When should I start toilet training my child?

When your child shows signs of readiness, and not before.

Children usually become physically and emotionally ready to start using the toilet when they're between 18 months and three years old. Boys tend to be ready a bit later than girls.

Many parents start the training when their children are between two and three years old. But there's no official age. It's best to wait until your child is ready and showing an interest.

Never force your child to use the toilet or a potty if she doesn't want to, or if she's not ready to start. If you do, it's likely that the process will end up taking longer, or you'll encounter more problems.

Some parents start toilet training when their babies are younger than four months. This is done by watching for signs of an imminent wee or poo and catching it in the toilet.

This method is called infant toilet training, elimination communication or natural infant hygiene. It requires a lot of time and dedication from parents. Although children may achieve toileting by 18 months with this method, success usually depends upon parents recognising that their child needs to go to the toilet, rather than the child recognising her own need to go.

Before 12 months of age, children can't control when they wee and poo. The muscles that control their bladder and rectum aren't mature until they reach about 18 months to two years. That's why waiting for signs that your little one is ready is the key to success, and starting too early will result in more accidents.

Full toileting independence is a lot to ask of a child, because it means that she:

• knows how and when to use the toilet
• can hang on until she reaches the toilet
• can pull her pants up and down
• can wipe her bottom without your help
• can flush the toilet and wash her hands

All of this doesn't happen in most children until the age of about three or four years. This is regardless of when you start toilet training, or how you go about it.

But when your child is between 18 months and two-and-a-half years, start looking for signs that she may be physically, behaviourally and cognitively ready to begin learning to use the potty or toilet. These signs include:

• she can follow simple instructions
• she can walk, sit down and get back up again by herself
• she can pull down her pants and pull them back up again
• she has dry periods of two hours or more, or during naps
• she can tell you when she's done a wee or poo
• she doesn't like the feeling of wearing a wet or dirty nappy
• she shows interest in watching you or her siblings go to the toilet

Read more about the signs your child is ready for toilet training and check out the ABCs of toilet training.

Reviewed for BabyCenter Australia by Christine Taylor, children's nurse and lecturer.