Every parent has to go through potty toilet training and there is never a shortage of advice from family and friends that have already gone through it.
This “how to potty train” advice can be counterproductive especially considering that every child is different and will develop at different stages in their life. At around 2 to 3 years of age your child will probably become more aware of their bowel movements, but remember this age bracket is not set in stone.
Parents will experience all sorts of firsts with their children and potty training is just one of the many journeys.
So can you potty train your child? Will they be receptive to your instructions? Well yes you can and yes they will. A child will pick up a new skill very quickly due to their developing brain which can take a lot of information in. The same goes for training your child to use the toilet when they need to go. These signs will occur at different times as children develop at different stages.
So is your Child Ready?
Along with the cost of nappies or diapers most parents really don’t want to deal with the hassle of dirty nappy changes anymore but don’t be too hasty your child needs to be showing the signs of awareness that come along as they get older. If they are saying they need to go it means their little bodies are telling them something is different or that something is about to happen. This is usually one of the first signs to develop.
Other signs can be:
• There bowel movements will occur at similar times of the day
They can go longer between messing their diapers or nappies
• They will tell you when they have soiled their nappy
As a guideline, again this is not set in stone but around the age of 2 to 2 and a half you may well start noticing the above behaviour patterns. Girls usually will be going before boys. Potty training boys takes a few extra techniques but all in all the process is pretty much the same.
An encouraging sign that your child is ready is when they respond to commands like “Do you need to go and Poo poo”.