early potting training

[Cumberland]

My DD (18m) is showing all the signs IMO- she says pee pee, she lets me know when she has gone either one ( when she has her diaper off, which is alot around my house), she is very interested in watching me go, all that. I have been trying after breakfast to take her into the bathroom, shut the door, take her diaper off and just hang out in there til she starts acting like she needs to go. Then I put her on the potty and read her a book. So far we have had 2 poops and two pees in the potty. And ALOT of time just chilling in the bathroom.

I just read this article that most kids 50 yrs ago were trained before the age of 2 but Dr Brazelton's theories on self training gained popularity and most parents and peds follow that and train their kids later.

We use cloth diapers and while I like using them, I cant say the poop part is fun. I am ready to toss diapers altogether. Am i being crazy? I would love to hear the experiences of some seasoned parents.

My DD is doing that too! Minus the potty chair. I need to get one for her. She is not to keen on sitting on the big toilet (unlike her older sib who loved to climb up there).

My oldest started showing some signs around that age too and honestly....it took about a year after that but I didn't really rush it. She would usually poop in the toilet but that was it. Again, I was not too active about it. When she did make the leap it took all of 2 days and letting her pick out undies at Target.

I say keep doing what you are doing and lots of praise!

[fluffhead]

We started training our daughter at 18 mos, as soon as she started walking. We also cloth diapered, and I've heard from other CD parents that their kids trained early. I think they realize they're wet when they don't have the space-age gels absorbing every drop of moisture they produce, so they can train earlier.
I say if she's ready, go for it.
I wonder if our boy will be ready early too - I'm not in any rush to find out.

[mommax3]

I think what you are doing sounds great. I have *NO* experience with early potty training, but sadly, I can tell you lots about what it is like to have a 3.5+ yr. old who is the size of a kindergartener and is not trained. However, as of about six weeks ago, that is all behind me! Good luck!!!

Sally

[pstone]

boys different then girls?

I know at 9months I have awhile, but I was thinking the boy peeing might not be so hard?....am I crazy?

someone told me boys are harder then girls....but it was a woman.

[Vanquisher]

Boys are harder than girls, I think. At least I have heard that repeatedly. That said, I don't think I'll be potty training my daughter next month. I am perfectly okay taking my time with it. My son didn't train until he was three, but once he did, I knew it was time, and he was ready, and I can count the number of accidents he's had since that day on one hand (one of them was a sleepwalking incident).

We don't do cloth here, and I can't imagine doing so. That said, you can take my thoughts for what they are worth. I wouldn't have had children if I had to do cloth diapers. Not only that, but my daughter can fill up a disposable premium diaper in one fail swoop (they even leak sometimes). She stores up the pee for some reason, and always has. She got her daddy's bladder. I can't believe how much this girl can pee!

I do think that sometimes parents try to train their kids too early and the kids end up taking longer to train, with many more accidents. I *personally* feel that under two years is too early to potty train, and that kids aren't fully ready at that time. I have to wonder how long it takes to train a child under two, and how many accidents they have. If it works for you, then great, but I think, for me, it is too young. I don't think they are developmentally ready to interpret ALL of the signs that they need to know to fully grasp potty training, but that's just my opinion.

http://parenting.ivillage.com/tp/tppott ... dr,00.html

[fluffhead]

I wouldn't have had children if I had to do cloth diapers.

My wife felt somewhat the same way (though it was a moot point since she was already pregnant at the time of the discussion), but she's converted, and now agrees that cloth is just as easy as disposable, once you've got the system in place. (In any case, since I change 90% of the diapers, the decision is mine ) I might add that, personally, I'd think twice about having kids if it meant putting 5,000 diapers and billions of pathogenic organisms for every kid in a leaky landfill.

I do think that sometimes parents try to train their kids too early and the kids end up taking longer to train, with many more accidents. I *personally* feel that under two years is too early to potty train, and that kids aren't fully ready at that time.

