Potty trained... at five months!
Emily-Rose can’t even talk but will point when she feels the urge to go
Like most new mums out there, Monika Nowicka loves to boast about just how advanced her little darling is. But unlike most proud parents who show off about how early their babies gurgle their first words or how soon they take their first faltering steps, her daughter Emily-Rose is ahead of her peers for quite a different reason.
Amazingly, Monika claims that her daughter is already potty trained – and she’s still only five months old.
Usually, most young tots are at least 15 months before parents contemplate putting themselves through the trauma involved in reaching this toilet-training milestone.
These days, we even read horror headlines that some kids are still in nappies when they start school.
But Monika, 26, and partner Gavin Sanderson, 30, reveal how they are saving a fortune on Pampers because of EmilyRose’s unusual prowess. And although she can’t yet walk or talk, she knows exactly what to do when answering a call of nature. Full-time mum Monika says: “We’re just so proud of her – no one can believe it when we tell them. She is miles ahead of most babies her age.” Gavin, a builder, adds: “We are in absolute awe – she is the most amazing baby in the world.” They say Emily-Rose started using a potty by accident. Monika and Gavin had bought it because it was cheap and they knew their daughter would need one in the future. But later that day they saw her trying it out – with her clothes on. “We were just messing around really,” says Monika. “But we were a bit taken aback that she seemed to know what to do.” The following day they decided to see if Emily-Rose would use it properly. And they say she did. “We just couldn’t believe it,” says Gavin. “The first couple of times we just sat her on it and she was so happy. “Now when she Monika and Gavin have done well to encourage EmilyRose and her astonishing grip on toilet training by treating the potty as a toy. In all my baby books I’ve advocated early playtimes with the potty, letting baby put toy bricks in it, put it on their head, play water games with it. That way it holds no fears for the baby when it’s time, usually at 15-18 months of age, to use it for its intended purpose. wakes up at 6am, the first thing she wants to do is use the potty. It’s absolutely remarkable.”
But how do they know that she needs the potty when she can’t speak? Apparently she just points. “The key is to leave the potty around as if it’s just another toy,” says Monika.
“Older babies get used to going in their nappies, and then suddenly the potty is brought into their lives and it seems all too daunting.”
She says that Emily-Rose no longer wears a nappy during the day.
“We are so confident that she will tell us when she needs to go that we only use them at night now,” she says.
The couple, from Crewe, Cheshire, believe that their baby’s advanced development is due to being breastfed.
“Emily-Rose was two days overdue but bar that, the pregnancy was very normal,” says Monika. “I think it’s down to her being breastfed. She is so strong and alert. We think she is more like a one-year-old rather than a five-monthold baby.
“We talk to loads of other parents and people tell us they didn’t breastfeed, but it has made our little girl so strong.
“Despite what people might think we’re not being smug – we just want to share our tips with others. Having her potty trained so early has made life much easier for us.”
Many parents make the mistake of suddenly introducing a potty, plonking their child on it and just expecting them to perform.
But what other mums and dads should know, and most importantly accept, is that 9,999 babies out of 10,000 don’t grow the muscles and nerves needed for bladder control until 15-18 months. To expect it any earlier is unrealistic and unkind to their baby.
Emily-Rose is a phenomenon, so please don’t expect your baby to match her achievements.