This can be highly detrimental to them, however, and you must wait until your child shows signs of readiness before you begin. If you don’t, this will be a very long process filled with frustration and headaches for both you and your child.

There is no magic age when potty training should begin. As we’ve already said, every child is different. For one family’s children, their daughter was going on the toilet consistently and staying dry at night at 18 months. Their son, however, showed absolutely no signs of wanting to use the potty until well after he had already turned three. Much later, their grandson also wasn’t interested at all until just before his third birthday.

In general, most kids are ready around the age of two or two and a half and girls tend to train before boys do. Boys are often able to gain control of urine but have problems with bowel control. Here are some common signs that your child might be ready to use the potty.

• Bowel movements occur at about the same time every day
• He or she can stay dry for a few hours at a time or wakes up from sleep dry
• Your child begins to talk about using the potty and knows when they have to go to the bathroom
• They are able to tell you when they have a soiled diape
• They can understand the association between dry pants and using the potty
• He or she understand the terminology such as “poop”, “pee”, “dry”, “wet”, “potty”, etc.

Independence is also an important aspect of being ready for the potty. If your child can understand simple commands like “Let’s go to the potty”, then readiness is also imminent. There are other things to watch for as well.

• Your child can pull his/her pants up and down
• They begin to imitate other members of the family
• He or she watches you on the toilet and asks questions
• Your child wants to do things by herself/himself
• He or she enjoys washing his/her hands
• They get upset if their belongings are not in their proper place
• Your child wants to please you.

Toddlers are classically fussy little people. At a certain point in their upbringing, they will refuse to do absolutely anything for you when asked. When they have progressed beyond this stage sufficiently enough to obey simple commands, potty training can commence.

Now, don’t think that this whole process is completely in your child’s hands. There are some steps you can take before the actual potty process begins to prepare your child for potty training.