The perfect age to begin potty training is different
for every child. Your child's best starting age could
be anywhere from eighteen to thirty-two months. Pre-potty
training preparation can begin when a child is as young
as ten months.
You
can begin training at any age, but your child's biology,
skills, and readiness will determine when he can take
over his own toileting.
Teaching
your child how to use the toilet can, and should, be as
natural as teaching him to build a block tower or use
a spoon.
No
matter the age that toilet training begins, most children
become physically capable of independent toileting between
ages two and a half and four.
It
takes three to twelve months from the start of training
to daytime toilet independence. The more readiness skills
that a child possesses, the quicker the
process will be.
The
age that a child masters toileting has absolutely no correlation
to future abilities or intelligence.
There
isn’t only one right way to potty train –
any approach you use can work - if you are pleasant, positive
and patient.
Nighttime
dryness is achieved only when a child's physiology supports
this--you can't rush it.
A
parent's readiness to train is just as important as a
child's readiness to learn.
Potty
training need not be expensive. A potty chair, a dozen
pairs of training pants and a relaxed and pleasant attitude
are all that you really need. Anything else is truly optional.
Most
toddlers urinate four to eight times each day, usually
about every two hours or so.
Most
toddlers have one or two bowel movements each day, some
have three, and others skip a day or two in between movements.
In general, each child has a regular pattern.
More
than 80 percent of children experience setbacks in toilet
training. This means that what we call “setbacks”
are really just the usual path to mastery of toileting.
Ninety-eight
percent of children are completely daytime independent
by age four.
Potty
Training – Get Ready, Get Set, Go!
If your child is near or has passed his first birthday,
you can begin incorporating pre-potty training ideas
into his life.
