[NewYorkMom]

The New York Times ran an interesting article today, titled "A Fast Track to Toilet Training for Those at the Crawling Stage." There are parents who are potty training as young as 6 mos. old. I didn't potty train my daughters until they were 1 1/2, but this article offered a good case for starting earlier. What does everyone else think? How young is too young?
The article's here: http://nytimes.com/2005/10/09/nyregion/09diapers.html

[mcmama]

I saw this article today too. I think that toilet learning has a lot to do with culture, and emphasis on cleanliness, and how people relate to their children. I agree that disposables make it easier for the child to be in diapers longer. But, if you have kids in a group setting (I was a family child care provider for 9 years) disposeables are really preferable, because there is less mess from a clean up point of view. Also less sharing of mess! But then I am from the days of rubber pants, and I am sure there are wraps now that do a better job.
Any kind of toilet training that happens before they are able to be aware of the feeling of elimination is really training the parent. I thought it was interesting how this article focused on comminication - we all know that they make little faces or noises when they are "working on it"! And if there is a parent or caregiver who can consistently respond to this signal, then yes, the child can learn earlier!
I am really going to watch this with interest, because I think they are on to something.

[ACard]

I can't imagine sticking my 7 month old on a potty but it would sure be nice to get rid of the costly smelly diapers. I'm having a hard time with my 26 month old who refuses to go on the potty. Any advice for how to handle that? My 4 year old was easily potty trained at 2 but it was mostly her own desire and I never pushed her to do it.

[markbarnes19]

My three-year-old son is still not potty-trained, so I'm shocked at this. My daughter is 19 months. She is very intelligent and receptive to just about anything. We can put her on the toilet at bath time, and she'll actually go. I'm going to give it a try. I'll post the news, when I have some. Thanks for the site.

[rori]

Acard,
Hi I Didn't Have To Much Problem Traing My 3 Year Old But There Was A Time Through It All Where She Just Didn't Want To Do It So I Went To The Store And Picked Up Those Gummy Worms And If She Went #1 She Got 1 Gummy And If She Went #2 (which Was Harder To Get Her To Do) She Got 2 Gummy Worms. Before I Knew It I Had All These Gummy Worms Left And She Was Potty Trained. Maybe That Would Do The Trick. Reward With A Treat That He Likes But Only Gets If He Pee's On The Potty.
Keri

[mcmama]

I didn't reward with food or candy, but I know parents who did. We used stickers instead. In daycare, we used to "celebrate" the kids having success. Since everyone was learning, had just learned, or would learn in the future, there was a lot of interest in this among the kids.

We had the little potty song! "Ta ra ra BOOM de ay, you peed in the potty today..." and EVERYONE always sang along! Then the successful child got a sticker. We had so many stickers stuck to those little jackets, tummies, etc. I got really tiny ones for a girl who wanted to pretend they were earrings.

[nicki]

I can't get to the article to read it but I have done this gradually and naturally over my years as a Mother. If you study other cultures, it is amazing to see how intuitive the Mothers are about their babies needs. Just like we, in our culture, learn to tell when a baby needs to eat or needs to sleep, so is the need to eliminate something that can be communication if a parent is interested in learning the signs. They aren't any more difficult to pick up on than a child's signs when they are sleepy or hungry! Heck, we do it with our dogs but not our infants?
Many Mothers I know have learned their children's cues well enough to take a break, take them to the nearest potty or sink and let them eliminate. Others I know, myself included, make more of a partial effort. When my babies were tiny, I kept them naked while we were home and learned their cues. It is amazing to see how early many of these babies will stay dry while napping and then sleeping through the night. By the time my son was six months old, he no longer needed diapers for naps and by the time he was 9 months old, he was dry through the night. We did use diapers when we were out, for convenience, but many children who aren't used to them really dislike them and simply don't want to wet on themselves. I think, as an adult who also does not like to wet on myself, this makes sense!

Truly elimination communication is not child potty training - it is the child training the adult. I don't think there is any disagreement about that. It is certainly a different way of handling potty training but it isn't necessarily any more difficult, and any many ways it is cleaner, if not easier, than the ole diaper route!

[cocotbo]

Originally Posted by nicki

Just like we, in our culture, learn to tell when a baby needs to eat or needs to sleep, so is the need to eliminate something that can be communication if a parent is interested in learning the signs. They aren't any more difficult to pick up on than a child's signs when they are sleepy or hungry! Heck, we do it with our dogs but not our infants?

Very true, Nicki!
My son has just started doing certain things before he eliminates - he'll stop playing and squat and I have to say that I'm thrilled to be getting such a blatant signal! We've already bought a potty for him but we aren't really going to start training until after we move. Moving & travel have been cause for big adjustments during our son's first year, so we're not going to rush him with more changes. Once we move we'll make use of the signals he sends us and see if he can't potty train us.

[pattiewrites]

I've heard of elimination communication and it's definitely the parents understanding and recongnizing the baby's signals. I've heard of parents doing this with very young infants, like 2 months old. Some even do it from birth. I don't think I'd have the energy for it, as this will be my fourth baby. I do find it interesting and admire parents who can do it.
My first 2 went potty at 2 years old and trained in a day or two. We didn't reward with food or even with each potty time. But, when they went to the potty regularly and wore panties, they got to go to the store and pick out a toy, which they called a "potty present". My 3 year old has no interest in the potty at all. I took her with me to pick out a potty and panties. We watch the potty movie, but she doesn't want to go yet. She just turned three and part of me is freaking out because my other 2 were completely trained long before now. But, I know that pressuring her will only make it worse, so I'm waiting for her to be ready. She has been telling me she will go tomorrow for months now. Today she told me she will go in "two weeks."