Are you planning to start toilet training your little one?Before beginning the training, it is important to ensure that your child is ready developmentally for the process. Although, you may be fed up of the diaper changes and cleaning but an early training when the child is not ready may be frustrating for both you and the child and there has been no shown added benefit of it. Most children can be started on toilet training between 2 to 3 years of age. By this time, they arecapable of holding stool and urine.

Signs that your child is ready for Toilet Training

1. Your child can stay dry during the day for more that 2 hours every time at a stretch
2. You have started understanding the stools schedule of your child – as in time of day and number of times in a day
3. Your child can identify and walk to and from the bathroom
4. Your child can open his/her pants on his/her own
5. Indicates that his/her diaper or pant is wet or soiled from stool
6. Indicates that he/she want to pass urine or stool like facial expressions, putting pressure, going to a specific place or bathroom
7. Your child should be able to follow simple commands like flush the toilet, wash your hands
8. Your child starts to showinterest in using the toilet and copies toilet behaviours of adults
9. Your child makes efforts to make you happy.

Most importantly, toilet training is not a race one need to complete in time. Every child will take their own pace for training. So, keep you need to have patience and keep on with the training schedule.

Dr. Ankit Agarwal (MD Paediatrics, New Born and Child Specialist) is working in this field for last more than 10 years. For more information or for appointment call 90935-90936