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 Ask Dr. Jana
Early Interest in Toilet Training | | | QUESTION | | | Dear Dr. Jana,
My 19-month-old girl has started telling me when her diapers are dirty and now is taking them off and sitting on her little potty and going both BMs and urinating. Sometimes she tells me "poopy" and then she goes in and goes; other times she just starts to pull off her diaper. I thought children should be at least two before you even think about potty training. My question is, Should I start training her, or is this a phase and I should wait till she is two?
— Kim in Akron, OH | | | ANSWER |
January 17, 2001 | | | Dear Kim,
Your daughter definitely sounds advanced for her age! There are lots of different opinions on when and how children should be toilet trained. My own recommendation is that when a child is able to understand the concepts involved in toilet training and expresses interest in mastering this important skill, as your daughter clearly has, there is no reason why you shouldn't encourage her interest. In some ways, I consider toilet training analogous to learning the alphabet--if your daughter started to recite the alphabet, I wouldn't recommend that you force her to wait until she was older!
I will tell you, however, that I have seen children your daughter's age suddenly lose interest after beginning to toilet train at an early age (usually less than two years). They go back to their old diaper routine, sometimes for more than six months. If this happens, it's best to take a step back and not force the issue of using the toilet. Unlike the alphabet, the process of toilet training often has a lot to do with a toddler's sense of control and autonomy, and I think that it is most important that you don't fight battles over it.
Best of luck. If you have questions about the actual process of toilet training, I recommend looking at the several articles we have on the subject in the Behavior and Development section of the site.— by Laura Jana, M.D., F.A.A.P. |
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