0 Tip 147: Potty trained at 16 months

My mother who is a babysitter would train babies who are even younger than 1 year old to urine when coaxed. She would especially try in the morning, just after the babies wake up. She said that there is not too young an age to train them. Though, its still a far step to get them to independently potty train before the age of two.

Somehow, I did not remember to do this as a parent, probably due to the busy workload that occupy this daddy's mind. Whenever I am home with Haruka, I would instead take pleasure to play with Haruka, speak with her and try to bath her each day. Then, when she was close to 16 months, a thought suddenly came to mind to test Haruka's ability to potty train, as I spend money on 7 disposable diapers a day for hygiene purpose.

First, I tried to evaluate her understanding of the meaning of urine. Haruka understood! I said Shi (urine) and Haruka repeated after me. She must have heard mummy asked her if she has Shi on her diaper. Then, I asked her to Shi on the small pail, and she refused.

The next few days we went hunting for a potty and we bought a simple yet pleasant looking potty. It has a flower picture on it. Haruka already knew flower is hana in Japanese. Just before bath time, we evaluated the potty together and I told her to look at the hana. She was excited. Then, I said sit on the hana. She did. I said Shi on the hana. She knew I was up to my tricks again, so she stood up. I encouraged her to see the hana. She cried. But, that was progress! She understood the concept.

The next day before bath, exactly when she was 16 months old, somehow she was in a good mood. She followed my instruction to "Shi on the hana". She sat for 5 minutes and stood up and there was a few drops of urine on the potty. I clapped and praised her and asked mummy to join in the celebration of the discovery before we took our bath. She was happy. She knew she could do it.

The subsequent days however were not so hopeful. She does not Shi everytime we asked her. Sometimes, she listened because she loved her daddy bath time. Most of the time, she simply refused. But, there was success at least once every 2 days, and even when mummy asked her during the morning, she complied. We thought we had succeeded.

Somehow, we got busy in our travelling and in my work. We did not remind her everyday. She got comfortable in her diapers. That's the evil inherent in comfort and convenience. Haruka did not feel the need to urine on the potty because she did not feel the wetness. The third world countries that do not use diapers make children want to avoid wetting themselves compared to diaper wearing countries. I joke with Haruka that it's smelly, and she understands. But, she thinks it's just a joke adults make. There is yet a paradigm shift that it is preferable to urine on the potty or toilet than in her diapers. She has not adopted this new lifestyle.

Unfortunately, this tip requires a sequel. Haruka is smarter by the day to resist my instruction. She only does what she feels right and what she likes to do. Yet, daddy is going to coax mummy tomorrow to have Haruka wear pants without diapers on weekends when we are not busy. Haruka by now knows daddy and mummy Shi at the toilet when she is left alone to play. She understands that she is growing bigger. The question is whether she would take that step of inconvenience to urine at the potty or toilet. Also, the question of when I would be saving that journey to the shop to buy 2 packs of 52 diapers every 3 weeks.

So, when was the first time your child urined on a potty? Andmost importantly, when did you finally had a smile at your wallet that you are rid of diapers? Please leave a comment to console me.

(Photos show more of Palace of Versailles and the Gardens of Versailles. We did spend €13.50 per person to view the palace which is money well spent despite my initial hesitation, but because we went on the first Saturday of the month, we saved an extra €10 otherwise needed for the gardens and for Petit Trianon. Since we are on the subject of potty, do you know that these large gardens were potties for the elite. Actually not potties, but the very concept of diapers as mentioned above. In an age without toilets, the elite would find it a luxury to enjoy the scenery with good company, while politely and inconspicuously mind their business under their large garments. I kid you not.)

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