Tips for Potty Training Before Age 2

My 18-month-old daughter has been sitting on the potty since she was 10 months old. Right now, she poops in the potty about 90% of the time. We’re still working on making it to the potty for pee pee. I’m definitely not the crazy type of parent who plans for my kid to reach every milestone early. But several factors made me consider this lazy potty training method early on. This is our personal journey with potty training my toddler. My goal is that she’ll be toilet ready before the age of 2. Here are my tips for potty training before age 2!

Potty Ready?

When Rosie was 10 months old, she started a long and frustrating (for me) season of constipation. You can imagine how awkward, uncomfortable and difficult it was for her to poop in the diaper. On the positive side, it was really obvious when she was trying to poop – her face would turn bright as a cherry.

I decided to buy a simple potty and give it a shot. We had nothing to lose. At 10 months, Rosie was sitting up confidently. I had all the time in the world to play around with her potty skills.

Here are four simple tips to get started:

Familiarize her with the potty.

Place the potty in a common area. We placed it in our bathroom in hopes that Rosie will associate “potty” with “bathroom.” We also considered putting it in the living room. Then she would see it all the time and recognize it (but decided not to risk the stink!). We sat Rosie on the potty a few times with clothes on and applauded enthusiastically. She took to it quickly and well. There was no fuss.

Incorporate it into her daily routine.

Seat your baby on the potty at consistent times throughout the day. It takes observation, trial and error, and basically using your judgment to guess the most predictable times your baby goes. Rosie sits on the potty before and after she wakes up from sleep. She enjoys it most of the time because it’s when she gets her reading done.

Give a proper response with the result.

Show enthusiasm when your baby successfully goes in the potty. We initially always applauded and said “great job” when Rosie peed or pooped in the potty. Help your baby to slowly realize that they did something good. Be mindful not to be overly excited though. They should also know that it is just a normal thing to do.

When you catch your baby going in her diaper, remind her of the potty. Rosie took to understanding the word “potty” quickly so I would simply say “no, Rosie go poo poo in potty.” Do not discourage or punish.

Pay attention to the signs.

Your baby will communicate that they need to go in one way or another. It might be a frozen expression of fear, a grunt or a word. At around 10 months, Rosie would grunt or turn really red and I would put her on the potty right away. At around 15 months, she started to communicate that she needed to go poop. She would give a panicky whine, point in the direction of the potty and grab her diaper. Respond to your baby’s gestures even if she’s “crying wolf.” If she does end up going in the potty, affirm her. “Wow Rosie poo poo in potty. Thank you for telling mommy.”

Rosie’s 18 month update

As of now, Rosie is able to communicate that she needs to poop consistently. She has accidents once in a while. They happen when she really has to go right after she wakes up from her nap (or she’s woken up from her nap because she has to go). By the time she yells for me, the deed’s already been done. We also have a travel potty when we’re on the go. We have kept a spare one at the in-law’s that we use often. She really hates pooping in her diaper.

We’ll keep working at going pee pee in the potty. Sometimes she’ll let me know. Other times, she’s too distracted to care. I should probably take my own advice and be more consistent with letting her sit on the potty.

Don’t sweat it too much!

I want to end with a sort of disclaimer. Rosie is making this process pretty easy for me. She picked up quickly. And she doesn’t like to poop in her diaper anyway. So I didn’t do much research before we started. I pretty much made it up as I went along but it’s been working out well for us. I know there’s lots of methods to potty train. This super gradual and laid-back way works well for us. As a stay-at-home mom, I have time and I’m able to pay attention to the nuisances of her expressions. We started using the potty super early so there is no rush to “get it right” any time soon. She has been going at her own pace and it’s a pleasant surprise to see her excel. As a plus, we probably saved a few bucks on diapers and wipes.
So there are my tips for potty training before age 2! I hope these tips are helpful for you.

What about you? Do you have any good tips to share?