Potty Training?

iI'm a bit undecided on when to start E with potty training. On one hand, he knows what the potty is and sits on it sometimes (with his clothes on and the lid down), but on the other hand he's not bothered by a wet diaper and he won't go near the potty when the lid's up. I can't use J for comparison, because that boy toilet trained himself at eleven months. Seriously, he refused to poop in his diaper for days so I thought I'd try sitting him on the toilet and he went right away. It took a little longer to train him for peeing in the toilet, but he was toilet trained by 14 months, except for nighttime.

E is not quite as determined. He is happy to use his potty as a "big boy chair" to watch TV, or practice his squats (he exercises with me) but take his pants off and he's not going anywhere near it. With J being so early I feel a little behind with E, but I have to remember he's still pretty young. I've been focusing on potty readiness though, trying to prepare him for it when it does happen. I've been showing him the potty with every diaper change and teaching him words related to bodily functions. I never knew the word "poop" could sound cute, but apparently it can.

I was curious about all those "potty training in thirty seconds" strategies, so I checked one of them out to see what it was all about. I don't think one day is realistic for anyone, but I looked at the potty training in three days. It involves a long weekend, a naked baby, several potties and 100% surveillance of said naked baby. The premise is that the baby stays home the first day and every time he starts to pee or poop someone holds him over the potty. Then there's a potty dance and excitement and a party, and waiting until the next bodily evacuation. The second day baby can play outside after a void, and the third day he can even wear clothes for part of the afternoon. By Day Four, the baby will likely be going on the potty some of the time on his own. Did I forget to mention that it also requires lots of cleaning supplies?

While sound in theory, I think it involves too much mess for me. Three days worth of partial "accidents" on the floor would mean I'd be cleaning too much to watch E all the time. And even if my husband and I took turns watching him, J would feel left out because the entire weekend would be about E and his toileting business. In other words, I think I'll pass. It even says that at the end of three days the child will not be toilet trained but will know what the toilet is supposed to be used for. E already knows that (in theory, not practice) so I'm not going to use that technique.

I also thought about what I did with J. After his first successful poop in the toilet, I would take him to the bathroom every two hours and sit with him until he went. It was effective, but he was my only child at that point so  I could afford to spend eight hours a day in the bathroom with him. With a second child, it's not even about being difficult, I refuse to do it.

So I guess I'll just wait for signs that E's ready. He's showing some by being interested in his "big boy potty pot," but the all-out screaming revolts (picket signs included) when I try to get him to go in it suggest that he's not quite there yet. He will be though. 

Addendum: I haven't reached the point where we have family potty party time. That's when every member of the family is included in every family members'  toilet time, and there is an expo on voiding, wiping and hand washing, followed by, you guessed it, the potty dance! If I do reach that point though, my loyal readers will be the first to know!