When Should I Begin Potty Training?

Today we have a guest post from Sean Platt (AKA Writer Dad).

Understanding the best time to potty train your child is fundamental to finding early, consistent success. Answers to the question of when have ten times the selection of choices of diaper at target.

“…age is never as relevant as readiness.”

Deciding when, and how to move our wee one out of the diapers and toward a new found freedom is something every parent must eventually face. Though the common timeframe offered by experts is somewhere between 18 months and 3 years, age is never as relevant as readiness.

• If your child can tell you about their dirty diaper, they are probably ready.
• If your child can articulate their need to be clean, they are probably ready.
• If you can have a conversation about potty training with your child, they have already been ready a while.

Children develop at different speeds and there is no single shining moment that burns brighter than the others. You can set your child up for the greatest success by starting their toilet training at the most appropriate time. You must be on the lookout for the right signs. It is never too early to start, potty training can begin at infancy, by starting with communication.

Though the verbal and emotional parts of potty training should begin at the earliest opportunity, there are a few particular skills your child should have before moving on to the physical.

Make sure your child can do the following:

• Sit down without support
• Run or walk fast
• Pull his or her pants up without assistance
• Provide a verbal or visual cue to let you know they need to go potty.

If your child has difficulty with any of the above, a light bit of practice will probably get them going. Again, fun is the name of the game. Run around with your child outside. Chase birds and butterflies, make sure to use prompts such as, “Let’s go,” that precede the action. Teach your child to pull their pants up and down by themselves and be mindful of the behavior displayed prior to elimination.

Does your child assume a certain position?
Does your child make any particular sounds?
Does your child’s face turn red?
Does your child retreat to a specific location?

Once you are sure your child has achieved potty training readiness, it’s time to move on to the next step, potty training preparation. 

Get more tips, tricks and potty training advice at PottyTrainingPower.com. You can also follow Writer Dad on Twitter.

I’m currently using Writer Dad’s ebook Potty Training Power. Check it out if you are ready to begin a new chapter with your toddler. By the way, if we continue with a potty training series in the near future, what questions would you like answered?

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Tagged as: potty training