Potty Training Timing

AMK2008

Hi, I am due with #2 in August and had a question about potty training and thought you ladies would have some insight.  They will be about 2 years apart in age.  Do you think it would be easier to have #1 potty trained or in diapers for the first few months after #2 arrives? 

I was thinking of (attempting) to potty train my almost 2 y/o son in July so I'd only have one in diapers.  I know this is on the young side for boys, but I thought I would give it a try since he is showing some signs of being ready.  I am starting to think that it may be more stressful dealing with potty breaks and accidents, etc with a newborn, and maybe should put it off for a bit.  Any experiences or insights on this would be great! 

 TIA!

celiabwatson

It can't hurt to try.

However, that being said. I did sort of try with my son (he was asking for it) when the baby was little (like a few weeks) and it was a disaster. She was too little for me to have time to help him learn. We went back to diapers and we'll try again soon. So if it doesn't work now I'd plan on waiting until the little one is at least several months old to worry about training. 

It's not that bad to have two in diapers. After the initial newborn stage I just change them at the same time all day long (unless something unexpected happens) and it's not that big a deal. I even cloth diaper and have no regrets about having two in diapers. 

jf198400

I havent actually started training my older one yet, but I can say that 2 in diapers isn't bad at all.  I've also heard that even if you do potty train before baby comes, your child will be likely to regress b/c of the stress of the new baby.  I think you should wait awhile.

skyejo

DD1 will be 23 months when DD2 arrives and I'd love to have her potty trained by the time the baby arrives.  We're taking a slow approach to it right now and I'm following DD's cues without pushing it.  She's doing great so far and I plan to take a few days off in August (one month before I'm due) to really give the whole potty training thing a go. 

If we're not there by the time the baby arrives I'll hold off for a couple months.  I feel like it will be too hectic at the beginning to get adjusted to life with a newborn while trying to potty train at the same time.  I have four months of mat leave so I'll have time to try it again before I go back to work. 

I don't think two in diapers will be the worst thing, but for me it will be easier to potty train her before the newborn arrives.  If not I'm stuck with a double load of cloth diaper laundry for a while 

AMK2008

Thanks for your responses.  Gives me something to think about!

Court0026

I thought 2 in diapers was easy.  One less thing to worry about.  If your son is ready, you have time to get him PTed before the baby.  My son was NOT ready until recently.  You just never know.

stdldb29

DH potty trained DS 3 days after DD was born. He was 23 months at the time, worked perfect. DS was all about that daddy attention!

Monsieur_et_Madame_Ha

Hey OP! I was right in your shoes this time last year. In the end, I kept DD1 in diapers until Christmas (she was 27 months then). I did start getting her interested in the potty earlier on (probably this time of the year), so when we decided to really tackle potty training, it wasn't exactly new territory for her.

I see no harm in giving PT a try right now, as long as you keep an open mind about it (that is, know that your son might not be ready after all).

Good luck! 

AMK2008

Great to hear all the different experiences.  I think we will give PT a go, but not sure how hard core we will be.  I was all about the 1-3 day methods of intense PT, but now may consider doing something less stressful and introduce it to him slowly and maybe in 4-6 months really give it a go.  I don't want to stress myself or him out right now, so we'll see how it goes.

bellelamb

In my experience under two is a bit young for boys to be trained.  Most parents who say their 20 month old is pt are really the ones trained. They watch for cues know their kids schedule or put their kid on the potty ever 30 minutes.  Not what I could handle now with a 20 month old and a 7 week old. 

FusionLMT

I say give it a go also. I am starting to PT my 20 mo son and he is doing really well. I think he will be poop trained within a month or so, and pee may take a while longer (which is A-OK with me! poop is the one I hate changing). He is just now telling us when he needs to poop also, so it isn't all just us putting him on there.

JoFarmmer

My two are 18 months to the day apart, with DS being born on 7/7 and DD on 1/7. I would say that around the time DD was born, DS started to show signs of wanting to potty train, so we went with it. Because I had a newborn and was ebf, I didn't have a lot of time to solely dedicate to the potty training, instead not having high expectations and just going with it.

It started off with him ripping off his diaper and streaking around the house in the nude, peeing on the rug in his room and then moved to curiosity when we were going and then finally making the move to the potty and/or potty seat (we had both).

The one piece of advice I can give is to make it as easy as possible for yourself! Make sure you have all of the "stuff" you need, i.e. potty with an easy to remove tray, potty seat, rags/towels stashed around the house, fabric cleaner in easy to reach (but childproof) places and don't forget about nighttime! One or two Brolly Sheets will be good for night bed strips and will save on laundry.

Trust me, with 2 under 2 you'll be busy but prepping will put you in a good place. Good luck! DD is showing signs and I expect that we'll be going through it all again in a few months time