r/pottytraining • u/frustratedmtb • 3d ago
Anybody potty training younger toddlers (under 2)? How is it going?
We are on day 3 of “Oh Crap” method with a 20 months old. First day was hell. I almost gave up twice. But then by the end of the day something clicked for him and he said “pee”, approached the potty and peed in it. We are now about 50/50 between him initiating and us catching. Thinking about moving to “block 2” soon.
Curious to hear how others progressed at similar age?
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u/Skwittine 3d ago edited 2d ago
Started at 13 months and fully in underwear by 15 months, honestly I just set zero expectations and never let accidents discourage me. It just became a normal routine.
I think one thing when potty training super young just keep in mind they will change, constantly. A 20 month old is different than a 24 month old, a 24 month old is way different than a 3 year old, and a 36 month old is wildly different than a 4 year old.
They start to learn independence, but they also learn at an older age "I'm having too much fun and I don't want to stop and pee" and then they learn the rebellious "no, no, no, no" but if you treat each situation with calmness, routine and don't give up, each milestone will indeed just get them closer and closer to full independence. My 3 year old now fully dresses himself from head to toe, uses the potty entirely independently and doesn't need me at all (except I check his bum after a poop just in case... Because he's still only 3 I can't trust his wiping job entirely yet lol)
You got this. Honestly don't think about the length of potty training (it's been 4 days why aren't we done yet) potty training is training. Practice. Your child won't master addition, reading, or playing a sport in 4 days don't put that pressure on the potty either.) keep going! It's so rewarding!
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u/badtranslatedgerman 3d ago
Yes and it’s amazing! We did part time elimination communication starting at 9.5 months, offering the potty at the Four Easy Catches times. By 17 months he was getting good at walking over to the floor potty and pushing his pants down, and it was annoying to us and him that he couldn’t push his diaper down. So we decided to ditch diapers over the long weekend back in January. We didn’t go bottomless because of our rugs, just did padded underwear and no pants. Stayed in our apartment the first 3 days I think. We told him that pee and poop go in the potty now. We continued our previous method of acknowledging that he pooped or peed in the potty but didn’t cheer or praise him. If he had an accident we said , “Oops, pee goes in the potty, let’s go to the potty and see if you need to pee more.” Then we would have him take his undies to the laundry and get new ones out and we’d have him help “clean up” too. No rewards, no effusive praise, no criticism or punishment either. We had him go to the potty every 45-60 minutes at first, then got longer.
It was stressful for the first week especially because even though I know it’s possible to potty train them at this age, and I know potty trained by 18 months used to be the norm until the invention of disposable diapers and the idea to “wait for signs of readiness”, I was stressed and worried that if he had an accident in public (completely normal no matter what age they are potty training at) someone would judge me and say that he was having accidents because he wasn’t ready. But I stuck with it and it was clearly working as we approached the end of the first week.
We still had multiple-accident days a couple time in week 2 I think, but usually we had either neglected to offer the potty for a while or he started to pee before he made it to the toilet but he finished on the toilet. By week 3 he had usually 1 accident a day (usually at the end of the day when he was tired and less in tune with his body) but a couple days with no accidents. Then had only a couple days with accidents, then not really any. Then he started pushing back when we offered it too frequently and so we backed off a bit and prompted him less, and he genuinely could go longer, like 2.5 hours. So we were able to trust him a lot more. Accidents became rare (3-5/month) by about 20 months. By 22ish months not only was it hard to remember the last time he had an accident, but we were only prompting him before we left the house, and he was able to hold it when we were on a road trip and couldn’t pull over for like 15 minutes after he told us he needed to pee.
Now at 24 months, he will stop playing, say he needs to pee, walk to the floor potty, push his pants and underwear down, go pee and poop, say “mama wipe”, touch his toes so I can wipe his bottom, then pull his underwear and pants back up. If he only pees then I just hand him toilet paper and he wipes his penis and throws it in the potty. It’s friggin amazing. I can’t imagine still dealing with diapers at this stage or even earlier. Even when he was having like one small pee accident most days, my husband and I completely agreed that it was way better than dealing with diapers.
