Is my 14 month old ready to potty train?

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asked Jun 17, 2023 in Toddler/Preschooler by yuatiu0 (530 points)
Is my 14 month old ready to potty train?

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answered Jun 17, 2023 by Christeen (70,120 points)
Your 14 month old is not ready to potty train even though they may show signs of wanting to use the potty.

At 14 months old they cannot really grasp the idea of using the toilet, have very little bladder and bowel control and will continue wetting their pants and pooping their pants without being aware.

At 14 months old the child cannot wipe themselves or undress themselves etc so you should wait until the child is at least 18 months to 2 years to potty train them.

14 months is too early to potty train and at 14 months old they still have very little control over their bladder and bowels and they are not able to grasp the idea of using the toilet.

Toddlers are not really old enough to potty train until at least 18 months of age but even then that is a little young and I would wait until your toddler is at least 2 years old or even 3 to begin potty training them.

If you wait until your child is at least 2 or 3 years old before potty training them then the toddler will potty train much easier and it will take less time and they'll be less accidents.

Signs that your child is not ready to potty train include.

Your child resists the toilet or use of the potty.
Your child won't sit on the potty or has tantrums about sitting on the potty.
Your child cannot undress themselves or pull their own pants down or back up.
Your child has no awareness or interest in use of the toilet.
Your child has wet diapers all the time and cannot hold in their urine for too long.
Your child does not mind wearing dirty diapers or wet diapers.

The 3 signs that a child is ready for potty training are the child wakes up with a dry diaper after a nap, the child has a dry diaper for longer than usual, the child is able to hold their pee or poop in without letting it out into the diaper soon after needing to pee or poop.

Other signs that the child is ready for potty training are they show interest in other people using the potty or toilet and are copying their behavior or they hid to pee or poop and the pull at a wet or poopy diaper and they have the ability to pull up and down their pants to use the toilet and can communicate the need to use the toilet.

The point at which a child is considered to be potty trained is when the child is able to recognize the need to pee or poop, can get to the toilet on their own, use the toilet, wipe their bottom themselves, pull up their pants and underwear, flush the toilet and not need any help.

Until then even if the child is using the potty and still having accidents and not going to the toilet on their own then it's not the child that is really fully potty trained but instead it's more the parents being potty trained to take the child to the toilet.

The average age for potty training kids is between 18 months to 2 years of age.

That is for most kids who are ready to potty train at those ages.

Some kids are ready to potty train and get out of diapers as early as age 18 months and are fully potty trained by 2 years old.

The child may still need to wear diapers at night for bed wetting but they should be able to go all day without a diaper.

Some kids may not potty train and be out of diapers until age 3 years old to as late as 4 years old.

A kid will eventually potty train when they are ready.

It's normal for a kid to need to wear diapers for bed wetting from age 3 to as late as age 8 years old and even older.

Some kids will continue to wet the bed for quite awhile and it's normal and some kids may wet the bed until age 17 or 18 years old and some people wet the bed all their lives and that is also normal.

Forcing potty training too early can be harmful to the child's health because they may try to hold in their poop or pee and that can lead to kidney and bowel issues.

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