At what age should you start your child potty training?

Question

My daughter is almost 8 years old and my son is almost 15 months old. My step-mother in law wants to start potty training my son, however I don't think he's ready. She's really demanding and never listens to what I say. I say he's not ready and it's too soon, but when he goes to her house, she is almost starting him soon; once she gets a potty chair. Now, I have no choice but to send him there because she watches him during the day while I go to work so he spends a lot of time at her house. How old or what are some signs of potty training. I think we should wait till he's about a year and a half. What do you guys out there say????

Answer 1

You'll know when he's ready. If you ( or your MIL) force the issue he will get frustrated and probably take longer.
His little brain does not yet have the ability to receive messages from his bowel or bladder, which begin at about 2 yrs old.and it will be pointless to begin at such a young age.
Tell your MIL to check with her doctor if she does not listen to you, and see what they recommend.

Answer 2

That is completely up to you. If you dont think he's ready, dont train him yet. I introduced the potty chair to my daughter at 18 months just to get her used to seeing it so she knew what it was for. However, she didnt show any interest at that age so I didnt push the issue. Her pediatrician told me to just let her learn at her own pace. Your son should start exhibiting clues when he is ready such as pointing to the potty and asking what it is. My daughter is 2 now and we just started real potty training a little while ago, when she started telling us when she had a "yucky" diaper or had a "poo poo." The only problem we're having is she tells us AFTER she goes potty and not before. But she's headed in the right direction.

I would suggest talking to your son's pediatrician about the potty training issue and then relaying the information to your MIL. Maybe she'll heed the advice of the pediatrician.

Answer 3

Baby books agree with you that one and a half years of age is the right time to start potty training. Casually mention this to your stepmom along with the supposed side effects of too early toilet training. If she insists you have no choice but to let her do it if you still depend on her for baby sitting. But if you feel strongly that you don't want to risk your child's welfare while at her care, then look for someone else to baby sit your son or find a good child daycare provider.

Answer 4

As soon as they can walk on their own.
Actually, my Mom started us when
we were first crawling.
But I didn't start mine
till they learned to walk.
But, Hey, if she's keeping him during the day
&
she can do it with a positive attitude,
let her do it.
I would just have to sit down with her
&
explain to her,
that I did not mind her doing this
as long as she wasn't going
to punish him, when he had accidents.
Positive is always much better than negative.
I never paid any attention to
what the baby books said,
because these were my kids,
and I was the one who would have
to deal with the situations.
Not the authors of these books.

Answer 5

Potty training should be given as soon as possible. i am working I used to train my child to urinate as soon as he/she took feed at 15 days of age.so that there was minimal soiling of clothes.For laterine early in the morning between 6 to 7 am. the child is trained so easily .Then in between from facial expression of child one can easily know if it is for urination or defication. Help the child immediately and child is comfortable so child will also cry minimum

Answer 6

it is physically impossible for a child to control when they go to the toilet until they are 18 months....i would wait until they are 2

Answer 7

whenever you think your son is ready
it really depends on the child and parents

Answer 8

2-1/2 is soon enough.