I think she is ready...

My girls are only a little over 19 months old but the past few days I have noticed Lola bringing me a diaper and laying on the floor for me to change her. This morning she did it when she was poopy. I was talking to someone at work and she told me that she is showing she is ready to start being potty trained. I brought out their potty chairs and she is showing interest. What else can I do to start training her? Is 19-20 months too young? Thanks!

 

It is never too young if they are ready. Asking to be changed after dirtying a diaper is different than being able to anticipate the need to go though. Is she coming to you before or after she goes? I found a great article when I was deciding what to do with K&K, it is actually a quick link in 1-5 but here are the key points it describes when deciding if a child is potty training ready;

1) When you notice that your child is dry at longer intervals (i.e. dry after a nap or for at least 2 hours) and is voiding large amounts at a time, then that is a sign that your child may be physiologically ready for toilet training.

2) Ability of your child to recognize that she is voiding (i.e. if your child does not recognize when she is voiding, toilet training is virtually impossible).

3) Another component of readiness is physical readiness. This includes the ability to walk well (to and from the bathroom), to be able to pull pants up and down, and the ability to get on and off the toilet/potty chair fairly independently.

4) The last component is probably the most important: psychological readiness. Or what I like to call willingness!

The last part of the article that sticks out the most is this..........Once your child is showing all these components of toilet training readiness, most experts recommend waiting at least three months before you start toilet training to ensure that all is set.

 

Thanks Dianne! I will keep that in mind. Maybe she just didn't like the feeling of having a messy diaper. I pulled out the potty's tonight anyways, I had them sit on them for a few minutes. Lo and behold right when Sophia got off of it she peed all over the carpet and side of her potty chair! Lol. I don't think she is ready, maybe Lola though.

 

FWIW, my boys have been doing that for MONTHS now. I thought it was cute...not a sign of PT B)

 

Erin,
If you are interested in starting and going on a long slow gradula potty training journey, go ahead and start now. My girls started at 20 months because that's when they started them at daycare. I had been interested in the "1 day potty training method" that waits until they are older. But because I didn't get to choose daycares, its a state run facility, I just went with what they did.
We were fully day trained at 30 months, so that was 10 months of potty training. But it was virtually stress free.
If you want to start now, I think the first step is to set a potty time. I noticed that my girls were peeing in the bath around 20 months so we started with potty before getting in the bath with praise if they peed, no problem if they didn't. At daycare they got two meals a day and they had potty-hand washing before each meal as their starting point. Again, with praise for peeing in the potty, but no pressure if they didn't.

Good luck what every you decide.