Toilet Training Health Article

Definition

Toilet training is the process of teaching a young child to control the bowel and bladder and use the bathroom for elimination. A child is considered to be toilet trained when he or she initiates going to the bathroom and can adjust clothing necessary to urinate or have a bowel movement. Toilet training is sometimes called toilet learning or potty training.

Description

The average age at which children complete toilet training in the United States is approximately three years old. In some cases children learn bladder control first; others learn bowel control before bladder control. Control is generally first achieved during the daytime, well before a child is able to stay dry at night.

Some children achieve some control over bladder and/or bowel movements as early as nine months of age and are able to cooperate in controlling themselves to some degree by the age of 12 to 15 months. Most experts agree, however, that toilet training should only be initiated when a child exhibits certain signs of readiness that usually appear between the ages of two and three years of age. Unlike infants, toddlers know when they are urinating or defecating and may assume certain postures or become quiet when they are about to move their bowels. They have also learned the vocabulary their family uses for elimination. Another sign is a sense of fastidiousness and desire for order that appears at this stage of development. Children are likely to ask parents to change their dirty diapers right away, and they show a general interest in orderliness that can be harnessed for purposes of toilet training. A child this age also has a pronounced desire to imitate the parent of the same sex, a trait that can be used to advantage in enticing her to use the toilet. Lastly, the child will begin to show signs of being able to delay urination or bowel movements such as waking from sleep still dry or refraining from urinating or defecating for longer periods of time while not wearing a diaper.