Baby or Big Girl?

We've started potty-training Annika.

That's right. You can pick your jaw up off the floor. I did say Annika, our 17 month old.

Hey, it's not an outlandish concept. Did you know that as recently as the 40's, the average age of a completely potty-trained toddler was 18 months? That means there were even younger ones succeeding. And I'm guessing there weren't a lot of 3-4 year olds in diapers in those days.

Thinking about that led me to wonder why kids are potty-trained so late these days. Okay, so they're mostly not in cloth diapers anymore, and those fabulously absorbent disposables make it a lot harder to tell when something happens. And you got all the parenting "experts" in the 60's and 70's insisting that you should wait until a child tells you he's ready to even attempt potty-training.

Personally, I think all those "experts" were highly paid employees of the disposable diaper companies. Conspiracy theorist, I know. I mean, they're the ones who stand to profit. If you keep your kid in their product for double the time, they get double your money. It's a great racket.

I have a several friends at church who were very successful at potty-training their children well before the age of two.....so I figured we might as well give starting early a shot. With Corban and Marissa, I didn't even try them on the potty until they were nearly two or older.
With Annika, she first peed on the potty at 13 months. That was a bit unusual....she had woken up completely dry and I just sat her on the potty knowing she HAD to go....and sure enough, she did.

I haven't been consistent by any means until just recently....when we started putting her on the potty just before bedtime. At first, she would only pee if we had a faucet running....now she's excited and ready to pee anytime we put her on the toilet. She is so proud of herself and cheers loudly. If she doesn't go, I know it's because she really has nothing in her, because she visibly tries every time.

I'm not quite sure where to take it from here, though. She doesn't tell me when she needs to go, although yesterday she pointed to her diaper and said "Pee" just after she had peed....I could tell because it was still very warm.

I'm wondering what would happen if I put her in training pants and let her the inevitable accident occur. Maybe she'd understand to tell me before she needs to go. Or maybe I'd just have a bunch of mess to clean up.

Anyone have ideas or know how they handled potty-training in the old days?

I think it is a great idea to start early, though....before the "defiance of the two-year-old" kicks into gear. She's excited and proud to go, and I don't have to bribe her with candy!