Look out for these signs to detect if you can start potty training for your toddler:

• Bowel movements become regular.
• Your kid can sit up, stand, and walk without support.
• When he/she shows signs of discomfort or disapproval while he/she is in a dirty diaper.
• Toddler has become more independent and asks to do more things by himself/herself.
• He/she has the ability to pull his/her pants off and on.
• Your boy/girl shows a disinterest in wearing diapers and an interest in wearing underwear.
• Toddler has specific words for his/her urine and feces.
• Toddler can understand the physical signs that he/she needs to go to the bathroom.

Persistence and Patience

Don’t expect your child to tell you to go potty. You must have a schedule of every 2-4 hours intervals where you ask the child if they need to potty(at first). Until your toddler realizes what is expected, you really should take a bathroom break every half hour to forty-five minutes, especially after meals. The first time your toddler uses the toilet, he or she will finally realize what the fuss is all about.

Once you give your child the positive reinforcement about the action, this will encourage your child even more. When your child has his/her first potty in the potty, you need to celebrate like it is new year’s eve. Whether it is you and your husband or another caretaker you need to make this a big deal. When my daughter had her first potty, I ran around the house and jumped up in joy screaming. Was I really this excited? Not really, but I wanted to show my daughter that this was a big deal to me. She loved my reaction, and wanted to see that again.

Are you worried that your child is taking too long to potty? Please do not let this stress you out. Some parents have children that are potty trained at a year. Well not me, I tried at 1 year and half and she paid no attention. So I decided not to stress out about it and try once every month until I saw interest in her. She finally was able to get the hang of it. Now a child can regressed from potty traning, by some traumatic life event such as a newborn in the house. As was the case for me when my son was born, but she was able to adapt once again in a couple of weeks.