Time To Go Potty!

As you may know, I conduct research among children with cancer. In one of my questionnaires, there is a question asking parents to state the age, in months, that their child was toilet trained. From their responses, it seems like the average age children are toilet trained is approximately 28 months. This seems to be consistent with my observations of most parents. Personally, I was hoping to get her trained by the time she's 15-18 months old.

So you can imagine my surprise when my mother-in-law told me, when baby J was just 6 months old, that it was time for baby J to learn how to go potty. As baby J hadn't been able to poop for three days in a row, the mother-in-law thought it could be because her diapers were hindering her. I asked her if it was too early. She swore that she got all her three sons toilet-trained even before they could walk. Especially her youngest son, who was able to pee and poop at the same time everyday at just 1 month old. All she needed to do was plop him on the 'tam pui' (potty as she calls it) and he'll go.

I was of course impressed. If my baby could be trained earlier, isn't that better? So after our conversation that morning, mother-in-law plop baby J on the potty for the first time.

Baby J's toilet training in process..

Initially baby J didn't know what the heck was going on. I must say mother-in-law was very patient. She sat for almost half an hour with baby J, making the 'urrrggghh' sound (the same sound when you are trying to get you-know-what out of you). Baby J grew more and more impatient as she just couldn't you-know-what but mother-in-law was persistent. She continued and baby J obliged unwillingly. Even father-in-law pitied her and thought it was too early but mother-in-law was determined. She had no doubt it would work.
Then, after what seemed like forever, baby J went. She pooped in her potty for the first time!

It worked!

Basically had the same reaction.
(Credits: babyblues.com)

Mother-in-law was all, "see I told you so." I was amazed and ecstatic! Baby J was happy and satisfied. We heaped tons of praises on her.

Now she poops in her potty everyday. She even pees there sometimes too. We only use three diapers (sometimes two) a day. I know you don't believe it but I swear it's true.

I think the key to successful toilet training is not just patience. It's doing it early! Why? Because at this age, they can't walk, so they can't walk away. They can't talk, so they can't argue with you. They haven't developed a 'bond' with the diaper, so they are not 'sticky' to it yet. Perfect!

So go ahead and try it! Hopefully it will work for you too.

Let me know how it goes =)