Early Start Potty Training 101

Some people say babies aren't ready to potty until they are older, but I think they are way smarter than we think. Babies don't know how to feed themselves when they are born but we don't wait until they can figure it out for themselves. We show them and help them to learn the skill. The same thing about taking a bath, they can't give themselves a bath but we model and show them how to do it long before they can actually master the skill on their own. If we didn't start teaching these life skills before two then we would have a whole lot of hungry, stinky babies. Potty training shouldn't be any different. It has to be modeled early and a baby needs a lot of preperation. Waiting two or three years never gets them prepared, it's completly foreign and unatural not to eliminate on themselves after doing it for so long.

Dr. Linda Sonna says that early potty training helps babies with the following goals:
* Become comfortable sitting on the potty
* Learn to elimnate in the potty instead of in a diaper
* Exercise the muscles used during elmination
* Understand the word potty

* Become accustomed to toileting routines
* Intergrate potty trips into her daily routine
* Communicate her need to use the potty ( teach them the sign language for potty)
* Avoid long term toileting problems

Dr. Sonna did a study that showed:
When potty training starts between five and nine months the average child had full bowel control at age 15 months
between 10-14 months the average was 19 months old
between 15-19 months the average was 23 months old

Well I changed my mind about using the toilet seat and decided to take the advice of several other moms on cafemom.com. I'm going to use the baby bjorn potty, I think it will be easier for Colby. I thought these pictures were hilarious so I thought I would share hehe!


Some people start potty training from birth. When the baby eliminates they make the ssss sound and after about two months the baby will eliminate whenever they hear that sound, so they actually use the potty on cue. This is how african and european cultures have always done it and now Americans are starting this practice.