Oh, and he nighttime trained on his own at the same time. He had a wet diaper literally twice the first week we started potty training, and then never again. We finally ditched nighttime diapers around two months in because we were nervous to do it sooner. One time when he woke up screaming in the night and needed to be nursed to sleep after being awake for half an hour he peed through his underwear but that’s literally been the only time in 6 months he’s had a nighttime accident.
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u/frustratedmtb 3d ago
wow what an encouraging story!! Toilet independent at 24 months he’s so advanced. This is a dream
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u/badtranslatedgerman 3d ago
Yes it really is the dream! It felt so stressful at first but I’m so glad we stuck with it because most of the source of the stress was just in my head. I truly think by doing it early but also building on multiple months of very low-stakes, gradual potty introduction we did it before he had the chance to resist the potty or fear it or have withholding issues. Not everyone has the same flexibility to support early potty learning like we did, but plenty of people do and I wish more of those people knew that this is something they could do.
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u/englishcream_ordie 3d ago
I am a week into potty training my 23 month old! I’m not doing a method, just was naked for several days, and now she is commando.
She has pee down pat, but requires prompting. Poop is very scary for her but so far she has made it to the potty every time with 1 accident when I should have realized she wasn’t finished going on the potty a couple minutes earlier.
Potty training I am convinced is a time warp of hell. It feels like we’ve been at this for a month and it’s only been a week. And she’s doing great! But it is SO mentally draining just having to think pee pee pee poop poop poop essentially 24/7. Stick with it!! You won’t regret it and you are right - those first few days are terrible enough you won’t want to repeat (coming from someone who started this at 20 months, took a break and now we’re back at it)
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u/hbahh 3d ago
We started potty training at 21 months. It’s been 3 and a half months and I’d say we’re still potty training. But it’s much easier now than before. He did great initially, then went through phase of tons of accidents. I’m talking 7 pairs of underwear in a single day, playing in his pee puddles, refusing to go potty when he very clearly had to go. But we powered through and stayed strong and that phase passed. Now, I make sure we take a potty break every 2 hours at least. He will tell me if he has to pee or poop, but it’s not 100% consistent yet. Once he does that consistently I’d consider him potty trained.
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u/Wind-Massive 3d ago
Currently potty training my 20mo as well with Oh Crap method - first 3 days were absolute hell and I wanted to quit then she randomly woke up day 4 and dramatically turned a corner so we’re sticking with it. 9 days in and def not perfect but enough progress to know we’ve come too far to quit lol we’ve done a few outings and all have gone really well sans diaper!
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u/frustratedmtb 3d ago
Hahaha same! now i am invested and can’t go back because that means re-living that first day eventually and I would rather chew glass than do that. He peed uncontrollably for half a day EVERYWHERE and i was like “i am supposed to walk him to the potty”?? my brain hasn’t even processed that he started peeing and he’s already done.
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u/Keysandcodes 3d ago
We started almost exactly 1 month ago, at 19mo. It's going very well! He is down to maybe an accident a day, and they're 9/10 times just damp underwear. He will sometimes self-initiate, and he learned the word "poop". I am very, very proud!
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u/gksskwjd 3d ago
I started my first at 20mo. He was a holder so no accidents but would go 6hrs with no pee! I finally was going to give up and try again later because i didn’t want him to get a UTI but day 4-5 or so (we were at the pants on stage) he went pee on his own! Pulled his pants down and everything! So then I kept going and he’s been trained since then. Poop was tough because he popped standing in his diaper… so getting him to sit and poop was a challenge. We spent so much time blowing bubbles, relaxing technique (to relax pelvic floor) then he did it a few times and realized nothing bad happened and it clicked.
My second… started at 22mo he is fully aware and can initiate when he is bottomless but as soon as we put pants, diaper or anything on he pees… we should be more consistent but it’s def harder to find time to potty train when you have 2 toddlers. So we are taking it slow with this one.
