I know this is probably just a fluke, since Will is so little (10 months), but I thought I'd share it anyway....

Recently Will has peed several times as soon as I get his diaper off of him. I know this is common with little boys, but it hasn't happened with Will in months and months. Also, he seems to be peeing less often, but more at one time than he used to. I don't know if it is because he doesn't like to be wet since I've been using cloth diapers or what.

So, yesterday I went to Wal-mart and bought him a potty chair(why not, we'll need one eventually, right?). After we got home I took Will's clothes off and gave him a toy to play with and sat him on the potty. After a couple of minutes he actually peed in it!

I've set him on it 2 more times since then and he hasn't gone potty again, but he LOVES to sit on it.

That's awesome! You never know what this could be the start of. I've known LOs that were potty trained at 14-15 months. Mine never were mind you - but I know it can happen.

SarahMay, that's great! My son first did that at 12 months and I think my daughter was closer to 9 or 10 months, like Will. And they were fully trained by 21 and 19 1/2 months respectively. I'm all for taking advantage of their interest and readiness. I believe there is a window of opportunity that closes when they get older (and then it's much harder to train them) - at least I've seen that with some of my friends' kids.

You girls totally motivated me. Ben is 14 months this week and I have been doing a lot of awareness activities with vocabulary (wet/dry/dirty, etc.), and giving him an active role in diaper changes (helping me throw away the diaper, etc). But, I haven't set him on the potty yet. I'm going to try it tomorrow!!

LM, I agree with you about the window of opportunity. It's important to capitalize on their motivation, stage of cognitive development, and interest. Much easier said than done I'm sure!!

Any successful tips on potty training boys?

Ummm, I don't have any tips... other that make sure his little thing is pointing down! Only about 1/2 of Will's pee actually went down in the bowl. The rest splattered on the floor and my jeans. lol...

McDreamysMama, I don't know if I have any boy-specific advice exactly, but I cant ell you what worked for me, first with my son and then with my daughter. My son first took off his diaper by himself and peed in the floor at 12 months, so that is the same day I bought a little potty and put him on it, and like SarahMay told about with Will, he peed in it. We just did that kind of casually for several months, all th while doing the awareness stuff that you talk about. So when he was 21 months, it just seemed like the right time (very aware of elimination, waking up most mornings with a dry diaper, etc.). We bought a second little potty to have in the other part of the house and made a big production about saying bye-bye to the diapers, then spent the weekend giving him water and then putting him on the potty and clapping and stuff when he peed and/or pooped on it (btw, my daughter responded better to chocolate chips than applause!) It took basically a long weekend and the first time we tried to go out, he had an accident, but that got much better very quickly. We also used diapers at night for a few days, but my son rejected that idea, so we went totally cold turkey on the diapers, which I do think is the least-confusing the the child. Once you decide to make the transition, just do it, IMO. Of course, we had to change sheets a good bit in the beginning, but that was all right too. Low-pressure and non-stressful for the kids, and a firm committment on the part of the parents.
That's just what worked for us - I know there are many different approaches to toilet training. Using cloth diapers full time, though, I was pretty darn motivated to reduce my laundry time!

Awesome. I know early training can be done. When mine was around 7 months, he would poop in the potty every time I sat him on it. It was hilarious... I would show off is new trick to everyone that came over. None of them believed me until they saw it with their own eyes. It all happened by accident. He was acting like he was constipated, and I thought it might be easier for him to go if he were sitting on the potty. Low and behold, he did it.

We kept it up for several weeks, but I decided that I to wait until he was older and better able to communicate his needs before trying to officially train him. That was just before his 2nd bday. But I truly believe that it can be done much earlier than that. I took a pic (during and after... lol) for memory's sake, but that pic is on a laptop that has died and I HOPE that I can get someone to get the laptop working long enough to retrieve my pics.

Lesson learned... always back up your pictures, even the poopy ones.

Ha, Funny, FM.

Thanks for the suggestions, LM. I like your advice to be determined and stick with it once you make the commitment to start training. I'm sure it can be easy to throw in the towel...or the toilet paper. :-)

I'd been putting Will on his potty a couple of times a day since I posted this. He peed in it again a few days ago. But, now he wants nothing to do with it so I haven't put him on it at all today or yesterday. I guess the new wore off. Should I just pack it up for a while so he's not tired of it by the time I actually want to get serious about potty training? Or should I leave it out and keep setting him on it occasionally so that he's used to it?

MMDM- How did Ben do with the potty?