The Benefits of Patience When Trying To Potty Train Your Toddler
Potty training can feel like a race, right? What, your toddler isn’t potty trained yet?
You’ve heard the stories…kids trained on a weekend, moms boasting about their two-year-olds ditching diapers. But if you’re here, chances are, your journey feels a little different. Maybe this is your first time navigating the world of potty training, or perhaps you’ve been here before. The last child caught on quick, but now? Not so much.
Trust me, I’ve been there, too. It’s easy to feel pressured to start, especially when everyone around you has advice. But rushing into potty training before your toddler is ready can make things harder for both of you. If you haven’t already, check out my post, Best Tips To Start Potty Training For Toddler Success. It’s packed with practical advice to help you get started.
But today, we’re focusing on something that is not as conventional as letting them pee on themselves over the weekend method. In this blog post I’ll be talking about why waiting until your toddler is ready can make all the difference.
Timing is Everything (And Science Agrees!)
According to the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), there’s a significant advantage in waiting until toddlers show clear physical, cognitive, and emotional readiness signs before beginning potty training. They explain that most toddlers develop the necessary bladder and bowel control between 18 and 24 months, and waiting until these milestones are reached leads to less frustration and fewer setbacks—for both you and your child.
Let’s uncover the power of patience.
The Science Behind Potty Training Readiness
Understanding readiness is key to successful potty training. For a complete guide to spotting readiness signs, check out my post, Best Tips To Start Potty Training For Toddler Success.
Here, we’ll focus on why waiting for these signs is essential for long-term benefits. These are some of the signs indicating that your child’s body is physically ready to begin toilet training.
1. What is Bladder and Bowel Control and Why Does It Matter?
Before beginning potty training, it's essential that your child has developed the necessary muscle control over their bladder and bowels.
Indicators of this readiness include:
Dry Periods: Your child stays dry for at least two hours during the day or remains dry after naps.
Regular Bowel Movements: They have predictable bowel movement patterns.
Awareness of Full Bladder or Rectum: Your child shows signs of recognizing the need to eliminate, such as verbalizing or showing discomfort with soiled diapers.
2. How Cognitive Development Impacts Potty Training Readiness
Potty training requires your child to understand the connection between the urge to go and using the potty. Cognitive maturity helps them process these signals and act on them. If your toddler can follow simple instructions, they’re one step closer to being ready. These abilities enable your child to grasp the concept of using the toilet and the steps involved.
A few cognitive development milestones to look for include:
Following Simple Instructions: Your child can understand and act upon basic commands, such as "sit on the potty”.
Memory and Recall: They remember where the bathroom is and what it's used for.
Problem-Solving Skills: Your child can recognize the sensation of needing to go and plan to reach the potty in time.
3. The Key to Stress-Free Potty Training Linked to Emotional Readiness
Emotions play a huge role in potty training success. Toddlers need to feel confident and willing to try.
When trying to determine if your child is ready for potty training, look for:
Desire for Independence: Your child shows interest in self-care tasks, like dressing themselves.
Comfort with Bathroom Activities: They are not fearful of the toilet and may express curiosity about bathroom habits.
Ability to Communicate Needs: Your child can inform you when they need to use the potty.
Experts at HealthyChildren.org (by AAP) confirm that emotional readiness including your child’s desire for independence, curiosity about the toilet, and ability to communicate their bathroom needs significantly impacts potty training success.
Simple Activities to Encourage Potty Training
Waiting doesn’t mean doing nothing. These small steps help prepare them for the big transition without any pressure. These activities can ease your child into the idea of potty training, making the eventual transition smoother.
Ready to start when your toddler shows the signs? Check out Best Tips To Start Potty Training For Toddler Success for a detailed post.
If your child doesn’t seem quite ready to start the potty training process.
Here’s a few things you can do to help encourage it:
Introducing Potty-Themed Books: Reading stories about potty training can make the concept familiar and less intimidating.
Modeling Behavior: Allow your child to observe family members using the toilet to demystify the process.
Encouraging Bathroom Play: Let them practice sitting on a potty chair with clothes on to build comfort.
What Happens When You Start Potty Training Too Early?
Starting potty training before your toddler is ready can feel like forcing a puzzle piece into the wrong spot. It’s frustrating for both you and your child, and it rarely leads to success. Potty training incorporates timing, readiness, and teamwork. When rushed, it often creates more challenges than solutions.