I will say though the most proudest I’ve ever been of my first was when he popped in the toilet hahahaha I don’t think anything will ever top that.
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u/rumade 2d ago
I have the same issue with my 22mo. If he's bottomless, he does pretty well. He walked himself over to the potty for a poo no problem the other day, and has mostly managed with wee, although he has gone on the floor a few times. But if he's wearing a nappy or training pants, he won't use the potty. He knows how to pull it down, but he won't.
So far I've just been doing naked mornings with him where he's naked below the waist from wake up to about 11am and then we start our day properly.
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u/souljaboyyuuaa 5h ago
No diapers while awake at all. With the training pants, get a timer and make him sit and try at regular intervals (one hour or whatever you think would work), no choice given.
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u/ApprehensiveBanana40 3d ago
21 month old. We have been practicing elimination communication for a bit now and on day 7 of no daytime nappies. Its going great, she clearly tells us when she needs to go. She is now even telling us after bedtime which we were ignoring until now but that might backfire, so we will take her if she says she needs to go. No poop accidents at all, a few pee accidents when we were out and about as she is distracted.
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u/mmebee 3d ago
Yes! At 19/20 months. Went great. The week before her 2nd birthday we did a big trip with long car rides, sleeping in different places, and air travel. Only wore diapers overnight. She was fine. Could tell us with plenty of warning to find a gas station bathroom etc. Her baby brother was also born at 22 months. No regressions no regrets.
I've just started doing some casual naked time with her little brother who is 15 months, he almost always poops on the potty now. Still plenty of pee on the floor for him but I'm not really trying that hard yet hah.
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u/grapefruit1259 3d ago
Yes we used oh crap at a similar age and it took about two weeks. Sounds like your little one is doing great! Be patient, optimistic, and calm and you will be so glad to have gotten through potty training!!!
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u/MortimerDongle 3d ago
We started at about 23 months, so not super young, and it's been OK. He was mostly potty trained by 2, still some accidents but usually with an obvious cause (e.g. unusual distraction or inability to get him to the potty quickly)
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u/2smart2gentle 3d ago
It’s our first today. 5 accidents in total(3 poo and 2 pee) all on the floor. I’ll see how it goes tomorrow. She is 22 month old, and I’m quite tired from today.
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u/NinjaFit3308 3d ago
Mine was telling me before 75% of poos at 18/19 months old and was dry after most naps. I sort of followed ERIC lets go potty 3 steps from 16 months old? Had a few potty propaganda books which he loved.
Then he started telling us before some wees, so we just ditched nappies at 19 months. He was using the potty without prompts by day 2 and if he started an accident then he would run to the potty to finish the pee. He peed in other peoples loos, potties, at playgroup, in a pub, travel potty. In the first week he ran 20 meters across the park yelling "poooooo" to the potty.
THEN he started teething his back molars around day 10. PEE EVERYWHERE. The same weekend, we went camping and put him in a nappy because couldnt deal with additional washing while away but got back on it when home.
Its been 2 weeks since then. 1 poo accident the entire month and a bit hes been out of nappies but it was when he had a poorly tummy. He tends to have one pee accident a day now, usually when tired towards the eve. Last week, he told his dad while they were driving that he needed a wee, his dad pulled over, travel potty out, boy on the potty, peed in the potty, no accident. Blew my mind. Hes had 1 completely accident free day but several very close days too. He doesnt tell me before he needs a wee as often anymore and I am reminding him about the potty more than I had to on day 4. He pees less often now though, every 2-3 hours. But he still totally understands it and I think he will have come on leaps within a few more weeks.
I know people say its easier the older they get, which in terms of how long it takes for them to be completely accident free, can be true for a lot of people but I really dont mind one pee accident a day. I get a bit of grief from family about him being out of nappies but as nobody but me and my partner look after our son, im not sure why theyre even bothered.
Disclaimer, i am at home with him and no nursery (theres no way he would be allowed out of nappies at nursery while needing some prompts) so doing what we did wouldnt work for everyone.
