yet another potty training question

My boys are approaching 21 months. I have read a few books on potty training and most have a list of readiness signs. They are doing most of those things. We have also done pre-training things for a couple of months - playing with potties, going to the bathroom with us, etc.

The one thing that most seem to hit on as a readiness indicator is having their BM at the same time every day (or every other day)....which they definitely do NOT. Theirs is still pretty random. For those of you who have tried potty training or already done it, how important is that? I asked them yesterday if they wanted to try going "pee pee" and "poo poo" in their potties soon and they both said yes, but I don't want to try it too early and really blow things.

 

Mine have never been predictable with a BM...I could never tell you when their time of day was for that. I don't think that hindered their PT progress. Though my DS was totally freaked out when he had his first BM on the potty. I would say that if you feel that they might be ready to use the potty, you can always give it try and see how they do and if you feel like they are not ready right now, you can always start again later. Try lots of positive reinforcement and no pressure on them right now and see how it goes. Good luck!

 

I haven't heard of a regular BM being a sign of readiness before. I don't think it would be very important, although I can see how it would be useful in knowing when to expect it. If you think they are showing many signs of being ready, and you are up for it, there is no harm in giving it a try. If it turns out they are not ready you can put them back in diapers for a while longer without it being a big deal, you won't have blown it by trying.
Good luck!

 

Thanks, ladies. My gut feeling is that they are ready, but seeing that one readiness sign pop up several times made me unsure. I guess the idea is that it is easier to catch them to do a BM in the potty if you know what time of day it is, but I think we will just give it a try and see what happens.

 

I would try too. I also never heard that pooping at the same time was a sign that they were ready to train. TBH not all my kids showed all the signs of being ready to potty train when I first started and they still potty trained without problems.

 

I totally understand where you are coming from - not wanting to blow it by introducing the potty too early. As you know, my girls are way younger than your guys, but I thought they might be showing signs of readiness, too. One of my twins has begun announcing what she had done in her diaper after she's done it. So, we bought a potty and every night, during naked time, we let them sit on it and try it out. Mostly, they just play with it. We've only had one true use, and I think that was a fluke.

Our approach is one of no pressure and absolutely NO expectations yet. In fact, if they did it now, we'd be shocked. We figure we are still in introduction mode. In our opinion, as long as there is no pressure and the twins aren't freaked out by the whole thing, you can't blow it by starting too early. Instead, we're just getting them familiar with something so they can learn to use it later. That said, I also believe starting early doesn't guarantee that they'll potty train earlier. So, I think if you're ready to start introducing the potty, go for it. If the guys get stressed out, put it away and try again in a few weeks.

Good luck!