When is my child ready to start potty training?
I get asked this question A LOT. And the quick answer is, there’s no secret age or perfect time 🤷♀️ Potty training can start anywhere from 18 months to 3-4 years, depending on your child. The best time to start depends on your child’s development, level of cognition, and history of exposure….. and, most importantly, whoever YOU feel ready to dive in and be consistent!
These are the key things to look for to determine if your child may be ready:
Pulling at a wet or full diaper to indicate discomfort. This is a sign of AWARENESS, which is key! If your child seems totally unaware of a wet/full diaper, it’s going to be difficult to add on the extra awareness of anticipating the need before it happens. The awareness of having already pooped has to come first. In order to help your child learn this, you can draw attention to it (always with a neutral or positive tone) by saying something like “Oh, it looks like you pooped! I could tell because your face scrunched up. Now, let’s go change your diaper”.
Going into the corner to pee or poop (with diaper on). This takes awareness one step further because your child is aware that they are actively going, and not just noticing it afterwards. This step also has to come before we can expect them to anticipate the need (ie. become potty-trained).
Showing interest in the bathroom, toilet, etc. Showing interest is key, because if your child is interested in the bathroom, it’s going to make your job a heck of a lot easier. Interest typically doesn’t happen unless there is EXPOSURE. In order to help your child build interest, you can expose them to bathroom-related books and videos. You can also bring them into the bathroom with you (who are we kidding, they are already probably following you in!) and narrate (ie. speak out loud) what you’re doing while you’re using the toilet. No need to go into great detail, but narrating the steps out loud while your child watches you will help them become interested.
Able to follow simple directions, like “bring me that ball” or “come sit down.” This is key to safety while potty-training. While most toddlers don’t always want to follow instructions, it’s important that you think they are able to, even if they choose not to at times. If you don’t think your child understands and/or can follow your cue to “stand up”, it’s going to be difficult to move through all of the different steps of potty-training. The ability to follow directions is part of receptive language (understanding verbal language) and behavior (choosing to do what is told to them). If there is often struggle in either of these two areas, it’s best to work on them first before you attempt to combine them when learning a new skill.
Able to point to or say the words of bathroom-related objects. You want your child to be aware of the toilet, sink, toilet paper etc. and understand what those objects are for. It’s okay if they can’t say all of the words yet, but a basic understanding of these words is helpful. You can help them learn by reading books about the potty and prompting them to point to the potty on the page or ask “what’s that?” while you point.
Remember: Earlier is NOT necessarily better! 🙅♀️ I truly believe that if forced to start too early, the entire experience can become negative. A negative association can be hard to break.
However, introducing the idea of the bathroom/potty in a low-pressure way long before you officially start is a great way to build positive exposure. You can begin doing this around 12 months or anytime thereafter.
If your child meets most, if not all, of these readiness signs, and you’re ready to dive in, check out my Potty Training Bootcamp Course! You’ll learn my routines-based, developmentally-friendly, step-by-step potty training method to say good-bye to diapers one and for all.
If you want hands-on real-time guidance and accountability while you potty train, join my next 4-Week Potty Training Pod - we start Monday, July 15th and say good-bye to daytime diapers on Saturday, July 20th!
Which of these signs is your child showing you? Add a comment below! ⬇️