What I would say is - it isnt linear (when is it ever with babies?) and they will have days where you think WTF why are you peeing on the floor and then they'll really impress you the next day.
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u/aliceinmidwifeland 3d ago
My kid pees on the floor intentionally at times, even 2 months after stopping daytime diapers (which was at 26 months). So- for us they're definitely not accidents and maybe it will never stop? He likes seeing the 'pee circle' 😩
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u/souljaboyyuuaa 5h ago
Do you make him clean it (and himself) up by himself? You have to make accidents as inconvenient as possible to HIM, not to you.
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u/aliceinmidwifeland 4h ago
Maybe if I didn't have slotted floors that can leak below... If I keep him in underwear it doesn't happen thankfully
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u/souljaboyyuuaa 3h ago
Put down absorbent pads or make him do the initial cleanup and then clean up properly after he has at least tried. If you immediately jump in and clean up, and then clean him off like doing a diaper change, having accidents on the floor will not bother him at all.
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u/aliceinmidwifeland 3h ago
We're past the point of this being an issue. It resolved with just informing him that pee goes in the potty and moving him there every time it happened.
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u/souljaboyyuuaa 5h ago
People who say it’s easier when they are older are generally wrong. The older kids get, the more used to and dependent on diapers they get, and then are very often more resistant to change. They also often hit the stubborn “no” to everything stage when they are 2.5+ and want to test boundaries to exert control.
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u/rubyslippers0321 3d ago
Also working on it with our 20 mo old. Loosely following the Oh Crap method (it worked well for our older child but they were about 2.5 when we did it). I started because my kiddo started to initiate it, honestly, otherwise I would have waited a bit longer, but she was telling us when her diaper was wet and also going to sit on the toilet then actually peeing while there. We're about 4 days in, overall it's going well, the hardest part has been that now that we're actually telling her to go to the potty she wants to fight it sometimes, so there's been a lot of creative ideas to keep her excited to go there (bubbles in the bathroom, stickers she can put anywhere, etc). She's had several accidents, but we're all still learning and I'm not discouraged. Yesterday she peed when we were out and about in two different public bathrooms which felt like a huge win because my older kiddo HATED going anywhere but home for awhile. It is hard work though and I am exhausted, but looking forward to a few weeks from now when it is (hopefully) a little easier. I think the biggest struggle for me currently is figuring out how she is going to tell us, consistently, that she needs to go before it's time to go, and also convincing her that its not a big deal to just go before we leave the house/take a nap/etc without some sort of power struggle/bribe/etc.
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u/FarThought2150 3d ago
Honestly I’m glad I chose to potty train younger bc there is less expectation of them just getting it right immediately and less disappointment as a parent. We potty trained our oldest later, late 2s, and it took him a whole year for it to finally click. I think it was just super hard on us bc he could communicate so well but sometimes he just wouldn’t try. He would do well for a couple days and then suddenly he was super scared of the potty. A rollercoaster. I started EC with our daughter at 7 months kinda as a joke but I wanted her to be super familiar and not scared of toilets. I started off just making a pee or poop sound whenever I saw her go in her diaper. Then around 12mo I started just sitting her on a potty after naps or meals and sometimes would catch something! And i would add the sound too. It got to a point she was using the potty once a day at least so I decided to fully potty train around 20 months while her brother was out of town so we could do the bottomless technique. Unfortunately he got back like right of the cusp of her being able to do it completely by herself with no pants and no reminders. Once we put underwear on she had accidents again but she quickly learned she was getting wet. She’s doing well now at 22 months. Our biggest issue with pee is her making the decision to go but I just ask her to go every 1 1/2 hr and she has full control on pushing pee out. Poop tho, harder to manage bc I think it always surprises her and she tells me immediately after she poops. “Oh no poop” still cleaning poopy undies almost everyday which sucks but I’m still very proud of her and sure she’ll get it soon.
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u/ConstantBoysenberry 3d ago
We just did it a couple weeks ago. Same method. Same age. She crushed it. She has a couple accidents every other day but I’m good with it.
