10 Signs Your Toddler is Ready for Potty Training
One of the many great milestones toddlers are expected to master, between the age of 18 months to 4 years old, is potty training. To date, we have successfully shown all four boys how to use the toilet with raging success. Ignoring the times they miss the bowl or forget to wipe off the toilet seat. I DO remind them, since this slip-up affects me directly, in so many ways.
We recently finished potty training our youngest son. We “delayed” his potty training career until he showed clear signs of readiness. We knew our sweet toddler was ready for potty training when he exhibited these 10 signs.
Get ALL your potty training questions answered in one place!
Is your toddler ready for potty training? Is your child’s bedwetting normal?
Our Potty Training 101 Resource Page has ALL the potty training answers AND encouragement you need!
(Post originally written in 2014, updated in 2017)
Personally, I am never in a rush to potty train the boys, I wait until they are old enough to write me a 30-page dissertation on all the reasons why “Now is the Time to Potty Train”. Jonah finally finished his paper last summer, and after close review I had to agree, he was ready to step into the big leagues: Our toddler was (finally) ready for potty training!
Once your toddler is ready for potty training, don’t miss these 10 things you want to load up on before you start!
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10 Signs Your Toddler Is Ready for Potty Training:
- Able to pull pants up and down.
- This is only applicable if your toddler ever wears pants! Our boys always prefer the ever so toddler-chic “diaper only” look.
- Your life is settled into a groove with no major changes on the horizon.
- Things like moving, a new sibling, sickness – even as simple as the common cold can all cause toddlers to regress. Starting potty training during a major life change could backfire.
- We moved and added another sibling to the mix in 2014, we, therefore, waited for things to calm down before we even considered potty training Jansen.
- Show interest in the toilet and the things that other family members do on it.
- Having three older brothers provides a great deal of inspiration and leaves little to the imagination of what a toilet is used for. It’s fair to say that Jonah is well educated in this area – and intrigued.
- Notice and dislike wet and dirty diapers.
- Jonah aced this point. He used to take diapers
off and bring them to us… yeah – he was ready.
- Jonah aced this point. He used to take diapers
- Stay dry for longer periods of time and their bowel movements are predictable.
- We all know the signs of a pooping baby/ toddler. Their facial expressions alone give it away, but also their body language of hiding and retreating back into a corner are dead giveaways.
- Jonah was a little more stealth than that – but he was still very predictable.
Get ALL your potty training questions answered in one place!
Is your toddler ready for potty training? Is your child’s bedwetting normal?
Our Potty Training 101 Resource Page has ALL the potty training answers AND encouragement you need!
- Follow simple instructions & eager to learn.
- Toddlers are inherently eager to learn how to navigate the world around them. As soon as they are capable they will gladly follow easy instructions all in the name of learning a new task.
- Of course, this all has to be done on THEIR time – when they are well-rested and not hungry… but we all know this about toddlers.
- Express a desire to be a big kid.
- This is one reason why potty training a toddler who just became a big brother/ sister may just be an effort in futility. With a little baby in the house, many toddlers regress as they see the baby gets attention for doing “baby things”.
- Once the new family dynamics have been established, it is again “safe” for the toddler to show an interest in becoming a big kid.
- Communicate wants and needs.
- Being verbal is not necessarily a sign of potty training readiness, since we know toddlers have their own very convincing ways of getting their point across.
- Many of these methods of communication have little to nothing to do with speech – so just being able to point, sign, signal, or do the potty dance are all perfect ways of communicating the need for a potty break.
- Have patience to sit still for a few minutes.
- Oh, and what toddler doesn’t just love to sit still for extended periods of time?! This is where you will have to read potty books, sing, and even do puppet shows in the bathroom to entertain your training toddler long enough for them to have a “productive” bathroom visit.
- Resist diapers and ask for underwear
.
- I know, I know – this one is rather obvious – but I had to add it since it was one of Jonah’s CLEAR signs…
- and that’s when I knew it was time for me to get off the pot and get the kid potty trained!
Before you start your potty training journey, here are some things parents wish they knew about potty training ahead of time!
