Both of my girls were 95% Potty Trained by 12 Months and 100% Potty Trained by 18 Months old.
When my husband suggested we start potty training my first born when she was around 5-6 months old, (flash back to 2005), I thought he was absolutely crazy. You see, before we were married, he had spent quite a bit of time traveling around the world, in places like Thailand, East Africa, Tibet, and Costa Rica. His argument was that, in all of these third world countries, where diapers were not available, little babies, were potty trained earlier, much earlier then their American counter parts.
I did some research, and discovered that as soon as washing machines were invented, the appropriate age of potty training got later. And then once disposable diapers were introduced, well, that 12 month old age that our ancestors were accustomed to, quickly became 2 and even 3 years old.
So, at about 5-6 months old, right when my first born was able to sit up unassisted, we started putting her on a little potty every single time we went potty. We put her on the potty right when she woke up in the morning, and right when she woke up from a nap. We also payed super close attention to when we thought she was going to go poop, and then we put her on the potty! Alas, it worked. She stopped going poop in her diaper from about 9 months on, and although pee-pee was a bit more difficult, she was completely out of diapers by the time she was 18 months old. It was actually kind of hard to find panties that fit.
We did this again with my second born, and potty training her was seriously effortless.
The two tricks to make this work are this:
1. Start as soon as they can sit up. Around 6 months old. If you miss this early window, they will be established into a routine of going in their diapers, and it will be much harder.
2. The person that is with the child has to be devoted to putting them on the potty at the right time. I became very precise about when I put her on the potty. She gave off signals, and I payed attention to the cues. It would be hard if both parents worked all day.
Oh, and one other thing, I have 2 girls, not boys. All of my friends have a harder time potty training their boys, but none of them have tried this method either.
Tagged as:
early potty training,
potty training
