I have a dcb who JUST turned 1yo. Dcm mentioned a "program" they are going to do to potty train him now. I am not sure what the "program" is but I have a feeling it is going to be elimination communication.

I have another dcm doing this. It just doesn't work here. I am paying attention to the kids but when you have 6-12 it is awfully hard to watch each one and be able to determine when they are going to go to the bathroom.

The 12mo is not verbal and can't even walk. Has anyone seen a kid potty trained for real at this age?

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I’ve seen a 14 month old. I don’t know the how, when or who but she would say, “Peeeeeeeeeee!” The mom would take her to the potty.

She wasn’t fully potty train as I know it. She needed help with clothing and wiping. She could tell you she had to go and would go!

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While I would never begrudge a parent for doing their own thing with their child, I do not entertain any form of elimination communication in a child here.

What I do is explain to the parent that part of elimination communication is for the parent to recognize and respond to the child's elimination "signs" and "cues" and react accordingly.

While this may be a great idea for parents at home who are caring for their own child, it is not something that would in group care where the provider is caring for multiple children.

Also, it's up to parents to choose a method that works well for them.

Once their child has established a certain set of self-help skills, then and ONLY then will I begin to participate.


fwiw~ My own daughter was completely trained by 18 months. She was verbal and could dress and redress herself. Once she began showing an interest in toileting on her own, she really did begin to do it on her own.

I just made sure she had "easy" clothing on, the bathroom door was kept open (she couldn't reach the door knob) and let HER lead the way.

I didn't follow any type of training boot camp, reward charts or any from of EC methods.

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I dont believe that a non-verbal, non-walking child can be potty trained. Can elimination communication work? yes. various forms of this work in many parts of the world outside the US. Does it work for traditional group care (one provider) here in the US? absolutely not. especially with health codes! many EC kids are trained to eliminate in small bowls or in the sink......not going to work in a licensed daycare. EC involves a lot of one-on-one care and attention, not going to happen in group care. time to get your potty training policies updated and hand them to mom immediately before she tries to get you involved in this "program"

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I have a couple of parents that EC at home. It works for them at certain times during the day. My 13 month old DCB goes on the potty at home first thing in the morning, before bath and before bed at home. He will occasionally sign poop here for me and he always goes on the potty IF I see the sign and get him there in time. He also does his after nap pee's in the potty most days. It's no more trouble for me to stick him on the potty after nap than it is to wait for him to pee in his diaper and then change him.

I do agree it's the parents being trained though. But in some cases the child figures it out at an early age....maybe from the repetition? In my case with this DCF they have figured out his toileting schedule and use the potty to avoid dirty diapers. He likes the potty so it works for everyone. They did the same thing with their dd and she was totally potty trained by 18 months (here and home). She started signing to go at 15 months, well before she could talk and although she needed a little help with pants she was initiating all of the potty business herself. She was totally adorable about it too...she would grab my pant leg, sign "pee!" and run for the potty while nodding her little head up and down.

I have a friend with a 16 month old who has been doing her morning and after nap pee on the potty for about 5 months and now she yells, "I gotta pee!" when she has to go probably 4 times out of 5. Again, she needs to be assisted in the washroom but there is clear communication that she needs to go.

What I think makes a bigger difference is the use of cloth diapers. All of my early trainers have been in cloth. I have had 5 kids trained by 26 months in the past 3 years and all were in cloth. My non-cloth kids trained between 28 and 33 months.

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Yes on the cloth diapers.

My first 3 were in cloth diapers and all toilet trained between 18-24 months. My last one we did more disposable and they didn't train till three or close to.

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Ok I preface this b saying that what I 'am about to say may make some folks mad. Ok with that said:
I think parents are in way to big of a hurry to potty train that they forget that a child really needs to show true signs of readiness. Waking up dry from night time sleep etc. A child that can't even speak, or walk (IMO) is not ready for potty training. There bodies are not mature enough. And most that train early regress later on.
The main reason for potty training that I have seen is so that (if theres a new baby) there arent two in diapers. That to me is a wrong reason!
Deb

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agree. "fine at home. Won't do it at daycare."

I agree with this, too. Cloth diapered kids naturally trained quicker (mine and daycare) than disposable kids.

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Potty learning after age 2 is a recent development with the invention of disposable diapers. Most children were day and night trained by age 2 prior to the 1950's.

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True. My DS wasn't ready for potty training until 3 and he wasn't fully trained until 3.5. It wasn't for lack of trying on my part! Each child is so different. If I had to do it over, I would use cloth. Better for the environment, easier for potty training.

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I've only ever known one. She came back from vacation fully potty trained at 18 months old.

The family went to visit family in Russia for about 4 weeks. While they were on vacation, DCG was in full time Russian daycare Not sure what they did, but she was 100% potty trained when she got back.

It was a like a miracle when she came to my 2's room- we didn't have any additional work. Didn't even need to remind her to go at different intervals.

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I've had cloth-diapered and disposable diapered kids, but I've had early trainers and late trainers in both groups.

The biggest difference I see between early and late is that the parents who are invested and actively training their children tend to have children who are trained earlier. Sometimes that correlates with cloth-diapering parents, but not necessarily. I think disposable diapers sometimes hold back the parents Maybe it's a socio-economic thing, but mine never care about the cost of disposables.

And the parents of late-trainers may be 'involved and invested' but it seems to often be out of desperation. "I have to have him/her trained before ... (Grandma comes, preschool, kindergarten, whatever)"

It's hard to know the exact cause & effect in such a small group, but I have had some hundreds of children over the years. My youngest fully- trained were my child and a girl who was a few months younger. They were sixteen and seventeen months old, both very verbal too, and both quite cooperative for their age, able and willing to follow instructions. I would not have started training when we did, except that these kids were motivated.
One more point about both of these children - they did not ever like having wet diapers, practically from birth. It was noticeable in each of them.

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