A routine will help in making your toddler more confident and comfortable during potty training. In fact, having your child on a schedule before potty training time can actually make the transition easier.

By the age of one, your toddler should be on a regular schedule of eating, sleeping, playing and having diaper changes. These regular diapering times will prepare your toddler for a regular potty schedule in the future. This doesn’t mean that you have to maintain a rigid schedule for years, but your toddler should know that he or she has a regular, natural pattern to each day. This sets your toddler up to succeed when the time is right for potty training.
Make frequent trips to the bathroom. You can’t force your child to urinate or produce a bowel movement, but you can encourage him to practice. Have your child sit on the potty for 2 to 4 minutes every hour or so. Schedule these sittings close to times your child usually has a bowel movement or urination, such as just after a meal, snack or nap. Remember that you cannot control when your child urinates or has a bowel movement.

You really need to know when it’s time to stop. Don’t expect performance at first. If your child can’t urinate or produce a bowel movement after 2 to 4 minutes, it’s time to try later. If your child protests strongly when you suggest s/he return to the potty, don’t insist. Such resistance may mean that it is not the right time to start training.

Let your child learn from you and those around him or her. Children are often interested in their family’s bathroom activities. It is sometimes helpful to let children watch parents, older brothers and sisters, trusted friends, and even relatives when they go to the bathroom. Seeing these people use the toilet makes children want to do the same.

Make sure your child is an active participant in getting himself or herself dressed and undressed. Let your child practice lowering and raising their underwear or training pants sometimes, or putting them on and taking them off.

As far as the bathroom is concerned, take steps to keep the door from closing or locking. To prevent children from locking themselves in the bathroom or closing the door on their fingers, put a towel over the top of the bathroom door. This will stop it from closing.

Potty training boys can be much easier than potty training girls. Have them try sitting on the toilet before making them stand. This will minimize sprays and dribbles on the walls and floors – not to mention all over the potty chair!
You should take steps also to respect your child’s feelings and privacy. Even though they are little people, they do have these feelings. Potty training focuses on the most personal and private parts of your child’s body so proceed in a dignified respectful manner. Some children need privacy and will not go if anyone is looking or is in the bathroom with them. Respect this.
Expect some fooling around by toddlers. For example, when they go through the phase of saying “no” to everything, their “no” does not always really mean “no.” In short, if you ask your toddler if s/he needs to go potty and are met with a resounding “no,” this response may sometimes have little to do with your question. This is all part of learning to read your child and becoming familiar with all forms of communication.

In the beginning phases, take your child to the bathroom every hour and then after meals, snacks, and sleep. The obstacle a lot of parents face is that they get into the habit of asking their child if they have to use the potty. Instead, try telling them and then take them. Initiating is often the last step in the process.

Remember that this is probably not going to be an overnight process. Be patient with your child and back off if it really doesn’t seem to be working.
We agree with experts that a reward system is almost necessary during this important time.

It is perfectly normal to have your toddler learn to use the toilet without any special equipment. Obviously, the longer you wait to train your child, the bigger he or she will be and the more likely able to sit on an adult seat without any aid except possibly yours.

Remember the adult toilet can seem like an abyss to a child. But certain techniques can make a child feel more secure.

Teach a boy to urinate sitting down backward on the toilet, straddling it, and pointing his penis downward. If he is distracted while standing, he might forget to aim.

Teach a little girl to sit sideways or backward on the big toilet. A little girl should also “sink” her bottom low enough so urine does not go through the seat ring and bowl rim. In the beginning, removing underwear and pants will lessen chance of them getting wet.

Hold your child securely on the seat’s edge yourself. They trust you anyway, so having you there with them will give them the sense of safety that they really need.

Now that we’ve covered tools you can use during potty training, it’s time for us to look at what time is the right time to get started.

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.