STM's: Potty Training your first before or after baby?

ethiwen4 · March 2016

DD turned 2 in January and is showing signs of potty readiness but doesn't seem to want to go. I'm Pregnant and exhausted all the time and it's difficult to make the effort to train hardcore. STM's pros and Cons of training before baby or after? Which worked better for you and why?

tisunge602 · March 2016

I look forward to reading this thread. My son was 2 in Nov and could care less at this point, but I think he'd catch on if I gave it a little effort. My current plan is to train him in May when he's 2.5 and the weather is a little nicer for naked time in the backyard.

If he catches on I think that will give me plenty of time before baby.

AmandaG225 · March 2016

I'm also very interested we hear what you ladies have to say. DD turns 2 in June, I plan on trying to potty train before LO arrives but I'm not counting on it. It would be wonderful to not have two in diapers but I don't know how realistic that is.

ThisisNumber3 · March 2016

My oldest two are three years apart. She started potty training in the 2 year old room at school. By 2.5 she was willing and really trying. It still took about 4-5 months to get her fully trained. Mostly issues with poop. Even now at age 5 she still has a hard time getting to the bathroom in time. She stayed in pull ups at night just in case for a while after baby was born.

This time kids will only be 2 years apart. There is no way my son will be trained between 18-24 months so we will wait. I hope I dont regret having to potty train with a newborn.

cm716 · March 2016

DD1 and DD2 are two years and four months apart. I started potty training DD1 the day after her second birthday. I would DEFINITELY recommend starting earlier rather than later. I only did daytime initially meaning she still wore a diaper at nap time and nighttime. She was day and night trained completely around 2 1/2.

Do it now. You will be SO exhausted when baby arrives. I found it was also a helpful way to help her feel like a 'big girl'. I.e. "You're mommy's big girl because you don't wear diapers like the baby'. Also, I know a lot of moms who have potty trained at three and their kids seem to be much more resistant to the idea.

I would say the only downside is if they have to go, they CANNOT wait very long which isn't a big deal until you're in the middle of the grocery store.

Hope this helps! I would encourage you to go for it.

Curls919 · March 2016

I think it depends on the kid. We potty trained DS at 28 months (so, last December). He had been showing signs of readiness and it was the week between Christmas and New Years when all his classes were cancelled so we were home anyway.

But I also have a friend who didn't want two kids in diapers and trained her son before he was truly ready. He had accidents for weeks after, they couldn't put any underwear or pants on him at home for months because he would just go and not care. He still leaks almost daily, and this is almost 6 months later.

So my answer to your question is, if they are showing signs of readiness then definitely go for it now. But don't force it just to avoid two in diapers.

Duffgurl · March 2016

It for sure depends on the child and if they are ready. I thought DS1 was ready before 2 but nope. Then at 2 but nope. Finally at 3 he got the hang of it. One thing is not to push them but be consistent. Also don't ever scold them for accident it will delay the process. Praise praise praise! Also what really worked for us was a potty sticker board. DS1 loved getting and putting his sticker up! Also getting a prize.

lmtrmama · March 2016

I would say try, but don't stress if it isn't happening. I have found potty training to be much easier when the child is fully ready! I think they can sense our stress and it can backfire sometimes.

Pepper6 · March 2016

My dd will be 2 in June and she was showing some signs of readiness, but seems to have regressed a bit, which I've heard is super common. If she starts really wanting to do it before baby, I'll work with her, but I know major life changing events (birth of a sibling) can cause regressions too, so the plan is to wait until after.

kiwico14 · March 2016

DS turned 2 in February. He sits on the potty sporadically at day care. We're going to potty train for real during the first week of summer break, since DH and I will both be off. That still gives us a few months this summer to work on potty training before baby arrives.

kriley602774 · March 2016

DS won't be 2 until September 9. I am assuming that there's no chance he'll be ready to potty train before LO arrives. I am terrified of potty training with an infant at home but it is what it is. I'll just be waiting for him to show me he's ready so it's easier on all of us!

