I was always told the summer before they are 2 but also when they indicate they are ready ie recognising when they need to poo

the best ttime is whenever y9ur child is ready and saying toilet

We started our two boys on the potty from the very beginning. We wern’t hard or strict about it but they knew what the toilet was from an early age and getting them to start using it properly was easy as it wasn’t a sudden change for them, just a gradual learning experience. If she is grabbing it then start using it. Just ask her during the day if she needs to go and take her. And if you forget or miss some don’t worry about it – its a learning process for both of you..

The best time is when your baby start to walk and able to feel their bowel movement.

I started my son as soon as he was showing an interest which was about 15months. I purchased a lulu lu toilet seat which was the best investment ever so avoided the potty altogether. Safe, secure and doesn’t move so he was happy. I started by putting him on the toilet after the usual meals or drinks and then to every half hour to get him used to it. Made a big deal of the event. Eventually I was saying to him, you tell me when you need to go wee wee. I didn’t ask him if he needed to go as I would always get no. By 2 my son was trained day and night with no accidents. I found the program from pottytraining.com,au to be fantastic

Usually when your child starts wanting their nappy changed when they’ve done a poo.

If she is showing interest i would let her sit on it and gently encourage her to go. We would put our little boy on the toilet from around 18 months but didn’t fully toilet train him until he was just over 2.

wow that last comment was like an article! great job! i agree fully in letting kids take their time in learning this life skill

After the nightmare of trying to toilet train my first child and getting it all so wrong. I set out the second time to get it right, I had a plan and I stuck to it and it was all too easy.

I was talking to a friend at playgroup today who said you really should write a book on toilet training, so here are my tips on how to toilet train.

I think the best time to toilet train your child is when YOU are ready. It is a big commitment time wise so if you can string together 5 days when you can spend most of that time at home then that’s a great start.

First thing to do is get prepared. I had two potties one which was a very sturdy potty that was always in the bathroom area and one very portable little turtle potty which was where my child is; in the living room, outside, in the car, grandma’s house, you name it!

I then started to teach my child the word’s “wee wee’ and “poo poo” they need to be able to tell you when they need to go, they wont always be able to take themselves, especially once you start venturing out.

If you children are like mine they follow you and other siblings to the bathroom and are very interested, my advice let them see and tell them what your doing, they need to understand that’s what big people do.

I also noticed when my child was about to do a poo she has a certain look on her face and or sound she would make, most parents recognize this. I would run and grab the potty and put her on it, once they do a poo in the potty I would sing our “potty song” but more about that later!

I also started a routine where I would encourage my child to sit on the potty before bath which is also good if you want to prevent your kids from weeing in the bath, my kids always drink a little bath water … enough said really. Again if they happen to be successful then sing your “potty song”.

I started letting my child tell me when they wanted to use the potty and when they asked I would sit them on it, at first it was just a novelty and didn’t usually result in a wee, when it didn’t I would say “good try” when it did I would sign our “potty song”.

So once you think your child could use the words if they needed to and seems enthusiastic about toilet training, choose the day when you can spend the most time at home for at least a few days and begin!

Once your child wakes go straight to them and take them quickly to the potty and sit them on it, if they do it sing the “potty song” if not say “good try” then tell them they don’t need nappies anymore because they are a “big boy/girl”, remove any regular nappies from their bedroom, they can help you do it if they want. Then introduce them to knickers/undies a picture of their favourite character will definitely peak their interest. then encourage them to try putting them on, help at first obviously.

Then provide them with lots of drinks throughout the day, a little diluted juice even if that is a treat in your house might go a long way to convince them to drink more, but a new drink bottle may also get them interested.

Then just try regularly until they start to get it, maybe 20 minutes after they have had breakfast, if they don’t need to go just say “good try” and let them go off, then maybe try before you dress them. Don’t ask them all the time, I did this with my first and he just got annoyed at me. If you think they need to go sit them on the potty and ask them to try, I also would sit in front of them and say “take a big breath and release” sometimes this helped my kids relax and let go.

If they have an accident and you catch them in the act quickly take them to the potty and hope you get a little bit in the potty if you don’t say “oh well, we need to tell mummy wee wee next time” and if you even get a little bit in sing the “potty song”.

For nap and bed time introduce your child to pull-ups and tell them they are “bed time pants only for just in case, not a nappy they are only for babies and your such a clever big girl/boy”

Once your child wakes from nap, or if your like me and need to do school pick-up wake them and take them straight to the potty, this way they are more likely to wee at this time. If they are sleepy hold them on the potty so they feel secure.

I also think the best thing to do for day naps is wait until they have been dry for a couple of weeks and again quickly take them to the potty when they wake. Same also goes for night time, but it will be a bit longer before they are ready for this. This way they learn gradually.

I never restricted my children’s drinks before bed I think the key is to get them to wee regularly, not deny them fluids. I want my kids to wee so I can tell them how clever they are.

So by now your wondering what the “potty song” is well this is it: “wee wee in the potty (insert child”s name) is such a big girl/boy” sung a couple of times over. I found this worked so much better for a reward than anything I tried the first time, everyone in our house would sing it to our toilet training child, she would do a little dance and I avoided all the tantrums over lollies, cookies and star charts that we had the first time!

Oh and don’t put your child in a pull up if you go out, in my experience it confuses them, accidents will happen but less so in my experience if you stick at it. But always take a potty with you in the car and take your child to the toilet before you start the food shopping.

Good luck, parenting is always a challenge and every child is different and I hope you find what I have written to be informative and helpful!

I really think you have to let your child be the one to lead you!!
I believe there is no harm in letting your little ones sit and try the potty every few hours!!
Good Luck!

if i were you i would encourage this! keep the potty insight of your little one during the day as we all know how easy it can be to forget while you are playing! and always ask if they need to use the potty! the start can be time consuming but soon your little one will be off on their own. My daughter didnt show interest until 2 and a half and picked it up in less than a week and now 3 she is doing well!

There’s no harm in encouraging your daughter to sit on the potty and getting her used to the whole concept. 15 months is pretty young to seriously toilet train but if she’s excited about it you may as well encourage it. My advice would be don’t push it or make it too serious or you might scare her off. Make it a game, and something that she gets lots of praise over and you will create great, positive associations that eventually lead to an easy toilet training experience when she is ready.

I started potty training at 6 months. sit you child on the potty as soon as they wake up and give them praise when they go to the toilet in it.

overtime I go to the toilet my DS grabs his potty and sits, he even puts his hand out for tissue too, its very cute, so this morning I have asked childcare to support his wanting to use a potty / toilet, as he is the one that instigated it

Yes, she is letting you know she is ready. So put her on the potty and tell her “good job”. She will have many times that she will miss her cue to use potty, and don’t say anything, just change her without incident!

As soon as your bub can tell you they need to go!!

No matter what age as soon as they show signs of wanting to go to the toilet or sit on the potty or a dislike of wearing nappies. My daughter was toilet trained at 17 months and she pretty much did it all on her own.

Encourage sitting on the potty. Maybe the one that makes the flushing noise.

I’m still waiting for my son to show ‘signs’..

Mine sits on the potty all the time but has yet to actually go. I’ll just wait and see when she’s ready.