Child's Potty Training Development by Age

Child's Age	Physiological and Motor Skills	Cognitive and Verbal Development	Emotional and Social Awareness
0 - 12 months		Begins to associate between cause and effect	Develops to enjoy praise and approval
12 - 18 months	Becomes aware of need to go potty	Begins to associate fullness with eliminations that follows	Emerging desire t mimic other children's behavior
	May begin walking	May begin communicating verbally	Takes pleasure in doing it him/herself.
18-24 months	Early ability to briefly control sphincter muscles	Improves ability to picture a goal (using potty) and remember it long enough to complete the act	Increased urge toward self mastery
	Better able to sit still	Increased ability to understand verbal explanations	Increased desire to please parents and win praise
24-36 months	Able to manage simple clothing	Improved memory helps child maintain potty routine	Takes great pleasure in increasing competence
		Improved imagination allows for learning through play (dolls, role playing)	Gender awareness encourages imitation of same sex parent's bathroom behavior
3+	Gradually maturing of digestive system eventually leads to decrease of accidents and bedwetting by around age 5 or 6	Improved ability to break focus to go to the toilet and to resist distraction while getting there	Peer pressure encourages toilet use. Enjoys completing sticker charts and working to earn rewards

PLEASE NOTE:

I received a note from a Child Development Specialist/Early Interventionist Ms. Carol McCullough who suggested that you should read this chart based on your child's developmental skill and not the chronological age.

This is especially important for parents with developmentally delayed chidren - this chart was developed for children without any developmental delays.

So according to Ms. Carol McCullough the focus should be on the developmental age and not the chronological age. If you child is exhibiting the developmental skills in the last two rows - then your child is probably ready to be potty trained.

Wolraich, Mark, and Sherill Tippins. American Academy of Pediatrics Guide to Toilet Training. New York: Bantam, 2003. Print.

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Also Discourage but making baby steps of progress (3/1/2012) Reviewer: C Little My daughter is 7, 8 in Sept. and still won't use a toilet at all. We have seen many specialists and have ruled out any physical cause but she has been diagnosed with a phobia. She wears panties but puts a pull up on to pee or poop. She has been on stool softener for 1 1/2 years now to keep her regular. We have been working hard to establish a regular routine and now have to find a way to get her to sit and go. This site is great as I thought we were alone, I didn't realize so many parents had this issue.

discouraged (2/21/2012) Reviewer: Sharon H. (South Bend, IN) My son went into foster care for 2=yrs. That whole time they had pull ups on him, but did not potty train him. Long story short he's now almost 7 yrs old & only pees when I ask him too. But refuses to sit on the toilet at all. HELP!!!!!