Postby CornishMummyinLondon » Thu May 19, 2011 9:31 am
I am not a big fan of Gina Ford, but i did find her Potty Training in a Week book quite handy. It has a check list at the beginning with all the things that you should look out for to see if you child is ready. I'm sorry I can't remember what the list said and i've lent the book but I did find it useful.
The top tip I heard when potty training was to get identical potties. One for upstairs and one for downstairs. If you have two different ones your daughter might prefer one over the other and then you'll always be racing around up and down stairs. I have two BEABA pottys which I like as they come in two parts making them easy to clean.
I am an advocate of the reward chart approach. Every time mine did a week they got a sticker and one chocolate button and two for a poo! I know that not everyone agrees with this method but it worked for me.
I trained both my girls at 2 and 3 months. The eldest cracked it in under a week and the youngest took considerably longer so it very much depends on the child. I think 18 months is fairly young but you can see if she is ready, and if not, put the pottys etc away for a few months and try again at a later date. I definitely think that is the best approach rather than dragging it out and making it difficult for both of you.
Good luck!
