Potty Training a 17-Month Old, or, Are We Crazy?!?!

As much as I don't like it, the cell phone keeps Audrey occupied and on the toilet and also doubles as a timer.

We did it. We took the plunge.

Early start potty training.

And we're not as insane as you might think. Did you know it's only been since the 1960s that parents have been told to wait until their child is older than two to potty train? And who told them that?

Pampers.

Going back even further, the advent of the automatic washing machine pushed the start time back from 2-3 months (yes, months) to no later than 7-9 months. The change was seen as rather liberal.

Now, I have no intentions of teaching my newborn to use a toilet but it is interesting to think about who is telling us what our children are/aren't capable of. And most importantly, why. Even though we use cloth diapers, I don't want the disposable companies telling me it's okay for my daughter to carry around her own waste until she's five just so they can make more money.

So here Ryan and I are, attempting to train our daughter to pee in a toilet. We're seven hours into it and there's been about 10 accidents and five successes, and Audrey's sat on the toilet for about half an hour. As per my mom's suggestion, we have a sticker chart by the toilet. Audrey gets a star if she sits on the toilet for a timed length, increasing from one minute to three at this point, and she gets a smiley face if she actually pees in the toilet. And of course she always gets lots, and lots, and lots of praise. She's getting the routine down, from walking towards the bathroom when we say 'potty' to helping us clean up the messes. Since she doesn't speak I know getting her to communicate to us that she needs to go will be the biggest issue. But for now we're focusing on her understanding when she needs to go and we'll worry about her telling us later.

Though it might still take six months for Audrey to be fully potty trained, I'm glad we're doing it now. Even if it does take that long, she'll still be way ahead of her peers. She's a bright little girl and she's up for the challenge and so are we. I want her to understand from an early age that perseverance, patience and a good attitude will serve her well throughout her life. So Ryan and I are holding onto those qualities ourselves as Audrey runs around naked.



All the information here is from the book Early Start Potty Training by Linda Sonna. I highly recommend it.