https://boards.hellobee.com/ Pregnancy, Baby and Parenting blog, by Hellobee en Wed, 29 Apr 2026 04:04:29 +0000 https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/potty-training-a-toddler-with-little-to-no-vocabulary#post-2640408 Fri, 21 Oct 2016 19:26:29 +0000 SweetCaroline 2640408@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>DD is 20 months and mostly pees and poops on the potty. She has very very few words. We pay close attention to her none verbal cues, she runs to the bathroom or gives us a wide-eyed look when she has to go.</p> <p>I think she's atypical though. I was going to say your little guy could be a little young, but the signs of readiness you mentioned is what we saw too! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/potty-training-a-toddler-with-little-to-no-vocabulary#post-2640374 Fri, 21 Oct 2016 16:43:08 +0000 chopstixwife 2640374@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Our first, now 6, was completely day/night potty trained by 2.5. Our second is ASD and it took him a year of preschool/ABA and our morning/nightly potty routine to get him completely potty trained one week before he turned 4. My goal was to get him diaper free by 4 and we got it! We got him pooped trained by offering an incentive (thomas mini) for every time he pooped on the potty. Now, whenever anyone poops, he tells them "you get a thomas mini!". My third is 2.5 and I'm not pushing it. He'll get there when he gets there but my goal is at 3 years so that's another 6 months away. </p> <p>What really helped is the routine we set at home, pee when you wake up, pee when you go to sleep. School helped by taking him often and ensuring that he followed all the steps to the visual support. When he came home from school, ABA was onboard and had him go at least once during session. We have a kids potty seat in our bathroom because he wouldn't sit on the toilet for the longest time (probably because his feet didn't touch the floor) but over time, he's able to use the toilet anywhere else but at home. He still chooses to use the kid potty at home. Eventually, we will remove it once number 3 is potty trained. </p> <p>But my son has a class mate who was completely potty trained at 3 and has very little verbal speech. So potty training can be done and it seems like your son is getting ready if hes taking off his diaper. Good luck! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/potty-training-a-toddler-with-little-to-no-vocabulary#post-2640345 Fri, 21 Oct 2016 15:17:08 +0000 skipra 2640345@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We trained my first before he could talk much, not autistic but he had a slight speech delay and trained early. He was ready to train so we just went with it. We got him a potty that we kept in the living room and had him go without pants for a long time. He was able to just go when he needed to since he couldn't really tell us. We made a point to bring him before leaving the house and frequently while we were out. The trickiest part was leaving him anywhere because he wouldn't let other adults know (even after he started talking more).<br /> We trained LO2 just a few months before LO3 arrived and it's been fine! No regressions or anything.<br /> Good luck! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/potty-training-a-toddler-with-little-to-no-vocabulary#post-2640300 Fri, 21 Oct 2016 14:06:36 +0000 bubblegum 2640300@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Chuckles: He for sure can follow direction and has shown signs of being ready. He stay dry for long periods of time and if his diaper is overly filled or has poop he takes it off. </p> <p>Oh awesome! I will for sure look into that. We are hopeful! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/potty-training-a-toddler-with-little-to-no-vocabulary#post-2640298 Fri, 21 Oct 2016 14:02:49 +0000 youboots 2640298@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I plan on training DD soon- she does not talk much. Oh Crap is the method we are going to use I found lots of helpful tips. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/potty-training-a-toddler-with-little-to-no-vocabulary#post-2640293 Fri, 21 Oct 2016 13:44:07 +0000 pinkb 2640293@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>DD has very delayed speech and is behind in motor skills as well. In the end We waited until she could tell us she had gone or had to go. We tried around 2.5 because a lot of kids start then- but not all. and it was just bad. Her crying, me mad. So we waited. We got a couple books about going potty and left the little potty in the bathroom. But we waiting until she had a verbal word for potty (and a sign) and until she could physically realize she didn't like a dirty pull up. She wasn't potty trained until after 3. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/potty-training-a-toddler-with-little-to-no-vocabulary#post-2640289 Fri, 21 Oct 2016 13:34:33 +0000 Chuckles 2640289@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@bubblegum: I've been working with kids on the autism spectrum for about 10 years as a special ed teacher and have helped several kiddos potty train. How is your LO's receptive language? Can he follow one or two step directions? And, as for typical kids, is he showing lots of signs of readiness: staying dry for long periods, indicating (even if nonverbally) that he wants to be changed after peeing or pooping, and can he pull his own pants up and down fairly independently?</p> <p>Also, lots of visual supports can help for kids with autism, as well as "social stories." If you search "potty training visuals autism" online, you'll find lots of good resources. Same for social stories. PM me if you'd like to talk more or want some links to resources. