Infant Potty Training
Can a child start potty training as an infant? The quick answer is yes!
A common belief in North America is that potty training should start around age 2. Toddlers should go at their own pace and self-train. The disposable diaper industry has educated us in potty training and they now make diapers that will fit a 4 year old or older... They make a lot of profit when we wait so long to potty train our children.
I was skeptical that my baby could be potty trained as an infant. I just had to try!
My baby would often wake up dry - If I went to change her diaper as soon as she woke up, it was dry more often then not. And then, to start the day right, she would pee all over her change table before I had the chance to put a diaper back on. I don't like cleaning up pee! At age 5 months, I bought her a potty and started sitting her on it as soon as I removed the diaper.
To my surprise, she peed in her potty!
She is now 6 months old, and everytime I change her diaper, I put her on the potty (actually we bought one that goes over the toilet, so that I didn't have to clean the potty. She is too small to sit on it by herself at this stage, so it really doesn't matter as her feet do not touch the floor. )
She now pees and poos in her potty about half the time. She still wears diapers. We are religious about putting her on the potty at each diaper change. We try and keep her as dry as possible. and hope that this will lead to her being potty trained by age 1.
Potty training without stickers, charts, bribes... infants don't care about these things and are not scared of the toilet... This could be too good to be true.... Stay tuned!
The "experts" call it elimination communication - as technically, I should be in tune with my baby and be able to read her and know when she needs to go. I haven't been able to do that. I try to keep my daughter really dry, so I check her diaper and put her on the potty about once an hour during the day. When I do this, she stays dry for 4-5 hours, unless our timing was off or daddy was playing with her or she laughed too hard *smile* I wish I could better read her cues. I'm hoping that soon she will clearly tell me she needs to go potty.
It takes a lot of love, time, diligence and patience.
We don't expect our daughter to self-train - We don't expect her to learn how to use a spoon on her own, just like anything we teach our daughter, we take the time to teach her, show her, and help her discover everythng that she can do.
I now tell all my friends, family and anyone who wants to listen, that my baby girl started potty training at 5 months, that she is not exceptional, she is just doing what all babies can do given a chance.
Give your baby the opportunity to pee and poo in the potty - instead of his/her diaper!
Baby learns that you want him to use his diaper as a toilet. Then we spend a lot of energy to unlearn this...
If you would like to talk to me about this, feel free to call me or e-mail me. I would be happy to share my experience!
Kim
Resources:
CanadianParents.com Infant Potty Training This is a must read!
DiaperFreeBaby is a non-profit organization dedicated to helping families around the world discover and enjoy the emotional, developmental, environmental, and health benefits of practicing Elimination Communication.
A common belief in North America is that potty training should start around age 2. Toddlers should go at their own pace and self-train. The disposable diaper industry has educated us in potty training and they now make diapers that will fit a 4 year old or older... They make a lot of profit when we wait so long to potty train our children.
I was skeptical that my baby could be potty trained as an infant. I just had to try!
My baby would often wake up dry - If I went to change her diaper as soon as she woke up, it was dry more often then not. And then, to start the day right, she would pee all over her change table before I had the chance to put a diaper back on. I don't like cleaning up pee! At age 5 months, I bought her a potty and started sitting her on it as soon as I removed the diaper.
To my surprise, she peed in her potty!
She is now 6 months old, and everytime I change her diaper, I put her on the potty (actually we bought one that goes over the toilet, so that I didn't have to clean the potty. She is too small to sit on it by herself at this stage, so it really doesn't matter as her feet do not touch the floor. )
She now pees and poos in her potty about half the time. She still wears diapers. We are religious about putting her on the potty at each diaper change. We try and keep her as dry as possible. and hope that this will lead to her being potty trained by age 1.
Potty training without stickers, charts, bribes... infants don't care about these things and are not scared of the toilet... This could be too good to be true.... Stay tuned!
The "experts" call it elimination communication - as technically, I should be in tune with my baby and be able to read her and know when she needs to go. I haven't been able to do that. I try to keep my daughter really dry, so I check her diaper and put her on the potty about once an hour during the day. When I do this, she stays dry for 4-5 hours, unless our timing was off or daddy was playing with her or she laughed too hard *smile* I wish I could better read her cues. I'm hoping that soon she will clearly tell me she needs to go potty.
It takes a lot of love, time, diligence and patience.
We don't expect our daughter to self-train - We don't expect her to learn how to use a spoon on her own, just like anything we teach our daughter, we take the time to teach her, show her, and help her discover everythng that she can do.
I now tell all my friends, family and anyone who wants to listen, that my baby girl started potty training at 5 months, that she is not exceptional, she is just doing what all babies can do given a chance.
Give your baby the opportunity to pee and poo in the potty - instead of his/her diaper!
Baby learns that you want him to use his diaper as a toilet. Then we spend a lot of energy to unlearn this...
If you would like to talk to me about this, feel free to call me or e-mail me. I would be happy to share my experience!
Kim
Resources:
CanadianParents.com Infant Potty Training This is a must read!
DiaperFreeBaby is a non-profit organization dedicated to helping families around the world discover and enjoy the emotional, developmental, environmental, and health benefits of practicing Elimination Communication.