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One mum has revealed how she potty trained her son at just three days old – and how it’s saved her thousands of dollars-worth of nappies.
Margaret Thompson, 32, and husband Roger Weaver, 30, used a unique potty training technique on their son, Zander – with the toddler managing to keep completely dry at just 23 months old.
The Arizona-based couple put their toilet training success down to “elimination communication”, which entails reading their little one’s signals to tell when they need the loo.
“I first found out about elimination communication when working as a tour guide in Laos, where diapers are really expensive,” Margaret explained.
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“A man I worked with asked me to come along and visit his family.
“His baby didn’t wear diapers, and he seemed to have his own little signals for when he wanted to go to the toilet.
“I actually ended up forgetting about it for a while, but when I was pregnant with Zander, I ended up going down a YouTube rabbit hole.”
After teaching themselves hours worth of elimination communication lessons, Margaret and Roger felt confident enough to start potty training Zander when he came home from hospital at just three days old.
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“We started the process slowly, so we’d give him diaper free time, and time where he could wear a cloth diaper,” Margaret said.
“We’d hold him over the potty at points throughout the day and night and he’d go from there.
“We’d make a grunting noise each time he went, so that it would be a sound he recognised for when he needed to pee or poop.
“At five weeks, he started grunting himself to let us know he needed the toilet.
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“It was amazing, it was like the first conversation we were having with our child, a way of communication.
“We were both so excited.”
After Zander grew in confidence that he was able to get to the loo himself, Margaret decided to give him more time without a nappy.
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“He’d start pointing at the potty when he needed to go,” she said, “At one, he was in underwear, and by 20 months he was dry throughout the entire night and day.
“He can go completely by himself now and uses a little step ladder to get onto the toilet seat.”
Not only have the family managed to save over £1900, but they’ve also done their part in saving the environment.
Margaret added: “We’ve never had to throw away any baby clothes or dispose of any diapers.
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“Zander has never had any diaper rash issues or anything like that.
“For us, financially, it was the best decision.
“With the money we’ve been able save on diapers, we’ve spent on books and trips and have a small fund to cater for any of Zander’s needs.”
While the family has been criticised by trolls online for the unique parenting technique, Margaret has no regrets about potty training her little one from such an early age.
“I share videos on my YouTube (Mixed And Nerdy) about family life and methods of parenting and usually get quite a few messages or comments of people curious as to how to go about it.
“I put a video up on my TikTok and it went viral, but I had quite a lot of people mum shaming me saying that I should let my baby be a baby.
“Another comment said that it took me far too long to potty train him, and this was from a mum who had trained their kid at like two or three years old, so it took them less time.
“I am letting my baby be a baby, offering him the chance to use the potty and not letting him poop on himself, and I’m also doing my bit to save the environment.”
Featured Image Credit: CatersTopics: Real Life, Parenting, Life