I am thinking about potty training Iyla, she is 16 months old. Does that make me potty?!
She has become really aware of her bum. And of her nappy or ‘mackee’ as she calls it. She keeps asking me to change it and has been running around pulling at it and saying ‘bum’ or ‘mackee’.
She knows when she is doing a poo and has become really interested in me when I’m on the toilet.
She also keeps coming up to us saying wee wee, poo poo, mackee and getting quite distressed. I just don’t think she wants it on anymore.
I was at a playgroup the other day and the lady running it noticed her behaviour and said that she looked ready to start on the potty.
I turned to Twitter last night as I usually do in these situations and had a lot of feedback from people. Some saying that their little girls displayed signs of being ready at that age even though they weren’t, some who said they hadn’t potty trained until their toddlers were nearly three and some who had been potty trained by the age of 11 months!
The general feeling was that if you do it before they are ready then it will be a lot of hard work but I guess you don’t know if they are ready until you try and it clearly is possible to do it at this age.
I have my concerns, I don’t know if I’m ready to have poo smeared everywhere and wee soaked into my car upholstery. Life is just so much easier when you don’t have to ask them if they need a wee every half an hour or find somewhere to whip a potty out. But then I think of the money I would save on nappies and if Iyla is uncomfortable in nappies then it seems silly not to give it a go.
So I am going to buy a potty and she how she reacts towards it, I’m going to make it fun and not put any pressure on her and be prepared for her to stay in nappies but she might surprise me and take to it well.
Now to decide what potty to buy, I never knew there was so much choice!
You can even get one that looks like a mini toilet and that talks! But at nearly £50 I don’t think it’s going to be an option!
(This isn’t a sponsored post, I just think this potty is rather cool!)
I am not even sure where to start, do I just take her nappy off and keep putting her on the potty?
What happens if we go out, is it like once the nappies are gone they’re gone or can you still put them on sometimes?
I think I had better do some reading up on where to start, it’s all a bit daunting!
Hi Jess
Last summer I hosted a going potty carnival and the links here
http://mummymishaps.blogspot.com/2011/06/going-potty-bloggers-guide-to-potty.html
It might help answer some questions
Also try asking any PR peeps about trialling a potty – I did and I got sent one even though I didn’t trial them myself for the carnival as Burton wasn’t ready BUT I was sent three differnt ones nonetheless if you don’t ask, you don’t get! Xx
Oh fab, thanks Jenny I will check it out! I need all the help I can get! x
Mum2BabyInsomniac recently posted..Silent Sunday
I think generally girls recognise it better than boys and it does sound like she’s ready. I would say try it, you can always go back to nappies if she’s not quite ready.
Corinne recently posted..Dear So & So…
If there’s one thing that I’ve learnt it’s that no two children are the same when it comes to potty training. She is very young but if she’s showing signs of being ready then yes, go for it I say. But just don’t expect too much. They do say the earlier you start, the longer you train for and I have to say that this was the case with mine but like I said, I think this is one milestone where no two are the same.
Oh, and I really must recommend My Carry Potty while I’m here. I had one with my youngest and it is fabulous! I definitely think it aided in her potty training. I blogged about it last year if you want to have a look
(Mostly) Yummy Mummy recently posted..Hotel Chocolat up for review
Yeah I guess it’s hard to know until you try! I was looking at those potties actually so I’m glad you said that – I can’t believe how many there are! I think I am going to just take it really slowly and not expect too much and then if she does manage it quickly then it will be a nice surprise, if not I will just stick with nappies for a while longer. At least that will delay the risk of poo being smeared all over my walls! x
Mum2BabyInsomniac recently posted..Silent Sunday
We went for the softly softly approach of having a potty in the bathroom from about 18 months and just let E sit on it while we got the bath ready each night (and went super crazy when he did happen to wee in it) but didn’t try proper potty training until about 6 months later when I was confident he’d get it pretty quickly. If you think Iyla’s ready to give it a go it won’t do any harm (except to your carpets!). My only suggestion is to try it for a few days and if she seems to be getting the hang of it then keep going and if not then just put it away and try again in a couple of months so it doesn’t become something stressful. I think (Mostly) Yummy Mummy is right that this is one of those issues where kids vary so hugely that you just have to play it by ear. Good luck. x
Cat (Yellow Days) recently posted..Work Experience or Slavery?
Haha luckily I have laminate flooring all through the downstairs so any accidents shouldn’t be too disastrous…unless it is poo being smeared everywhere! Thank you, I think I am going to do that and see what happens! x
Mum2BabyInsomniac recently posted..Silent Sunday
Good luck with it all Jess, hope you and Iyla decide whats best for her and I will look forward to hearing updates! Then I can ask you all about it when Mads is ready! x
I’m one of the ones who was potty trained at around 12 months. My mum said it just meant having me sit on the potty whenever she went to the loo and soon I started asking to go. Those glasses could be rose-tinted though.
Circus Queen recently posted..Some nights there’s not enough cake
Hey we are doing the same with K at the moment! She is the same age as Lyla and we have been putting her on the potty while the bath is running. She doesn’t have as many signs of readiness as Lyla though so we haven’t done it during the day yet. She has started laughing when she farts though!!! I am also not looking forward to the prospect of poo smeared everywhere so we are taking it slowly. Good luck and I look forward to hearing how you are getting on!
Zoe recently posted..Potty training update
she does sound like shes ready. have you thought about trying pull ups? with mine i just brought a potty into the house to get them used to having it around, then tried sitting them on it at various points throughout the day sometime they went, sometimes they just sat there. we bought a book for our son about potties too that cheers and we let him press it when he went – he loved that!! We also went on a shopping trip for underpants and let him choose the ones he wanted. good luck with it!!
Emma recently posted..Vitamins In Pregnancy
My daughter is 19 months and she does the same thing. I’m thinking about starting her on the potty. I say give it a go and see what happens x
Gina Caro recently posted..Pinterest Party – Jubilee Celebrations
she sounds ready to me too. However, I am against pull ups. If it were me, I would take her to buy big girl pants like you wear. Then talk to her about what you are going to do. Perhaps she could position her potty near to Dad while he is immobile!! I have never had poo smeared everywhere! You just have to be observant.
Every child is different, There will be accidents, there will be sucesses too. And remember night time takes longer!! ‘they’ reckoned when my boys were going through this that if you had 7 dry nappies in a row to take the nappy off at night and try your luck!!
Just another sign that your little girl is growing up fast!