As your newborn moves ahead in their journey to becoming a toddler, they will begin to become more independent by the day. During this time, you will encounter millions of heartwarming and cherishable milestones that you’ll hold close to your heart. However, there is one milestone that will require you to pay close attention to your little munchkin.

We’re talking about that time in their journey when they show signs of being ready to move from diapers to being potty trained.

Each child reaches this milestone at their own pace. However, babies commonly start to show signs of potty training readiness between 8 months till the age of 2 years. This is the time where you’ll have to pay close attention to their signs and eventually introduce them to the concept of potty training at a suitable time. 

For most parents, it can be hard to tell when their baby is ready to be potty trained. Here are a few questions you should ask yourself to understand whether your baby is ready:

  1. Do they wake up after a long nap with a dry diaper? If their diaper is dry after a nap of about two hours, it’s a sign they’re ready to be potty trained.
  2. Do you think your little one would be able to walk and sit on the pot without too much support from you or your partner?
  3. Can they pull their pants down by themselves?
  4. Do they follow you to the bathroom and express fascination with flushing the toilet? If they do, it means they’re comfortable with the flushing noise and familiar with the bathroom surroundings, a sign that they’re just about ready to be introduced to potty training.

Teaching your baby to have control over their bowel and bladder can be quite a task.  You will have several questions along the way, not to mention, several accidents as well. There is no one best approach, but many different ways to approach this process. We have collated a few tips to help you and your little one navigate this potty training process with utmost ease:

  1. Look out for the signs:

As per certain reports, the most effective time to start potty training your baby is during their first two years. During this time, stay alert and look out for these signs:

  • Your baby will insist on pulling his pants up and down himself
  • Your baby will pull at their diaper before/after they have peed or pooped in it
  • They will get fussy or cry loudly if they have a wet or dirty diaper
  • They will try to express their need to pee or poop with words or might just babble
  • They begin to understand and respond to the bathroom vocabulary
  1. Take your baby along to choose the potty seat:

When you go out to buy a potty seat for your baby, take them along. Let them get familiar with the different kinds of seats available. This will also make them feel excited about being involved, and about sitting on their brand new potty seat. You can even browse through potty seats on Mothercare’s online store. 

  1. Familiarize them with the seat:

Try to make them sit on their new seat with their clothes on for a few days just to get them to be comfortable with the seat and with sitting down, and standing up. Gradually, you can start to make them sit on the potty seat without their pants and diapers.

  1. Understand their eating and potty patterns:

Once babies develop certain eating/feeding routines, it’s easy to tell when they’re going to have their next bladder or bowel movements. Eventually, you start to observe a regular pattern. For instance, if your baby normally poops after their first meal of the day, make them sit on the potty seat soon after they’ve been fed. If you have noticed that your baby has a bladder movement 30 minutes after having milk, try making them sit on the potty seat around that time.

  1. Place their potty seat at an easy spot:

The ideal place to put the potty seat would be in the bathroom. This way, your baby would eventually understand that pooping and peeing normally happens in the bathroom. However, if you want your baby to have easy and faster access to the potty at all times, you could even consider placing the seat in their nursery or their playroom.

We hope these tips make the process easier for both you and your little one. The journey to successful potty training may not be as easy or seamless as you’d want it to be, so you must be prepared for a lot of messy days. But, don’t you worry. Your little one will eventually get the hang of it and you will then happily add this messy, yet cherishable milestone, to your list.