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/potty-training-a-toddler-with-little-to-no-vocabulary#post-2640249 Fri, 21 Oct 2016 12:54:52 +0000 bubblegum 2640249@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@oliviaoblivia: @jhd: Thanks ladies :) </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/potty-training-a-toddler-with-little-to-no-vocabulary#post-2640241 Fri, 21 Oct 2016 12:46:54 +0000 jhd 2640241@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I have no advice really since my LO is 2.5 and not yet trained. But I would suggest talking to your SI and see if she has some ideas. My LO is in early intervention and our therapists have shared good ideas with us in all kinds of areas. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/potty-training-a-toddler-with-little-to-no-vocabulary#post-2640240 Fri, 21 Oct 2016 12:46:50 +0000 oliviaoblivia 2640240@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Honestly, I'd wait.<br /> 2.5 is very early for a boy and you are dealing with a few other hurdles. I think you'd be setting yourselves and him up for failure.<br /> If you really want to start, I'd go really slowly and not expect success for a while. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/potty-training-a-toddler-with-little-to-no-vocabulary#post-2640238 Fri, 21 Oct 2016 12:46:22 +0000 bubblegum 2640238@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@KT326: Yeah we have no idea where on the spectrum he is but we know he's for sure on there according to his therapist. Oh those boys! lol fingers crossed when the time comes it goes smoothly. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/potty-training-a-toddler-with-little-to-no-vocabulary#post-2640234 Fri, 21 Oct 2016 12:44:32 +0000 bubblegum 2640234@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@2PeasinaPod: Thanks for sharing! ;) </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/potty-training-a-toddler-with-little-to-no-vocabulary#post-2640196 Fri, 21 Oct 2016 12:00:31 +0000 KT326 2640196@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>If you suspect he is autistic be prepared for it to take awhile. Both of my nephews are on the autism spectrum and they took a really long time to potty train. My oldest nephew wasn't completely trained until he was 6 (he is 21 now so this was a long time ago and he didn't begin any therapy until Kindergarten so your situation could be totally different). </p> <p>My son wasn't potty trained until 3.5. We had a few false starts starting around 27 months. I didn't want to push it and make it a battle so we would try every few months and then a couple months after he turned 3 it just seemed to click. Our pediatrician told us it was completely normal for boys to take a bit longer. As it is, he still isn't night trained at 4.5. He wakes up dry 2-3 nights a week but still regularly pees in his pull up at night. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/potty-training-a-toddler-with-little-to-no-vocabulary#post-2640180 Fri, 21 Oct 2016 11:05:36 +0000 2PeasinaPod 2640180@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@bubblegum: Well, at that time, he was more verbal, so we explained to him that we would be going on the potty. We went out and let him pick out character underwear, and we talked it up for weeks before we did it. He had a lot of accidents the first day and got upset with himself when he did. We explained that it was ok and we just change our pants. We didn't go anywhere that whole weekend (and it was a long weekend). So when he had an accident, it was totally fine. He started to get the hang of it after day 2 and by day 3, he only had 1 accident. </p> <p>Poop was a different story. It took a lot longer and a full on standoff with him on the potty for 45 minutes. Not recommended haha... </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/potty-training-a-toddler-with-little-to-no-vocabulary#post-2640149 Fri, 21 Oct 2016 10:06:58 +0000 bubblegum 2640149@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@2PeasinaPod: If you don't mean me asking, how did you go about training when you felt like he was ready? </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/potty-training-a-toddler-with-little-to-no-vocabulary#post-2640138 Fri, 21 Oct 2016 09:52:03 +0000 2PeasinaPod 2640138@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@bubblegum: I would say try it and see how it goes, but don't push. We tried to train LO1 over the summer before LO2 was born, and it did not go well. He was a little over 2.5. We stopped, had LO2 and tried again when LO2 was about 3 months old (LO1 was 3 years, 3 months then). It worked great then...so he just wasn't ready. Follow his cues. If it becomes stressful for you or him, stop and follow his lead. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/potty-training-a-toddler-with-little-to-no-vocabulary#post-2640136 Fri, 21 Oct 2016 09:48:36 +0000 bubblegum 2640136@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Okay so LO will be 2 and a half next month and we would like to get a jump start on potty training. We put it on hold because he has little vocabulary (big speech delay) and we were moving and blah blah blah, life got in the way.</p> <p>We are pretty sure that LO is autistic so we're just going through the process of getting him diagnosed but in the mean time he is in therapy. He has an OT, SI and is just now beginning speech. (Our state is greedy when it comes to giving speech therapy) </p> <p>Did anyone has this type of situation? How did you train LO? We have LO2 due in April, a month before LO1 turns 3 so if we can make this happen before then, it would be amazing. If not, we're not stressing lol </p>