1. Why Does Starting Potty Training Too Early Lead to Resistance?
Have you ever asked your toddler to do something they’re simply not ready for? If so, then you know that it often results in pushback, frustration, and tantrums. When children feel pressured to potty train before they’re developmentally prepared, it creates a power struggle. Suddenly, potty training becomes a battle instead of a milestone.
If this sounds familiar, you’re not alone. To avoid resistance, ensure your toddler shows readiness signs before you begin.
Check out Best Tips to Start Potty Training for Toddler Success to learn more.
2. How Does Early Potty Training Cause More Accidents?
Accidents are a natural part of potty training, but starting too soon can turn them into a constant battle. Early training often leads to toddlers not fully understanding their body’s signals, making the process drag on.
📝 Why It Happens:
They don’t yet have bladder or bowel control.
They may feel confused about what to do when the urge arises.
Toddlers trained when ready often grasp concepts quickly and have fewer setbacks. Parents often report that starting early feels like taking one step forward and two steps back.
3. Can Potty Training Too Early Cause Emotional Stress?
Potty training too early can overwhelm a child emotionally. It’s a big step, and if they’re not ready, it can lead to anxiety or even fear of the toilet. Instead of associating potty time with success, they may feel shame or frustration over accidents.
💬One of my mom friends and I were talking about how she tried early training. She told me, “I thought starting at 2 ½ was the right move, but my daughter became terrified of the potty. We had to stop completely and rebuild her confidence months later.”
The AAP highlights that starting potty training prematurely often leads to power struggles, anxiety, and negative associations with toilet use. Waiting until the child demonstrates clear readiness signs reduces these struggles dramatically.
No mom wants their child to fear the potty!
4. Why Is Waiting the Key to Successful Potty Training?
When you wait until your toddler is truly ready, potty training becomes a smoother and more enjoyable experience for everyone involved. Patience gives your child confidence, independence, and willingness. They will embrace this milestone on their terms making the process less stressful and more rewarding.
Need extra support while waiting? My Potty Training Toolkit has resources like potty charts and a tracker to keep the process stress-free and fun.
👩👦 Take It From Moms Who’ve Been There:
Waiting for the right time can make all the difference. Trust the process, follow your child’s lead, and celebrate every step toward potty training success!
The Short- and Long-Term Benefits of Waiting to Potty Train
Waiting for a potty train doesn’t mean you’re putting things off. You’re giving your toddler the best chance to succeed now and in the future. Here’s why patience makes a difference”
Immediate Wins of Waiting For Your Toddler:
Fewer Accidents: Ready toddlers recognize their body’s signals better, leading to less mess and more confidence.
💡 Tip: Celebrate dry days with stickers or a fun potty chart!Less Stress for Everyone: Avoiding power struggles makes potty training feel like teamwork rather than a battle.
📝 What You Can Do Now: Introduce potty-themed books and allow your toddler to observe bathroom routines without pressure.
Stronger Bonds: Shared successes in potty training strengthen your connection while encouraging independence.
Developmental Payoffs For Moms and Toddlers
Confidence That Lasts: Tackling potty training at the right time gives your child a sense of achievement that boosts their confidence in other skills.
Emotional Resilience: A stress-free process teaches your little one how to face challenges without overwhelm a valuable life skill!
Improved Communication: Recognizing readiness signs and expressing needs help your toddler build language skills and self-expression.
What Experts Say
Research supports the value of waiting. According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, child-led potty training results in smoother transitions and fewer accidents. Psychology Today highlights that readiness-based methods foster positive long-term outcomes.
🎯 Big Picture Reminder: Potty training is just one milestone in a lifetime of learning. Following your child’s lead builds confidence and independence for the future.
🎁 Need More Tools? Download my free Potty Training Toolkit for charts, trackers, and more to make this process easy and rewarding. You’ve got this, mama!
I hear my toddler, let’s wrap this up
Potty training is a journey, and waiting until your child is truly ready can make all the difference.
By embracing patience, you’re setting the stage for a smoother, more successful experience. No more unnecessary stress or power struggles. Just a confident toddler and a proud mom celebrating milestones together.
Every child is unique. Some are ready earlier, while others need a little extra time, and that’s okay. Trust your instincts and know that waiting is part of the process, not a setback.
Remember, as emphasized by child development experts at Zero to Three and AAP, potty training isn't a competition or a race. Every toddler develops at their own pace, and patience combined with awareness of developmental milestones ensures the best outcomes for your child’s emotional and physical well-being.
Looking for more support? Check out my Ultimate Potty Training Toolkit.
It’s packed with everything you need: tips, strategies to printable trackers and checklists.
All designed to make potty training a breeze for both you and your little one.
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