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.