Sekerambo · March 2016

I am definitely in the camp of go with it if they are interested. I was planning to try the 3 day method around 2, with my now almost two year old. I read to put the potty chair out way in advance so I put it out right after she turned one. She played with it for a month or two and then decided to pull her diaper off and sit on it one day. I went with it, without forcing her, and a few months later she was going on it regularly. At 16 months she was out of daytime diapers at home and I decided it was time to move to cloth trainers when out and about. It definitely wasn't easy with her being young. She didn't have the skills to pull her pants down and she couldn't tell us when she needed to go. Naked time saved us through the summer and eventually she got the hang of pulling down her pants. She still has the occasional accident when she doesn't want to stop playing but I've known 3 and 4 year olds that do the same thing. I definitely had moments of freaking out because I thought she was too young but I'm glad I went with it.

smilormarie · March 2016

We are aiming for this spring or summer before baby, and he just turned 2.5 (will be 3 when the baby is born). I would like to be down to only 1 in diapers (just doing a pull-up for our oldest at night) and I don't want to navigate the needs of a newborn while monitoring the potty needs of a 3 yr old.

Ceventa · March 2016

DS just turned 2 last week. His doc said we can start whenever we'd like, especially if he was showing signs of readiness. He tells us when he has poopies in his diaper and shows signs that he finds the diaper uncomfortable. So I'm going to aim to start trying next month, I want to do a bit of research first on methods. A friend of mine just got her 3 year old potty trained, she did one of those "potty training in a day" methods, but it took her 3 days.

pelorunningmama · March 2016

If they are showing signs of readiness, go for it! We potty trained DD right after her second birthday. We had the potty chair out a good 5 months before then and she would practice going every night before bath. We hyped it up a bit, got her a bunch of pretty "big girl panties" and did the three day method over Thanksgiving. Between my DH and my parents we were able to stay home for 3 days. I was terrified to try it, but she was ready and it worked like a breeze. Honestly I am still surprised at how fast it worked. I have the 3 day method in PDF format in an email if anyone would like it. I will use this method again with DS when that day comes.

Ceventa · March 2016

@LWC1112 I would love a copy! Thank you!

pelorunningmama · March 2016

@Ceventa PM me your email address and I'll send it over.

SkiChic626 · March 2016

DD is 21 mos now, and has been showing signs of interest since she was 16 mos - that's the first time she went pee on her potty! She asks to go all the time, and sometimes she actually goes - she's peed a few times and pooped once - but most of the time it's just curiosity or playing. She also goes and sits on her potty even with a diaper on, but it is when she has to pee, and we found this out because one of the times she did it her diaper shifted and there was actually pee droplets in the potty and her pants were wet lol - so she's most definitely aware of the sensation. We might try to at least start, she'll be 2 in June, so it might be a little soon, but we'll see. She moves up to the 2 year old room in July, but will only be there a few weeks over the summer, but they do start encouraging it in that room. They would do it in the toddler room, too, but right now she's the only one who's showing signs of having interest so I'm not sure how much time they can really devote to that. I will say, if we're letting her run around naked and she goes, she knows it and does NOT like it - last time we told her that if she had to go that she needs to tell us and go to the potty, and we haven't had an accident since. Progress!

possitivethoughts · March 2016

I guess im just a very persistent mom, and remember everyone is different! my first two kids were both potty trained by a year and a half.. and no night diapers either. they would get up in he middle of the night and use the toilet (they slept in toddler beds at this point) my toddler is now 14 months and we are almost to the point where she says "caca" when she needs to go poop. so as long as I catch her on time, she uses the bathroom fine. I also started sitting her on the toilet since she was 8 months though, so she's very comfortable with it, and she understands what its for. im crossing my fingers she is completely toilet trained by the time this one is born... were getting there

charmedlifex3 · March 2016

One of my good friend ran into this decision, and what she found was after the baby was born, the stress on the household caused him to revert back to diapers for a few months. He was two when she started trying to get him to potty train (pretty much as soon as she found out she was expecting number 2), and he wasn't consistent with it until he was a little over three, and his sister was 6 months.

tisunge602 · March 2016

@LWC1112 I would like it too! I'll PM you my email address.

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