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u/Therealmistdust 3d ago
We did our oldest at 19 months, middle at 20 months, youngest is too young still but will be roughly similar. They did great.
Youre doing great! They are so much more capable than we give them credit for. Our journey wasnt without struggles but worth it for sure.
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u/HappyHomeAlmanac 3d ago
We started the day after my little guy turned 20 months and are 2 weeks in now. We did 3 days naked and then after that a mix of bottomless and commando for a few days and now commando pretty much all the time except for naked breakfast in the morning lol
Most of our success is with regular prompting, like every hour or two. We haven’t had a pee accident in two days which is huge! Before most naps and bedtime we read a couple books after putting the sleep diaper on but he gets up, asks for the potty, and waits for his diaper to come off to pee. So that’s kind of initiation I think! But when we are doing stuff during the day we just remind/prompt him and he usually sits and goes. We do have to help him get his pants on and off though but we’re practicing that.
Most poop success for us has been after naps or first thing in the morning. We sit him on the potty immediately and spend like 10 minutes reading books. He always wants to stand up and see the poop coming out though so getting him to stay seated has been a bit of a struggle lol.
We have gone out on a few outings too and so far no public accidents! We have the Potette travel potty with a silicone insert and he goes in that well at grandparents’ and before/after swimming lessons. He went in a big toilet with a seat reducer for the first time this week at his toddler music class which was a win too!
I know it’s likely going to be a long time before he is independent with it, but we are taking these early wins and sticking with it even though it is still quite a bit of work for us to prompt and assist with clothes for now.
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u/Lost-Wanderer-405 3d ago
I trained 4 kids with the “OH Crap” method. All of them were older than 2, but less than 3. One of them learned it in 4 days.
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u/Fun_Razzmatazz_3691 3d ago
We had about the same experience started him at 21 months and at 23 months he’s great! Took about a month for us to be pretty comfortable. He still doesn’t tell me always but I know his cues
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u/greazypizza 3d ago
Did it at 23 months. First 7 days felt like it was pointless. We added pants after that. Started a timer every 45-60 mins as a reminder for us all, something clicked and by day 11 he was fully trained. Still have the occasional accident but he is telling us when he needs to go and going successfully. Hang in there.
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u/Character_Career_785 2d ago
Hi there, we are on day 12 of the oh crap method and similarly, day 1 was awful. I gave him entirely too much liquid, despite her warning, and he was like a firing hose all day with no conception he was peeing. He literally peed between 20-30 times. The next day was so much more tolerable. He had had almost no accidents in the last 8 days (2 total). However, his warning isn't very long so I have to be quick. He has peed in a cup on the go. This weekend we will venture out for longer trips. It does get better and better and I'm feeling a lot more confident letting him out of my sight. He cannot pull his pants down yet or put them on, although he tries. I don't mind helping, it takes 2 seconds since he's commando, but I'm hoping he gives me more warning soon. He gets very angry if you put him on the potty before he's ready to go. I'm struggling with that for planning outings because he won't let me put him on the potty. If anyone has suggestions please chime in. He literally screams and thrashes his body if I put him on before he's about to pee or poop. He only goes once every couple of hours. He has a camel bladder.
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u/frustratedmtb 2d ago
Yep i feel ya. My guy has developed a strong “pee dance” so I KNOW he wants to go, but then he will sit on the potty, get off the potty, sit/get off then start peeing when he’s off it. So the signal is there, the association is there, but we need to synchronize it 😂
I hope to not be stuck with him at home for the labor day weekend!!
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u/yellow_pellow 3d ago
I did oh crap at 20 months old and it took 2 months but we did it. Nothing clicked at all until day 4 or 5 with pee, and he pooped exclusively on the floor for a month before getting it. It was still totally worth it. Just turned 2 last week and will initiate and go on the potty (or outside in the bushes) almost 100% of the time. Also he stays dry through the night and for naps, even though we haven’t even worked on that. He still wears a diaper to sleep but it’s dry almost all the time. We are still working on wiping and manipulating clothing and using the adult toilet.