Did you toilet train when your toddler was little?

Teomima

Wed, Jun 16 2021, 12:58 pm

I've never actively decided to toilet train any of my kids. I always waited till they were asking to go to the potty themselves and were able to hold it in until then. This usually happened close to the third birthday, with the latest being three and a half and the earliest being about two years eight months. In every case my kids fully trained to the point of hardly any accidents ever within just a few days, even a single day with one.

Every child I knew where the parent decided to train before the kid was ready, the child took much longer to train and ultimately it was no faster than my "method", with their kids still having accidents when they were three, four, even five years old. It happens so much faster when you wait for them to be ready.

FranticFrummie

Wed, Jun 16 2021, 12:58 pm

Kids aren't born knowing how to use the toilet - of course we all trained them!

Some kids are ready early, some are kind in the middle, and some are really late.

Maturity, muscle development, anxiety, ADD, sensory feedback, kid's personality - it all plays a part.

A physically able, emotionally motivated kid will catch on to the concept right away (chocolate chips or stickers help a lot!)

A kid who can't be bothered to use the bathroom because they are too busy playing, or goes without even noticing, or is scared of the toilet - that's another issue all together.

Every kid is different.

Teomima

Wed, Jun 16 2021, 1:04 pm

Elfrida wrote:

Before disposable diapers children were often trained at around a year.

I've heard that but my cloth diapered kids weren't ready any earlier than my disposable diapered kids. My siblings and I were cloth diapered and we also trained at the 2-3 year mark.

BrisketBoss

Wed, Jun 16 2021, 1:08 pm

Teomima wrote:

I've heard that but my cloth diapered kids weren't ready any earlier than my disposable diapered kids. My siblings and I were cloth diapered and we also trained at the 2-3 year mark.

Right, kids weren't ready any earlier in the old days, but the parents were--it was burdensome to wash cloth diapers, more so then than now. But of course the method didn't look like when you trained your kids. (Yours is the 'method' I plan to use.)

c.c.cookie

Wed, Jun 16 2021, 1:16 pm

I tried with a child who just turned 2, because she had terrible rashes. I was prepared for it to take longer than I was used to with my others (who were closer to 3), what I wasn't prepared for was the emotional basket-case she became. She was terrified, she cried a lot, and at one point she literally fell off the toilet and onto my lap and fell asleep. I finally decided it wasn't worth it. I waited 3 months, and then she just did it, on her own.

amother

Melon

Wed, Jun 16 2021, 1:23 pm

I am one of 12 kids and my mother trained all of us shortly after we turned two. My mother also did not work and had the time to deal with it. I work full time and do it over a long weekend shortly before my child turns three. No playgroup Morah will take a half trained child who just turned two. They will have a lot more patience to help with a child who is closer to three.

Elfrida

Wed, Jun 16 2021, 1:36 pm

Teomima wrote:

I've heard that but my cloth diapered kids weren't ready any earlier than my disposable diapered kids. My siblings and I were cloth diapered and we also trained at the 2-3 year mark.

Your cloth diapers were probably machine washed. When you think of hand washing cloth diapers, the parents have a really good motivation to toilet train early!

Roots

Wed, Jun 16 2021, 1:42 pm

so I trained my daughter at 2- shes born in the summer and it was great cuz its hot ouside and can basically wear a long shirt or dress with nothing under and run to the potty when she needed.
the 2 boys following were born in january and israeli winter isnt condusive to potty training, the house is always cold etc so I waited till pesach and by then they were 2.5. BH went well. few tips I think are important at the younger ages
use a potty- its small and not scary like the toilet
let them sit and read them a book or do something for a while - the first few times they might not do anything but make them feel real good about it
and the first time they actually pee- wow thats a call to grandma and tell the nighbors and he gets a chocolate chip etc
the potty should be near u idealy. if you are in the living room it should be there- I know it sounds weird but it worked very well by me- after they get used to it they anyway move on to using a toilet eventually- but its like security, near mommy, near everyone (not on carpeting of course)
last tip- train night and day together- if you wont- with my daughter it took another whole year until she was potty trained by night and it was a nightmare
the boys were all at once vezehu
]lots of luck

BrisketBoss

Wed, Jun 16 2021, 1:44 pm

Roots wrote:

Some kids don't night train until they're as old as 7 and it's still considered within the range of normal(!).

GLUE

Wed, Jun 16 2021, 1:54 pm

Elfrida wrote:

Before disposable diapers children were often trained at around a year.

Yes, that was why they put them on dresses with nothing under them so when they made they would not have to wash a lot of cloth. There is a reason why in warm climates even today you have people who don't put on cloth on their little toddlers.

amother

Lemonchiffon

Wed, Jun 16 2021, 2:10 pm

All 4 of my kids were fully toilet trained by 2 and a few months. The latest was 2.5, she was the only one in her class trained at the start of school year. Never had any issues with training at that age.
(Just for reference I’m a millennial, my oldest is a preteen)

I use a potty, every time they make they get a candy. No candy for just sitting on the potty, only if they use it. A potty is less scary than a toilet.

amother

Royalblue

Wed, Jun 16 2021, 2:19 pm

My young DD was in underwear at night 6 weeks before her 2 nd birthday. She toilet trained at 22 months and after 2 weeks of waking up dry and no night accidents, I put her in underwear. 15 years later I don’t think she ever had an accident. I wish I could say that about the rest of my kids.

I had not set out to train her. My friend was training her kid and brought a potty to our house to use for playgroup and my DD wanted to use it to. I said OK and she peed in it 2x that morning and had a dry diaper so I ran with it. She was much younger than my other kids and by far the easiest. (Other than that, she is typically more difficult as she is determined, stubborn and has her own ideas about everything-it is the same personality trait).