Is DS ready for the potty?

tobewed09

DS is 22 months. We have not attempted to potty train at all since he has not shown any signs of wanting to...until now. Over the past two weeks he has been telling us when he poops in his diaper. Although sometimes he just passes gas cause the diaper is empty....but it smells:) He also grabs near his front area and I think he is peeing, don't know for sure. He also shown shown interest in flushing the potty. So I am wondering if these are my signs and I should buy him his own potty? Any advice?

KelleyA

buy him a potty and let him try it out, but don't be surprised if he's not ready.  22 months is young, but he could very well be ready.  Good luck!  

CareBear01

Those are all positive signs.  We bought DS a mini potty and a potty ring around that age, but he still hasn't shown any more signs of potty training.  :-/  You will need those items, anyway, so you might as well get them now and just sit him on them just to get him acquainted, but like KelleyA said, don't be disappointed if it doesn't happen right away.

JamicanBride

I would certainly try it.  I don't dont think it could  hurt.  DD has been using the potty at home for the past week, it might be the novality but at least now she knows what it is for.  So I say just try it out.

rayskit10

OK, I'll be the voice of dissent based on my experience with 2 boys. Boys are rarely ready to potty train at 22 months. The majority don't do it until in to their 3rd year. It's good and you should encourage him to talk about it, but him knowing that he has gone or even is in the process of going is not what makes him able to potty. Knowing that he will have to go and to be able to control it to some extent is what makes him able to potty.

I have seen sooo many people take the 1st glimmer of interest and try to make it work. Mathis's teacher says, and I agree, that it often sets them back in the end because they end up doing a lot of back and forth. You get frustrated, they get frustrated. Diapers are actually easier than long-term potty training IMO! There is rush to get them trained these days and it all has to do with the competitiveness of being a mom these days. I know *you're* not trying to be competitive but there is this pervasive feeling that we need to PT our kids as soon as humanly possible. Ask your pedi- it's just not true!

With T, he was a couple months over 3 when he stood up in the bath tub and said "look what I can do!" and started to pee, then stopped, then started again. I knew he was ready because a) he knew it was coming before he did, and b) he had control. He was potty trained in like 4 days. There were accidents, sure, and #2 took a little longer but it was almost stress free.

So, after that novel, I say let him look and talk to him about it, but I don't think (esp for boys) that those are signs of true readiness, just awareness.

Jena503

I would buy a potty. I'm one of those crazy early potty trainers, but then my DS isn't fully PT'd yet... but pretty darn close at 27mo. We went to the zoo last week and he was in the same pair of underwear from morning until bed time. But then he's been following big sister to the potty for months already (and I think having an older sibling really moves things along). He's also been running around naked at home for a couple months so he could potty without worrying about clothes. This let him take charge of it. Of course it's also probably important to mention that I have hard floors and almost no carpet, so cleanup isn't a big deal to me.

I don't think you should push it, but I see nothing wrong with encouraging it. If you get to the point where either of you is frustrated, then you're probably pushing too much.

SigmundsGirl

Our Pedi gave us 2 things to think about: 1) do they have the interest to do it and 2) Do they have the physical capability to do it (do they know they need to go *before* they actually do it and can they pull up and down their own clothes).

He said that potty training should take a number of days not weeks. So I am inclined to think like Rayskit10. I would just encourage him to keep telling you when he has gone and then see if he can start telling you that he needs to go.

Evan is 22-months too and he likes to tell us when he has gone to the bathroom, but then runs away when we tell him we need to change his diaper. He is so not ready to be potty trained, but he is making progress in understanding what is going on.  :-)