Potty training is big step for any child. Knowing when to potty train varies with each child. Some children are ready at 12 months and some can be as late as 3 or 4 years old. To determine when your child is ready to begin potty training is to watch and listen to them. This is actually the first sign. As a child starts to feel the need to go, they will start making facial expressions or noises.
Never rush potty training. Until around fifteen months old your child still moves his bowels or passes water quite automatically. He or she does not realize that they urinated. He is not ready for the potty if they stand naked and urinate without even looking at the puddle on the floor. Now, if the child urinates and realizes that he is doing so then he is ready to meet the potty.
Meeting the potty is not exactly potty training. You are just introducing the potty. Show your child the potty and let him know what it is for. If he is ready at all, he may sit his teddy bear on it. Eventually, he will want to sit on it. When he does, he just wants to see what it feels like to sit on the potty. He still is not ready.
The right moment is the one in which the child is aware of urinating or a movement before doing so. At this time they may turn red in the face or make a funny sound. This is when you can suggest using the potty because that is where it goes. If they say no, don't push. If they don't seem to care you can produce the potty and stay with him. If he does something, congratulate him.
One suggestion for bowel movements is to leave a diaper off and avoid putting pants on them after a meal. If they feel the need to go they may just want to use that potty.
Bladder training is a little different because once they feel the need to go, it is usually too late to get to the potty. So, you need to wait until their muscles are strong enough to hold it. This will give them adequate time to get to the potty.
My advice is to always share their success and let them run around with a bare bottom. After a few successful trips to the potty they will start doing it more often. This advice comes from a mother of two boys. It is a slow process but it does happen. Once your child uses the potty half of the time you can then introduce the toilet.
Potty training is not something we can really control. This is something your child needs to do on his own. It is a much easier process if you let nature take its course.
