Comments on: Baby Potty Training

By: Sandra

Sandra — Thu, 15 Mar 2012 21:36:06 +0000

I have had 5 girls in 5 years, and I read about baby potty training when my first was about 3 months old. I have always used cloth diapers so anything in the potty is a plus, and I immediately started trying to put her on the potty every time I changed her. I’m afraid I stressed about it a lot and worked very hard with her until I became too sick with the next one to do more than give her a try when I could manage. She was doing very well when her sister was born, and I kept # 2 perfectly dry by running her to the potty every time I thought she might need to go – until she hit 3 months and then she couldn’t hold it as long and I was pregnant again and too sick to manage. I still tried and she was clean and dry both day and night by the time she was 18 months old. We figured out then that if we avoided all sugar and fruit that my first born could also be dry at night which has been a blessing as both I an my husband wet the bed so I hadn’t had much hope. My third, I also tried really hard with, but she simply didn’t care, she is 2 1/2 and still struggles with getting to the potty and not being too lazy to bother, (she’s decided she likes the cold hose). I’m not sure how I could have worked with her more, I think personalities have a great deal to do with it. My 4th baby refused to go in her diaper and was always much relieved to be put on the toilet as a new born. She still lets me know when she needs to go even in the middle of the night and at 18 months is trying to be dry, but for some reason prefers to mess her diaper for naps, not sure why, we are still working on that one. We were moving country and living with in-laws when my 5th was born, and I knew I would get no support and they couldn’t deal with the baby’s screaming fit which is inevitable when first putting them on a potty, so I never even tried until we were settled and she was starting solids at 5 months and she has done amazingly well, she loves to stay clean and tries to stay dry as well. I have learned not to stress, and just praise when they do well, not get upset when I try and they don’t. It is definitely worth it for anyone out there considering it. Just remember to be thankful when they do well, and don’t take it personally if they don’t appreciate your efforts, some will, some apparently won’t. Prayer always helps too, for them and you. God has promised wisdom if we ask.

By: Emily

Emily — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 15:43:04 +0000

I’ll be giving birth to my first – a boy – in a few months. I’m excited to do potty training this way!

By: Jennifer

Jennifer — Sat, 15 Oct 2011 23:55:23 +0000

The article was great and helpful, though I think it would have been more of an enjoyable read without the critical commentary about parents

By: Tanya

Tanya — Mon, 11 Jul 2011 08:26:35 +0000

You all should read ‘Diper Free’ by Ingrid Bauer. It’s a totally great way to potty train like this, just not quiet for the same reasons described in this article.
To me it wasn’t so much a control-obidience issue, as it was a great communication tool. Just as I learned when my child is hungry and I would feed her, I learned when she needed to eliminate and I would take her. It’s a beautiful mother-baby dance, a relationship deepened and improved by yet another way of communicating.

I found that it was easier for my to keep her close to know her signals better and I also was excited that squatting with her in the grass at the park or over the toilet at home was a ton easier than changing diapers all day long!!! A diaper change is totally more time consuming, not to mention that it becomes a power struggle as soon as that baby learns that she can move! lol…

Self-respect? I am not sure that babies really know what that means, but they certainly know clean! and that is why I even looked in this direction – I don’t wear a diaper and think peeing or pooping in one would be totally gross, so why should my baby do this for the first year+ of her life!!! You know, not having to wipe poop off the whole diaper area alone is totally worth it for me.

By: Adrina

Adrina — Fri, 06 May 2011 06:02:11 +0000

I am using natural infant hygiene for my 6 week old baby. I just started. I do not view this as a method to “control” my baby though. To me helping my baby pee and poo on the potty from the beginning makes more sense. If I train a baby (I trained two babies the “conventional” way) to go in their diaper when most babies come out hating being dirty, then later I have to train them to stop doing this too. It makes more sense to allow their natural senses to not be dirty work in the baby’s favor. I don’t want to train my baby one way and later her that’s wrong now.

Other benefits of natural infant hygiene include no diaper rash! My other babies had horrible diaper rash no matter how vigilant I was to change them quickly. Also, paying attention to my babies cues is forming an incredible bond between us. I understand her needs now! Most of her fussing is do to trying to communicate that she needs to pee or poo. I am no longer ignoring these cues and we are both happier for it. Not to mention how nice it must be for her to know that mommy understands her and is working with her. Its great to me to be doing my best to understand her and not give her a diaper rash.

Is it a bit more work now? Yes, but worth it. Lets face it potty training toddlers is usually a struggle (there are toddlers that take right to it and their moms sure are lucky) have a small struggle when they are infants and already give cues that they don’t want to be dirty and are going, it makes more sense to help when they don’t fight you on it!

Again this is not and should not be a control issue. You use an association word because it allows them to associate an act with a word, its a training tool to help them learn the proper place to go, its for them and mom!

By: Bethany O

Bethany O — Sun, 23 Jan 2011 23:57:50 +0000

Wow…There are some seriously strong opinions about this topic in the comment section. I have 3 boys (5 yr old and 2 yr old twins) and a 4th boy due in April. I’m excited to train our infant when he arrives. Why? because I’m attempting to potty train two boys who are almost 3 and clean off their cloth diapers when its not going so well…which is most of the time. I don’t like using disposable diapers (waste of money and bad for the environment) but REALLY don’t like cloth diapers, so I figured this time, why don’t we try to without either as much as we can!?!
What I don’t understand is why anyone cares what others do. If this method works for your family, more power to you! If you’d rather let your child be in diapers for a few years before you train them…that’s fine with me. Let’s not be so critical of each other!

By: A.Johnson

A.Johnson — Tue, 04 Jan 2011 19:46:47 +0000

A chat buddy told me about this site and the books. I have a 21 month old daughter that I have had in pull ups since she was 18 months. The funny thing is that I always take her to the potty every morning, so she goes EVERY MORNING no matter where she’s at. This article really opened my eyes so I’m inspired to have her in undies by her birthday!”Consisistency is the key!”

By: Anna k

Anna k — Mon, 27 Dec 2010 16:24:06 +0000

I have successfully potty trained two children, the first I started at three months and the second from birth. I have now started with from birth with my third baby, and this is the easiest yet! With the first two I did not have the energy to take them at nights, which ended up as more work in the long run, wearing pull-ups, etc. But with this one I started taking her at night from day one and now she holds it all night long! Now I’m not saying all kids will be the same, and everyone has to find the balance that works for them…but I have found that this method sure makes it easier in the long run! Take the time to do it! But don’t stress about it either…just relax and know that every bit helps in the direction of good child training in every area of life!

By: Amy

Amy — Fri, 12 Nov 2010 20:28:51 +0000

I appreciate the self-respect aspect of baby potty training. The fact that ‘mom is in charge’ and training the baby to ‘obey’ and go potty when ‘told to’ is disturbing. Elimination is a personal act that is not designed for someone else to control. That sets people up for problems later on.

By: Jenny

Jenny — Tue, 28 Sep 2010 23:39:13 +0000

Hi, just wanted to share with you that at 10 weeks I started to potty train my son, before that, from birth, I would just use the word (popo in spanish) everytime he would go on his diapers. He’s 14 weeks-old now and he has succesfully gone to the toilet for number 2 twice already, and everytime I change him, I sit him, say the word and he tries to do number 1, and almost always does! I’ve seen how he stops n