Proper Age For Potty Training Your Children

WebMD.com writes about the importance of being mentally prepared and emotionally before they start potty training, “Most children are ready when they are between 22 and 30 months of age, although every child is different. Toilet training usually becomes a long and frustrating process if you try to start it before your child is ready.”

So, what do they need to do, how does their relationship with their bodies need to be? “Before children can use the toilet, they must be able to control their bowel and bladder muscles. Some signs of this control are having bowel movements around the same time each day, not having bowel movements at night, and having a dry diaper after a nap or for at least 2 hours at a time. Children must also be able to climb, talk, remove clothing, and have mastered other basic motor skills before they can use the toilet by themselves.”

Awesome, so we talked about their physical preparedness, but what about their emotional readiness? “Most children are physically ready to toilet train before they are emotionally ready. Your child must want to use the toilet and be willing to cooperate with you. He or she may even talk about being a "big boy" or "big girl" and wearing underpants rather than diapers. Training generally does not go well if your child is in the stage where "no" is his or her automatic response to every request.” Therefore, the child needs to show signs of wanting, perhaps, to be a “grown up,” not wanting to wear the diapers anymore, and so on.

So, they are probably around 2-3 years old at this point, probably. But sometimes, they are younger or older, keep that in mind. WebMD.com mentions a study, where the findings showed a difference of age between boys and girls, “ In a study of children who started training between 22 and 30 months of age, boys were fully trained at an average age of 38 months, while girls were trained slightly earlier, around 36 months.”

But obviously is not all about just going to the restroom. There is the difficulty of adjusting to new bathrooms, different bathrooms. “Your child will likely need help with wiping after a bowel movement until age 4 or 5. He or she may also need extra help in unfamiliar bathrooms, such as public restrooms, until about age 5 or 6.”

So, wiping will take some time and the same will apply to new bathrooms. As I always say, try to approach this experience with an open heart, a patient mind, and a good sense of humor. There will be mistakes. It will not be perfect. And that is okay.


Painless Potty Training

You've heard horror stories- maybe even seen the battle of wills between children and parents- and worried how you would handle it when your turn came.

 And now, it's here. It seems that everyone, from your mother-in-law to your neighbor has a theory- and feels compelled to share it with you. You so badly want to be a good parent that you listen politely- while on the inside you're wondering how in the world you are going to get through this.

 Learn more by Clicking Here!