Hi all!!
My son is nearly 3 and a half years old. When he started showing interest we used to put him on the potty while we were on the toilet and we'd share the time talking about doing wees and poos. He NEVER did anything on the potty, only on the toilet. In the beginning, even if he didn't do anything, he was comfortable sitting there. I'd sit in the doorway talking to him, we'd play with cars and drink our water. as time went on I eventually would just leave him there with a toy and his drink and he's come out and tell me to "come look" if he did ever do anything- I tell you, the party we had when he did his first poo- I rang everyone (just about!). My daughter is nearly 18 months and she is showing interest earlier than her brother and so I'll do what I did with him, when the nappy was ready for a change, the nappy would come off and he'd sit on the toilet. We could wait up to 10 mins at a time unless he was uncomfortable or too tired (a child won't learn if they are lacking rest). If an accident did occur in the pants or nappy then we'd reassure it's ok, only an accident- accidents happen, clean it up and go to the toilet try again. My daughter loves sitting on the potty, nappy and all... I tried one day without the nappy on telling her what she has to do on the potty- to my surprise, I turned my back for a minute, she came up to me potty and all in hand- showing me the wee she had just done. I was only testing her and getting her in the comfort zone and she surprised me the most. that was 2 months ago, nothing since, but we still do tests every now and then.
Thanks and good luck to all.
Susan, QLD, mo2 = B3y4m & G18m