It’s been a week with little bare buns running around our house. Leah wouldn’t leave on her pants and diaper one day so I said “Do you need to go sit on the potty?” She said “Yes” and ran off to do her duty on the toilet. I was very surprised that something was produced by the event because for months she has been somewhat enamored by the porcelain throne and have sat on it hundreds of times (with and without clothes) with no results.
I was so surprised by her success that I’ve allowed her to run around without pants. I’ve discovered that if I have her go potty every hour or so (more if she’s recently had a big drink) than we can pretty much keep her and my carpet dry. If I get busy and forget, well, I’ll have a little mess to clean up because she wont always know it’s coming. We’ve tried keeping her in undies but it’s been with little success. Bare buns apparently is best -just wish it was summer time.
We’ve been putting her in a diaper for naps, night time and errands. I don’t trust her that much and I certainly wouldn’t want to shock all the patrons at the grocery store, now would I?
So my questions is… now what?
She is 21 months old. I keep asking myself if she’s really serious about training. I’ve never trained anyone this young before. Is she really ready? What is she capable of? Am I giving her mixed messages when I put her back in a diaper? She’s not ever dry in the mornings. In fact, that is when she does her #2 business. Do I wait until she is 2ish and then get serious about it? I don’t really want to drag this out for months but wouldn’t that be amazing if it was really going to be this easy?
Sigh.
Sorry about the greasy vaseline smeared in her bangs (I only half tried to wash it out) and the poor quality of photos. I used my little cell phone and it doesn’t take well to any sort of movement.
Do any of you have experience training someone this young? Suggestions? Comments?
My name is Manda and I love creating 
Sorry, no help. I had the opposite problem. My kids were both over 3 and my daughter was especially stubborn. Hang in there
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I think you are doing great! If she’s showing interest and being bare helps her go, then by all means, do what works! The naked method worked on my oldest after she had been training for some time and just wasn’t getting it. We’ve been trying to potty train my 20 month old but she isn’t quite getting it. I’m hoping it’ll just click one day for her & she’ll want to just go. She gets nervous though on the potty, yet she has no problems peeing on the rugs or in the bathtub!
I don’t want to rain on your parade, but yes I have a bit of experience on this one. Not to say that Leah couldn’t be a potty prodigy – maybe she’s totally ready. All I can go by is what I’ve seen in my own kids, and heard from others lots. And that’s pretty much that they’ll show their first sign of interest before they’re necessarily “ready.” They’re mostly just curious. THe newness often rubs off and then like you said, the whole process can be drawn out forever, or there is that confusion when you decide to just put it off a while and go back to diapers. It’s so hard to tell though. Of course, every child is different, but I don’t think I’d be brave enough to go for it quite yet. Maybe what you could do though is keep her in diapers, but continue putting her on the potty when she first wakes up in the morning and after naps. That way she’ll kind of be getting the hang of what it feels like. Anyway, good luck.
My oldest daughter had two other little neighbor girls that she played with almost everyday. All three girls trained themselves at 16-18 months. It was weird, like they were competitive or something. I have no idea how it happened, they just did it. Some of the girls were in cloth, some disposable. My daughter would take her cloth diaper off at night & stuff it between the mattress and the wall, she didn’t ever want one on. I say follow her lead, encourage her, you never know!
I trained my girls way back when the diapers were cloth diapers. I don’t think they liked being wet because both were trained by the age of 2. When training my grandkids they wore disposible diapers and I think it was harder to train them because they didn’t connect going and being wet or soiled. So you may have more success with the bare bottom than you think.
Just go with it. My experience is that potty training takes forever! But then again, I have boys. I hear that they take longer than girls.
My comment is the fact that I’m still hoarding your camera! Ahhh. You’ve gotta be missing it. Let me figure out a way to meet up with Jer….
Ps… I have zero experience potty training typically developing children.
I will be the one asking you all the questions one day. :}
Hey ya, I did this with both of the older boys. J. showed an interest in 10 months and N. even younger. Both were pretty much potty learned by 2 with just diapers at night. By 2 and a half, they were done with diapers all together.
I’d just keep doing what you’re doing, taking her every hour and putting her in a diaper at night or for trips. She won’t get confused. It’s fun for her right now so just let it be fun. If you both get burned out, it won’t traumatize her to get put back into dipes.
xoxox Wish you were here!
I agree with the majority… go with it, especially if she’s taking the initiative and having success! Kailey was potty trained by 2. I wouldn’t get rid of the diaper completely until you have success keeping it dry during the occasions that you use it for. Good Luck! Let’s hope she’s just a quick learner!
My daughter is just 2, and she is almost always completely dry in the day now. She has the occasional accident if she is really engrossed in something. I don’t remind her and never really have. She will come and get me. Even if she is busy she usually starts pulling her bottom or something so look out for little signs. She started wanting to sit on the potty at about the same time as your daughter so I went with it. I still use cloth nappies for naps and night, she doesn’t get confused and there is no issue with her putting or keeping them on. I started going out without nappies pretty quickly, just put a towel on her car seat and take a change of clothes. She’s never done a poo in her nickers (she saves them for night time often like you little) and a wee in her nickers isn’t really a big deal. I’ve always been careful not to make a bit thing about little accidents and praise her lots for wees on the toilet, and we’ve had an easy time with it… Good luck!!
Maybe this is reward for raising all those cute babes, an early potty trainer! Way to go Manda@