Before my son was potty trained, I remember having a BBQ with some of the guys and gals that we had met through the antenatal classes. I don’t know how, but the conversation steered around to the subject of potty training. I distinctly remember one of the guys bragging about how his daughter had been out of nappies at the age of two and that it had been over and done with in a weekend. The rest of us listened in awe as the rest of us had boys and they were still in nappies at nearly three.

What my friend had failed to impart was that girls are usually out of nappies faster than boys, and that kids are ready for potty training at different ages. This can range from 18 months to 3 years. The reason that it’s 18 months upwards is because, before 18 months, the bladder is not developed enough to hold urine for long periods and they don’t have full control of the muscles involved.

So what to do??

Speaking from my own experience, I would advise you that if your kid is not ready to start then don’t force him or her. Forget what the other parents are saying about their kids, and concentrate on your own and where they are in their own development. We had a couple of false starts, and it was only when my son was ready to try at it himself that we got anywhere.

We went out and purchased a potty at 18 months, my son sat on it a couple of times and that was that, he lost all interest and has not looked at it again since. He did however become interested in the toilet, so I started taking him in with me and explained what it was for and what was going on etc. He still did not show any interest in using it himself, however at least he was introduced to the idea.

It was really when Granny bought him some big boy pants with Spiderman on that things changed. He wanted to wear the pants, so we explained that he could wear them but he would need to use the toilet as pants were not the same as nappies and he would get wet.

So on went the pants and half an hour later there were screams, because he had wet himself. Anyway we got him changed and off he went again. In the first day we had 5 accidents, but we were soon able to pre-empt what was about to happen. He would stop playing and would go quiet, therefore we were able to get him to the loo. Day two was much better, just one accident, I am sure this was because we constantly asked him if he needed to go. This went on for several days until we had built a routine up, he was even dry during the nights; hasten to say we have not looked back since.

I think that I should also point out that we praised him when he went on the toilet, but did not reprimand him when he had the accidents. This does not mean that we offered him incentives such as presents, because going to the loo should not be a big thing.

As for “No 2s”, this was more of an issue. He actually became quite constipated, as he would not go on the toilet or in his pants, and we ended up putting him back in a nappy just so he would go. It was just through perseverance that we got over this, making it a game to see how big a plop he could make really helped.

I would say that the whole thing start to finish took about a month. We have had the occasional accident since, but I can count them on the fingers of one hand.

There are various methods out there and you may find one that works for you.  However, you may just find that you follow your own method which is likely to be more attuned to your child.  Whatever happens, perseverance is key, and you will get there in the end!

Top Tips:

• Wait until your child has shown an interest before starting

• Once you have started and the pants are on don’t go back to nappies

• Get a mattress cover for their bed

• Avoid damage to your car seats, buy absorbent bed mats to put in their seat

• Look for signs that they may need the toilet, like standing still or face pulling

• Get them in to a routine, when they get up, before they got to bed etc.