My 17 month old boy is telling me consistently when he's peed or pooped in his diaper......now what?

[kshorelevin]

A little background - my little guy is #3 and just turned 17 months. I have two other children; a girl who is 5 and a boy who is 3 1/2. Both were within the norms for being potty-trained; my daughter at 2 yrs, 4 months and my son at 2 yrs. 10 months (with an extra two months to get the hang of #2). I am stunned with my little guy. He's very verbal (so unlike the other two at this age) and saying short phrases "I want breakfast", "go downstairs", "I hungry", etc. For the last week or so he is grabbing at his diaper and saying "pee pee" and sure enough he's just peed. We've put him on the big potty with the potty ring a few times and he laughs and hasn't done anything. He's also saying "pee pee" while he goes #2. I try to catch him in time but you know how it goes.

So my question is for those that have had kids express an interest in the potty or knowledge of their body this early, what did you do? Do I sort of try and encourage going on the potty (i.e. put him on it occasionally) or just wait and see what happens over the coming months? I can't imagine him being ready to be potty trained but at the same time I feel like I should run with it if he's interested.

Thanks for any advice/wisdom/help.

[Anonymous]

absolutely start training! don't miss the curve

[Anonymous]

Why not try? (Without forcing, of course!) If he's interested, why not? My almost 17 month old likes to sit on the potty when his 4 year old brother does, and he thinks it's lots of fun. He even knows how to pee and poop on there. He doesn't tell me when he needs to go, but I let him sit on his little potty when he wants to. Doesn't hurt and will make it that much easier later.

[Anonymous]

Certainly some kids are ready at that age. So why not?

[Anonymous]

My ds trained at 18 months - he was in day care with a potty training 3 year old and wanted to do "everything" Eric did!

Think of the $$$ you will save in diapers!