Starting to potty train daughter (maybe)

I don't have a girl so I'm not sure about little girls. Most people I know with girls wait for age 2 adn boys wait for age 2 1/2.You can ask her pediatrician! Good luck!

I'd go with asking your pediatrician, too. I'm always a little hesitant to push my kids to do something, particularly something as big a deal as potty training can potentially be, before they are ready. You might look up potty training books at your library and check out a few of them to compare the lists of signs that a child is ready to potty train.Generally I wait for these 'milestones':The child can communicate the need to use the toilet, either by sign language or verbal speech.They can recognize when they have to go potty...and tell me. The child can pull his/her own pants down AND up.Yes, I've heard everyone and their granny tell me that THEIR child was potty trained by 10 months with no night time accidents. That's really nice...but generally that is potty training the MOMMY, not the child. And/or it was a fantasy that slipped in when reality was too big of a bummer. LOLI'm exploring potty videos, so don't have a recommend there, but I did like the book, 'Toilet Training in Less Than A Day' by Nathan Azrin (? I think that's the author.)

I did buy a couple of books for adults, including the one you mentioned, I think, Barksum. I just started the other one I bought, which is "Sick of Changing Diapers" or something. I think it is more humor that really telling how to train, but I thought I would pass it on to my friend after I finish it. She is having trouble with her 3 year old son, although she says this weekend was really good! I am about to call to congratulate her, haha. Anyway, I was reading online about some different "stages" of potty training one author listed, and the first was sort of "pre-training," which was getting familiar with the potty and learning vocabulary like "clean, dry, wet, dirty, poop, peepee." I bought several baby storybooks about the potty experience, so I am hoping this will get her familiar. Also, lol, she pooped in her potty this morning! But it was quite by accident... we were both surprised! She was fascinated with the "product" however, lol. I don't think we will really be ready for training pants for several months, though. Still looking forward to advice or shared stories or misery, though. Thanks, D.

I have two little girls who were both potty trained during the day fairly young. My oldest was about 20.5 months old when trained and she started potty training right around 18 months. My youngest was trained (kinda fully trained herself one week last November) when she was 19.5 months old but had started at 15 months. I started training my youngest so early just at bath time. She was consistantly pooping in the bathtub (ugh!), so I started putting her on the potty just before and/or after bath and we'd make a big deal out of her going on the potty. Over the next several months, I gradually increased the number of time throughout the day that she was set on the potty. For both of my kids, an M&M or a chocolate chip did wonders and was a great reward for going on the potty. I also never used a little potty chair. I just used a potty seat on the big toilet and bought a travel/fold-up potty seat that fit in the diaper bag to use when we were out at stores or restaurants since both girls went through a phase of being afraid to sit on the big potty and hold on without a potty seat. Both my girls also have very large vocabularies and were able to tell me when they had to go at the point of being fully potty trained. We never did any special books or videos with the girls, just had the seat available and set them up there from time to time or when we thought they had to go (shortly after eatting or drinking a lot for example). Oh, we did keep a supply of books available by each of the toilets in the house. My girls both loved to sit on the potty and look at books. It kept them up there a bit longer also. Personally, I just took a slow and steady approach to the whole ordeal. If it took a month, great, but if it took three or four months, that was okay too. Like I said, my youngest one week just started keeping her diaper dry and saying she had to go potty and holding it at stores until we could find a potty. With both girls we bought them special panties that they were very excited about and wanted to keep dry which also seemed to help the transition from diapers to panties (I never did the whole Pull-Ups thing). Honestly, I think a big part of potty training is the commitment by the parents. Yes, it is a huge pain to have to stop in the middle of every meal or every store you walk into, or pull over after having just left the house to find a potty. I know there were times I really did not want to stop what I was doing for the twentieth time that day to take my toddler to the potty, but that was the only way they were going to learn and at least they were telling me they had to go. I've known quite a few parents who just don't want to deal with the hassel after a few days and give up on their child because they find it easier to just change a diaper. But, if you push through and get over that hump of training, the results are well worth it. Think of all the diaper money you'll save! Also, I found I saved myself a lot of frustration and time by purchasing piddle pads for the car seats. I got mine from One Step Ahead and they are by Kiddopotumaus. They are a waterproof pad that your child sits on in the carseat, so if you can't make it to a potty in time while in the car, you only need to wash the little pad, not the entire carseat cover. Sorry this is so long, but I hope it helps or gives you some ideas.