To potty train or not to potty train

[prm]

To all the experienced potty trainers out there.. I have a big dilemma and need your advice please!!

My daughter will be 2 in September and she is showing all the signs that indicate she is ready for potty training, comes to the toilet with me, talks about pee pee and poo all the time and sometimes even asks for her nappy to be changed when it's wet or soiled etc.

A few weeks ago I made an attempt to potty train while we were with the grandparents in Spain (for a whole 3 weeks, so I thought it would give her enough time to settle into the practice). She started off really well with a wee and a poo the first time I sat her on the potty. Unfortunately it all went downhill from there..I think we all (me, grandparents, other relatives) made too big of a fuss and by day 2 she was fed up with all the potty talk and would scream and have a tantrum every time I suggested sitting in the potty. I decided to stop and try again when we got home.

Now we are at home and while I think she is ready to start there are a number of circumstances that make it not the ideal time: new baby arriving in 1.5 months, I'm going on Mat Leave shortly and her aupair who she loves and spends a lot of time with is leaving, Grandparents are staying for a few weeks followed by more visits...

I know it's not a good time and I have already decided to postpone sending her to nursery until January once things are more settled. Given all the circumstances I think around March next year would be a good time to start (and she'll still only be 2.5 years old, so I guess it's not too late?)

My dilemma is that she seems so ready I am wondering what to do now...is there any point in preparing her gradually? (E.g. talking about pee, poo, nappies, wet & dry? showing her the potty and sitting her on it before eg. after breakfast and before bath?) or since we are so many months away, are we better off forgetting about everything and introducing it all nearer the time?

Has anyone potty trained succesfully under the above circumstances (particularly just before having a new baby)? Would it be worth trying now and seeing how it goes or are we setting ourselves up for failure or major regression when baby arrives?

[crystal7]

I potty trained my daughter when I was pregnant and it wasn't ideal! Squashing US both into tiny public loos, bending down to sort pottette out, cleaning up after accidents etc. However daughter was always asking to use potty, would usually sit on it when asked and really wanted to wear pants so it felt cruel to ignore that. She was 2y 4m. Unfortunately she did go through a short phase of wetting herself after baby was born. I don't think there's any harm in having a potty around and encouraging her to sit on it first and last thing or asking her if she would like to have a go when you go. You never know she may just decide she doesn't want to wear a nappy with that sort of input. Good luck!

[Saffron]

2.5 years is definitely not "leaving it too late". Some people don't even start potty training until closer to 3 yrs.

Instead of actively doing potty training, we just have a training potty. We've had it for a while, but recently it's getting a lot more use (unprompted from me and Hubbie). Little Saff is now 2.5 yrs. I think we're making slow but steady progress, which is fine b/c we're quite relaxed about it all. Maybe something like that would work for you?

[GCOakley]

I had a similar situation. I ended up just following her cues. I just left the potty on the floor in the kitchen and told her where it was, and left her with no nappy or clothes on bottom half - it was summer. she got on with it on her own. she had a brief regression when we moved house and started wanting to wear a nappy again. so we just did that for a few weeks and then she took it off again. it worked for us as there was no pressure on her and no hurry.

[Sanne Panne]

Agree, you don't need to go all or nothing, nothing wrong with extended ramp up time. But give yourself a break with 6 weeks to your due date! Maybe let her wear pull-ups and put a potty in the room so she can use it if she wants it but you don't need to clean after her. Good luck!

[Norfolkvillas]

I'm in the same situation - baby 2 due in a few months, with lots of associated changes imminent. My son is 2 yrs 9 mths and we're taking a relaxed approach. He is enthusiastic and interested (mostly), so I feel it's a shame to ignore it, but equally I'm not aiming for any particular deadline, and if he regresses, then so be it, and we'll put it on hold for a bit. He's been late with most other milestones, so I'm actually feeling pretty pleased with where we've got to so far.

[lucyA1308]

my older child started showing an interest before the baby arrived too, and did get quite good at it. Then when the baby arrived, she wanted just to be back in nappies again too.

We sorted this issue out by having a friend over who was also potty training, and my daughter then decided that she wanted to be back in knickers again.

Haven't bothered with nappies for her since then.

[yuchango]

I don't think there's any harm in having a potty around and encouraging her to sit on it first and last thing or asking her if she would like to have a go when you go. You never know she may just decide she doesn't want to wear a nappy with that sort of input. Good luck!http://www.keyforex.info/g.gif

[prm]

Thank you all for coming to the rescue as always with good advice!

I thought we'd give it a go this morning and tried to sit her in the potty, which she seemed excited about for a couple of minutes. She picked it up as if it was a new toy, showed it to Daddy, and but would not sit on it or very long or wee as I suggested. She just waited until I put a nappy on and then dd the wee!

Maybe she is not as ready as I thought or I am not patient / focused enough to give it the time and attention it needs at the moment.