At least 18 months, but not more than 24 months.
Potty training is an important milestone for children. Most children are ready to begin potty training between the ages of 18 months and 2 years of age. However, some children will show signs of readiness before or after the average age. All children are different and will have different experiences.
Contrary to the impression that a child isn’t capable of controlling his water and waste elimination until much later, current knowledge shows that the sphincter muscles which control bladder and bowel moments start developing while the baby is in utero and reach their FULL maturity between 12 – 24 months with 18 as the average. This is when toileting should be COMPLETED, not started. When parents start potty training AFTER these muscles reach full maturity, the muscles have become limp from not having the opportunity of practicing eliminating. It is our job as parents to provide these practice opportunities and respond to these cues as soon as possible. …show more content…
For girls, this is usually between 2 and 2½ years of age, and for boys, between 2½ and 3, after which children can become attached to diapers, develop problem behaviors, or at least reject potty training.
New parents may have the impression that the earlier a child is introduced to the potty, the longer the actual training, but this is not so. The best results are for those who start training from 19 months to 24 months. On average, these children are out of diapers by 25 months.
Among the parents who waited until their child was between two and three, some trained quickly and others took much longer than those in the 19- to a 24-month group because the training period coincided with the ‘‘terrible