9:44, 9:48, and 10:41 PPs, thank you so much! All very very helpful and informative.

9:44, thank you for the excellent tips re: clothing and what to expect in terms of helping.

9:48 I totally agree about the little potty... not looking forward to cleaning that out constantly and hope we can go to the insert relatively quickly.

10:41 I agree about Oh Crap, it clearly works for some but it didn't fully work for our first (we started with it but then continued more gradually which was just a better fit for his personality.


Thanks to all the PPs from the first page too!

Oh Crap was a total nightmare for us, and left us feeling like we were failures because our kid wouldn't train. It also triggered severe poop anxiety, and it tooks weeks of coaxing to get her to poop at all. (The book says that it's normal for kids to fear going to the potty, but based on our experience I'm not sure.) We decided to forget about it and put her in pull ups, and two months later she is happily pooping in the potty and peeing in it around half the time. Since all her poops are in the potty, pull ups are a breeze.

Oh Crap obviously works for some people, and it's worth a shot for that reason alone. But the book implies that any failure to train is due to the parents and will leave the child worse off, and that's not true in our experience.

I trained all mine at 20 months and it worked easily. A few differences than when you train a 3 year old
- they won't know how to tell you they have to go for a few months and then they'll figure it out. One used to pull my hand to the bathroom (he didn't speak well)
-you have to help them with their pants more and wipe them

All of which was easier than changing diapers, but still. You're more hands on if you train before 2. We started with the potty outside on the deck, but I got rid of that the first month (nasty and dirty!). I used the toilet insert exclusively.

That's the age we did it, following Oh Crap loosely. A few younger kid tips - definitely a small potty and step stool. Get a few potties and keep them around the house at first, so she doesn't have to run far and risk not making it in time.

You will probably need to help with pants and wiping until they get a bit more coordinated. We switched to oversized sweat pants for a few months - as big as possible without falling off the hips. That way she could get her pants down on her own (without the difficulty of tight leggings or snug elastic) even if she still needed help getting them back up. Skirts/dresses with leg warmers are good too.

I think I did reminders (every 2 hours or so if she was distracted) until about 24 months, then she could reliably self initiate except a reminder before leaving the house or before bed. She also night trained herself before her second birthday, and never had accidents after that. So if she starts refusing night diapers, double up your sheets (towel, sheet, towel, sheet) and give it a try! You'd be surprised what they can do.

Ultimately, it may have been more efficient (FOR US) to wait until about 24 months, but mine had terrible diaper rashes and our pediatrician actually recommended training at her 18 month well visit. But I would much rather have a few months of reminders and help with pants, than more months of rashes and poopy diapers. Good luck, OP!