just trying to get out of sitting still but it was the real deal:-) Am very proud of my little guy 8)
Finger puppets help fill in the time when he needs to sit a bit longer but usually I have to encourage him to get off the potty because I’m the one who’s bored:-) I might not be so smug when it comes to #1 & may rue the day I wrote this when next week he wants nothing to do with his potty but there was literally no hassle.
That’s fantastic! My baby (toddler) used to go in the potty when he was 9 months then we went on vacation and stopped for about two weeks and he hasn’t gone since. But, we are starting to do like you again and “familiarize” him with the potty again. I hope to have the same success!
I’ve tried potty training my baby girl at 10 months old and she freaked out! She refused to sit on the potty even i’ve coaxed her - she’d rather soiled her nappies than going for the potty… lol !
I stopped this training temporarily and thought of starting it again - she’s almost 12 months now. Any advice, please?
My dd started pooping in the potty exclusively pretty young too and was fully potty trained before 2!
Unfortunately, you (and they) have little control of night-time wetting, and is just one of those things they eventually outgrow.
For the poster looking for advice about her little one who was once freaked out about the potty, I would probably try taking her into the potty when she’s naked and you have to go potty yourself. She may just mimick you. If she’s previous freaked out, I’d tread very lightly on let it be her idea…justly be set the stage well for her to experiment, you know? Naked time in the bathroom when someone else has to go. And some fun books to read while she sits. good luck!
Hi, this is my first time potty training anyone so I’m no great expert - but it’s definitely child led. The more you force it the worse it gets so take a few days off & start gradually again. Making it entertaining helps (initially my friend’s little girl thought the potty made a great hat but she’s getting there ) & lots of patience. And like everything with a baby it might be a bit overwhelming at the beginning but it soon becomes the norm & you wonder what you were so worried about in the first place.
Do any of you sign with your children? Being able to sign gave my son the ability to tell me when he wanted to go rather than the other way round. Definitely an unanticipated bonus of signing.
Congratulations, Lois1, way to go, and I am sure he really enjoys being a big boy and being able to communicate! It boosts their self esteem tremendously!
Both of my kids used signs for communicating ( including potty) before they were able to talk.
My both kids had their own sign or motion invented for communicating the need to go potty. With the first one it was because I did not hear of baby signing at the time she was born ( and did not know anything about that), but she really wanted to communicate, and by 2 weeks was so clear in showing the need to go potty. At first 2 weeks till about 4 months, she was just using a certain body language to communicate her need - squirming, fussing and waiting till we put her on the potty, then being instantly happy. Then around 4 months she invented her own potty sign, that she used ever since till she started talking.
With our second child ( boy) – we also used sign language. However, because we were travelling in Europe ( where ASL sign for potty is offensive hand motion lol we also invented our own sign). At about 14 month he stopped signing it though and preferred to just say “potty”.
But all in all, I think sign language is great asset in Elimination Communication.
But, we are starting to do like you again and “familiarize” him with the potty again. I hope to have the same success!