This might be true, but it's totally dependent on the kid. My daughter had very few accidents, and she was totally ready. If my son takes till 3, then that will be OK too, though you'll probably find me crying in a corner in the fetal position. I don't think a blanket statement of "under two years" is accurate; it's a function of the kid's willingness and ability to grasp the concept.
And that's just my opinion.

according to my mom (of 8 ) and other women relatives, boys train later than girls, and each subsequent kid trains earlier than the first of each sex.

Henry has started the taking it off thing, and got to take 2 baths last night. I got to sanitize all the rungs in the crib and the mattress. Heading out tomorrow for a potty chair.

[Sheherezade]

My daughter self trained at 20 mos. She'd been talking about it for ages. She wanted to try some Tinkerbell underpants when we were out one day. We had talked about what underpants meant. She put on those magic panties and never looked back. (Although I did question the wisdom of this decision as we sat in a Pizzeria Uno after putting on said Tinkerbell underpants....) We used pull ups for overnight, but she never had an accident. It was unbelievable. Obviously, I'm in the "go for it" camp. She was a second child, so she did have the big brother example to follow.

My son was tinkle-trained around 2. ("Mommy! I go potty!!" "Great job! I'll get the mop!" ) He didn't catch on to the alternate uses of the potty until almost 4 . I was advised by others that it was a good idea to teach boys to sit down to pee to help the whole process along - at least at the start. My friend currently has a 3 year old boy that wants to do all his bathroom stuff in the bushes because they taught him he could pee in the bushes. Boys are definitely more complicated at least. Different equipment, different rules?

[DCJenn]

Oh, man- I wish the orphanage ladies had been successful in their attempts to potty-train at 9 months.

In lots of European countries they do use the cloth diapers and they start early. Like feed, take them to the potty- which is really more training for the grown-up but it seems to work.

I actually have contemplated switching to cloth diapers for the entire purpose of earlier potty training. That and the gel oozing out of the diapers gives me the willies. (not all the time, but there have been some O/N diapers that were oozy.)

I think it's a matter of preference and that there are pluses to both- and minuses to both. I've read somewhere that the energy taken to wash cloth diapers and to manufacture the laundry detergent equals out the land fill and production costs of cloth. But, for the moment, we have 2 unopened packs of Size 4 diapers so that'll buy me a few weeks before I have to think about it again.

Jenn

[Sheherezade]

On the cloth diaper front--

I find it amusing that we did cloth diapers with our son (completely off diapers at age 4). We did disposables with our daughter (completely off diapers at 20 mos.). So--you never know. I'm sure it was just my bad luck.

[Cumberland]

Just a note on the enviromental impact of cloth diapers. The argument that they are just as bad as disposables ecologicallyis a misconception that refers to using a diaper service, where they use industrial grade chemicals and multiple hot washes. Washing them yourself is easy and quick- one hot wash and 1/4 the normal amount of detergent- much better for the environment.

I know it is not for everyone, but really it is very easy- two extra loads of laundry a week, no dunking or swishing in the toilet ever. The ones my DD wears look just like a Huggies type diaper but they are cloth. Even my DH is a strong supporter of them.

The environmental impact also depends on where you live. Friends in Las Vegas used disposable diapers, paper towels, etc because that used less water, a more valuable resource than land out there.

[pstone]

I have to comment.

I will keep driving my honda civic and not water my lawn and keep using the disposables!

[fluffhead]

Actually, I believe that diaper services these days use much more eco-friendly products, and end up being much more efficient because of economy of scale (though you have to figure in the impact of the truck picking up the diapers), and they use alot less water. We use a diaper service, and I checked them out before we started - they do use bleach, but otherwise use just friendly detergent and no perfumes or dyes. The customer base for cloth diapers has, unfortunately, become basically just us nutty environmentalists, so the services have adjusted.
Environmental impact studies such as this are highly subjective, because comparisons of things like water pollution, landfilling, air pollution of trucks, etc, are difficult to quantify. They end up having a great dependence on the authors of the study, and in the end, on the funding agencies.
I think that the original studies which found that disposables were friendlier, were funded by Procter and Gamble (Pampers).
There's a ton of stuff on the net about this. If you're interested, check it out.

Peter, I'm with you on the Honda Civic and the brown lawn.