How To Know if Your Child is Ready for Potty Training

Potty training is usually a bitter sweet time for parents; on the one hand you are excited to say good bye to smelly dirty diapers and on the other hand this means that your child is growing more independent. Never the less, it is important not to rush the process and make sure your child is ready since starting too early could make your child take longer to learn. In addition, if you foresee any drastic changes to your family which might affect your child’s emotional state then you might want to hold off until your child has adjusted to the changes before you begin to potty train.

Potty training readiness depends more on your child’s physical and emotional growth rather than their age. Based on our research you will often notice that by the age of One your child will have stopped pooping at night, by the age of Two they will have stopped peeing at night and by the age of Three they are often dry throughout the day. There might be a few accidents here and their but these are rare. By the age of Four your child should be dry throughout the day and night. Therefore, most children become ready for potty training at age 2 while others might need another 6+ months before they are ready. Bear in mind that each child is different and hence it is important to be patient and avoid comparing your child to others.

potty-trainingMost children develop bowl control (the ability to control their poop) before they develop bladder control (the ability to control their pee). This control is key for potty training to begin. To know if your child is ready for potty training, here is a checklist of what you should consider:
1) Is my daughter/son able to comprehend and/or follow basic instructions?
2) Is my daughter/son aware when s/he needs to pee or poop? They might even go to hide and come back after they are done.
3) Is my daughter/son able to let me know when s/he wants to pee or poop? They might do this by fidgeting around, pointing or even through their words.
4) Is my daughter/son able to stay dry for periods of 2 hours or longer?
5) Are my daughter/son’s bowl movements predictable?
6) Does my daughter/son dislike or seem uncomfortable or complain about his/her diaper after peeing or pooping?
7) Does my daughter/son seem interested in the potty?
8) Is my daughter/son able to sit down and rise from the potty on her/his own?

If your daughter/son is able to meet most of the items set out in the above checklist then it is clearly time to potty train; if not then you might want to hold off a bit until they are ready. Being able to pull their pants down and up again will also be a useful tool in potty training as that means that they can use the potty themselves and only have to call you once they are done; but this should not be a show stopper as long as they are able to let you know when they need to pee or poop and you or your care giver are always present to help them.

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