Now that your toddler is ready for potty training, let’s get stocked up on the 10 things you will need for potty training success!
I would choose the Love(pink) color and size Medium
i would choose peace (blue) in size medium
I would choose a medium in love!
I would choose the bambo in a size medium.
I would choose size medium in peace.
Peace, Small
I would choose a small in bamboo!
I would choose medium bamboo
I really like the ginger and peace in small!
I would choose a small in the bamboo color! Love green 🙂
Oh how nice! If I won, I’d choose the Small size in the Light Green color for my baby girl. Thanks for the opportunity!
Seasidesmitten@aol.com
I would choose ginger (rust) in medium!
I would choose peace in small!
I would choose Bamboo in small
Love in a size medium
Bamboo in medium
I would love bamboo in either medium or large
Small rust, except rust is sold out. 🙂 So bamboo, I guess.
Love in Medium
I like the bamboo and rust… Probably a medium. 🙂 Thanks!
would love to win the peace in medium!
I would choose medium Ginger!
I would choose the Peace (Blue) color in Medium!
All of the colors are lovely but I would choose Bamboo in a size medium.
bmboo in Large
I would choose Peace in size Medium!
I would choose the Peace (blue) in large. Medium might work too, but my daughter is very big for her age so I was thinking going up a size might be better.
Medium sized in the pink color!
I would choose Peace in size medium
Small in love.
Bamboo in small.
I would choose Peace in medium.
Rust in large
ginger medium
I would choose medium in green.
Bamboo or Peace and probably a medium.
I’d like peace (blue) in small
small Bamboo
I would get Ginger or Bamboo in size medium for my little girl.
I would love a Peace in size small!
Small bamboo
I would choose the peace color in a size small.
I would pick the Ginger (Rust) in Medium.
I would choose the bamboo in small
I’d get the medium bamboo trainer.
We would I believe according to the sizing chart go with a size small in green! 🙂 My son is about 25lbs, so I think if we won the medium would be too big.
I’d choose the medium PEACE!
i would choose bamboo in a med or large
Size Small for our little princess…. and pink, of course! She’s going to love her new golden potty!
I would choose peace in a medium.
I would love to have a small in color Love.
i’d love a medium in bamboo!
I would choose a medium in love!
I would need the medium in bamboo.
Soft Bums ~ medium ~ great design, love the Love Blossom Echo Diaper ♥ Perfect
I would choose the med. in peace (blue ) .
Peace in small.
I would love a pair of the red in a small.
Bamboo in medium!
medium bamboo
I like the Bamboo in Med.
I like the Rust or Love colors in size small.
bamboo in size Medium
Peace in Med!
Turner’s favorite color is blue, so I would choose “Peace” in small.
I would choose love in a size medium I think. My LO is 6mo right now and is already 20lbs…who knows how much she will weigh once she starts potty training.
I would choose peace in Medium
Bamboo in size small
i would love a bamboo in medium! thanks 🙂
biscuit in a medium!
Bamboo Medium!
I think I love just about all these colors, love the muted tones…. My favorite is bamboo and I would choose size medium. Thanks for the great review and Chance to win. I’d love to try these out. Thanks
Medium in peace (blue)
I would choose a small Peace. Love them!
I would choose the Love (pink) color in a small!
I used rewards for all three of my kids, usually jelly beans, 1 jelly bean for #1 and 2 for #2, all my kids were really easy to train this way, my oldest son was trained at 25 months, my daughter was 21 months and my youngest son was 23 months, just gotta make sure you introduce it early enough before they become defyant, and make it as fun as possible, do the happy dance, make up a potty song, works like a charm!!
Oh yeah – the potty songs… I am great at making those up on the fly!
It’s hard to find high quality writing like yours these days.
Thank you for the article! Great tips!
Recently, I noticed that my son is now able to pull his pants up and down without my help. I would say that he’s now ready for potty training since he now notices and dislikes having wet and dirty diapers. Since he’s capable to follow simple instructions and eager to learn now, I might give him a potty training book for children so that he can learn how to do it by example.