We started potty training Seamus the day after he turned 18 months. In hindsight, we could’ve waited a few months, but we wanted him to get a good grasp of using the potty before baby number two makes their arrival. We’re about a month in now and he has a fairly good grasp of what to do with minimal accidents and only wears a diaper for naptime and bedtime. That being said, he is now OBSESSED with the toilet, both his potty and the big toilet. The amount of random objects we’ve found in the two seconds he has to throw something in there is absurd. ID cards, books, toys, etc. Thankfully, he hasn’t flushed anything yet, but I know the day will come. Despite the unfortunate side of this obsession, it also means he’s very invested in his own potty training journey. He helps clean up any accidents, loves dumping his little potty into the toilet and flushing it, and is very aware when he’s missed the urge to go and let’s us know when/where he’s had an accident. Truthfully, I didn’t think that an 18-month-old could be potty trained, I was always told that you had to wait until they were 2 ½ – 3 years old, even in nursing school that’s what I was told.
That’s when a friend was raving about using the Oh Crap! Potty Training book by Jamie Glowacki. It was an honest to goodness godsend because we didn’t want to worry about potty training our toddler while simultaneously taking care of a newborn AND working on my postpartum recovery. This book gave me the courage to start this journey and also gave me all the tips and tricks to get through this first month. I’m not going to lie, it was still stressful and we still felt like we were losing our minds, especially after the first couple days, but ultimately it only took a week to see progress and by the end of the third week Seamus basically had it down. Of course, like a typical toddler, he gets easily distracted by playing and dancing to music and will forget about using the potty, but as with everyone including his parents, accidents happen.
It’s a good thing to keep in mind throughout this whole process and also just parenting in general. I definitely grew up with perfectionism instilled in my bones so parenthood has been a crashcourse in going with the flow and learning to live with the messes. Besides, kids are only this small for a short time. It also makes for a good opportunity to teach Seamus about cleaning up after himself and just chores and responsibility in general. If you have a toddler and you’re thinking about potty training, I highly recommend using the book I discussed and reading it PRIOR to starting. It’ll help prepare you for all kinds bumps and snags you might run into and answer any questions that’ll arise. Best of luck!
