What is the average potty training age for girls

This applies to peeing and pooping as much as anything else. Look for your child's own awareness of going to the bathroom, instead of using your own ability to notice their "tells" like a red face or making a certain expression. Pretty clear signs that your child recognizes when they need to go or are in the process of going:. Your child's independence can also be displayed as an interest in trying new things.

Social awareness plays a role here as well. For example, being aware of toileting behaviors of others like an older sibling or friend can prompt them to want to model those habits. If your child is going through changes or stressors, like a transition to a new home, a divorce, or having a new baby in the house, you may want to hold off on potty training until your child is feeling more secure.

To potty train, your child must be able to easily pull their pants up and down. They may not have had any reason to do so in the past, but this skill is usually easy to learn.

However, for some toddlers, mastering the motor skills necessary for undressing and dressing may take a bit more time. Make this step simpler for your child by avoiding dressing them in clothing that may be more difficult to take off and put on during toilet training, such as tights, rompers, undershirts with crotch snaps, and pants with belts, ties, or zippers.

Additionally, letting them choose the clothes they want to wear may make them more motivated to keep these items clean and dry. To adults, going to the bathroom is simple. But some kids can be challenged by the many steps involved—noticing the urge to go, finding the bathroom in time, turning on the light, pulling down pants and underwear, sitting on the potty, going, wiping, flushing the toilet, then washing their hands.

Remember that this is not simply about the willingness to follow multi-step directions but rather about the ability to do so, which takes time. Using the toilet, especially to poop, requires a bit of patience. Your child should be able to sit and engage in an activity for several minutes without becoming distracted or irritable. To help your child stay on the potty, you can have some books on hand for them to page through. Children also must be able to communicate that they need to go by either telling you with words or signals that they need to get to the bathroom.

Their ability to tell you they need the potty is key to you being able to help them, particularly when you are away from home and a restroom may not be readily accessible. Since the urge to use the bathroom is often sudden in toddlers and a potty isn't always a few steps away, it's important for your child to be able to make it to the toilet before an accident occurs.

If they are still struggling to walk and run, they aren't ready. Get diet and wellness tips to help your kids stay healthy and happy. American Academy of Pediatrics. The right age to toilet train. Kiddoo DA. Toilet training children: when to start and how to train. Wu HY. Can evidence-based medicine change toilet-training practice? You can, however, take a page from other parents' books and consider their kids' starting point a benchmark for your own. According to a review of potty training research published in the journal American Family Physician , American parents, on average, begin potty training later than previous generations, and as many as 60 percent of us aren't completing the job until after our kids' third birthdays.

According to the American Academy of Pediatrics AAP , while there's no real "right age" to start, waiting to potty train your toddler might actually be the best bet. Turns out, your kid will be physically ready to use the potty long before they are actually able to understand when and how to use the bathroom on a consistent basis. A study published in the journal Pediatrics found that girls are generally ready to start potty training before boys, and may be easier to potty train as a result.

As for how much earlier, though, another study in Pediatrics found that regardless of gender you should probably consider waiting to start potty training your child until they are at a minimum 27 months old.

Unless you want the entire process to take longer , that is. According to the AAP, there are quite a few items parents need to check off their child's potty-training readiness list before they take the plunge. These include physical signs of readiness, like having the control to make it to to the bathroom in time, and being able to pull down their pants once they get there.

Also important to consider are their cognitive abilities, like being aware of what the urge to go feels like and understanding what the potty is for. According to the same site, your child should be able to tell you they need to use the bathroom, and articulate any problems they have doing it, before you potty train them. They also note that starting before your child is emotionally ready can set them — and you — up for a really tough time.

According to BabyCentre UK, while some girls show signs of being ready to use a potty as early as 18 months, others don't until much later. About one-fourth of children are diaper-free during the day by 24 months of age, 85 percent are by 30 months, and 98 percent by 36 months. Girls typically learn the skill two or three months more quickly than boys, who take an average of six or seven months to completely potty train.

Potty training takes a number of physical and cognitive skills. Not only must your child be able to walk and sit on the toilet, put on and take off her clothing, control her bladder and bowel movements, and sit for minutes at a time — she must also be able to communicate when she needs to go and understand and follow instructions.

Use our potty training readiness checklist to figure out if your child is ready for potty training. Potty training success depends more on your child's readiness than her age. Watch this video to see if she might be ready to give up diapers for good. Your child's interest and desire to learn is important, too. Does she show interest in the following? Toddlers learn by imitation, and watching you use the bathroom is a natural first step.

When talking about body parts, it's important to be accurate. If you teach her to refer to her vaginal area as her "wee-wee" when every other part has a more formal-sounding name, she may infer that there's something embarrassing about her genitals. If your child has seen her older brother, her father, or one of her friends from preschool or daycare stand tall at the toilet, she'll more than likely want to try to pee standing up.

Have her watch you and explain how girls sit down to pee. If she persists in wanting to stand up, let her. Sure, you'll have to clean up a couple of messes, but she'll probably get the idea fairly quickly that she doesn't have the equipment to make it work, and you won't have to engage her in a power struggle.

Most experts advise buying a child-size potty , which your toddler can feel is her own and which will also feel more secure to her than a full-size toilet. Some children fear falling into the toilet, and their anxiety can interfere with potty training.

If you prefer to buy an adapter seat for your regular toilet, make sure it feels comfy and secure and attaches firmly. If you go this route, you'll need to provide your daughter with a stool because it's important that she be able to maneuver her way on and off the toilet easily any time she needs to go.

She also needs to be able to stabilize herself with her feet to push when she's having a bowel movement. Find out about the best potty chairs and potty training seats. Bathrooms can be a dangerous place for curious toddlers, so always supervise her when she's using the toilet. You may want to pick up a few picture books or videos for your daughter, which can make it easier for her to make sense of all this new information.

Check out We Poop on the Potty! Early in the process, your child needs to get used to the idea of using the potty. Start by letting her know that the potty chair is her very own. You can personalize it by writing her name on it or letting her decorate it with stickers. Then have her try sitting on it with her clothes on. After she's practiced this way for a week or so, you can suggest she try it with her pants down.

If she seems at all resistant, avoid the temptation to pressure her. That will only set up a power struggle that could derail the entire process. If your child has a favorite doll or stuffed animal, try using it for potty demonstrations. Most children enjoy watching their favorite toy go through the motions and may learn more this way than from you telling them what to do. Some parents even construct a makeshift toilet for the doll or stuffed animal.

Then while your child is perched on her chair, her favorite toy can be sitting on its own potty. See tips on how to start potty training. Get your daughter focused on the benefits of being potty trained by taking her on a special errand: Buying panties. Let her know that she gets to choose whatever kind she wants. Underwear featuring a favorite movie character or bright design is usually a big hit. Talk up the outing ahead of time so she gets excited about being old enough to use the potty and wear underwear just like mommy or her big sibling.

Getting your toddler out of diapers will depend on your daily schedule and whether your child is in daycare or preschool. If she is, you'll want to coordinate your strategy with her daycare provider or teacher. You'll have to decide whether to use the back-and-forth method of switching between diapers and panties or the cold-turkey method of going to underwear full-time.

Some experts recommend making the move to disposable training pants, which are essentially like diapers but can be pulled up and down like underwear. But others disagree, saying it's best to transition right into underwear or old-fashioned cotton training pants, both of which will allow your daughter to feel when she's wet right away.

That, of course, makes it more likely that you'll be cleaning up some accidents. You'll have to decide what's best for you and your child. Your child's doctor may recommend one way or the other. And your daycare provider or preschool teacher may have her own opinion on when to switch to panties at school.