when to introduce???

My mom started training my baby sister when she was about 15 months and had success. She is now 2 and still has an occasioanl accident still but she is doing great. My nieces weren't trained completely until well after 2 so it pretty much depends on the child and what kind of a schedule you can keep to. My baby sister goes to day care and they were essential in her training. Since she was younger than 2 she was still in the infants room and my mom had to work with the staff to ensure they took her potty when she had to go. It would not have worked out so seamlessy if the daycare did not take her potty.

I think it was around 1 year when we bought our son a little Baby Bjorn potty, which we set next to the big toilet...he almost instantly started sitting on it (fully clothed) - just imitating us. I was told (by my mom) that it was a good way to just introduce it...not push it - just have it there so he can sit on it. Then in time (maybe around 18 months) - he started asking to pull down his shorts/take off his diaper, imitating what I did when I pulled down my shorts/underwear...again, in a little more time, he started to go pee (still hasn't pooped!) But he is now 27 months and not potty trained yet, but goes "sometimes." We don't push it at all - just ask him before bed, before/after bath, if he wants to go on the potty - sometimes yes, sometimes no...
So...I would suggest getting a potty NOW and just put it right there next to or near the toilet - the curiousity may just trigger the whole process, as it did with my little guy!!

15 months seems very early to me - of course, i've got boys and they're harder to potty train. my pediatrician told me not to even bother with it until they hit 30 months. potty training can be very stressful so don't push it.

Susie is a discussion leader in the east valley for arizonamoms.com. She has two sons, ages 7 and 3.

I think the age varies greatly from child to child, although I know that boys historically train later than girls. My son just turned 3, and is not potty trained, and I refuse to push it. We encourage, but don't push. For his 2nd birthday, we bought him a "potty", where it sat in the bathroom and collected dust. He's come with us when we've used the bathroom, and we've tried to use fairly simple terms to describe what we're doing to get him more familiar. We bought him an Elmo potty training DVD. All this, and I've know he wasn't ready. Up until about 3 months ago, he never told us when he needed a clean diaper (he still won't tell us when he's just wet), and he couldn't take his pants off, either. We're making slow but sure progress, though. We praise him when he tells us he needs to be changed. He used the potty at school for the first time a couple of weeks ago, and then used it several times the following weekend (we praised him each time), but then lost interest in it. I figure he won't be in diapers forever, so when he's really ready, he'll do it.

Jennifer, mom to one special little boy

I have 6 kids ages 10(girl), 9(girl), 6(girl), 4(girl), 3(boy), and 2(boy), I want to potty train my 3 yr old but he keeps telling me he is scared how do I help him overcome the fear? My oldest didnt potty train till she was 4yrs 2mo, my second at 4yrs 4mo, my third at 3yrs 8mo, and luckily my 4th potty trained on her own 2 weeks before she turned 3. Seeing as the last 2 are boys people tell me not to push the issue cause boys take longer than girls. I hope my son potty trains before he starts kindergarten. Family keeps telling me he should be potty trained already but it is not as easy as some people make it out to be any tips?

by now you have an 18 month old...how did the training go? Hopefully you can share for the benefit of others.

From my own experience with two - each was very different. My daughter was trained earlier...around 2, but then she should have accidents a lot more than my son...I found she regressed some at 4...bed wetting. My son was 3 and a few months before he was fully trained, but he didn't have wetting problems.

I know there is an urgency to get out of diapers, but sometimes you have to let them tell you when they are ready (within reason - you don't want a 5 year old in diapers).