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Oh potty training. Every mother’s favorite thing to embark on in the toddler years. One piece of advice I have been given is if you try to begin potty training before your little one is ready it’s going to be a very stressful process for you. The best time to potty train is when you know that your little one is ready to take on that responsibility and you can set aside a good amount of time to work with them.

Jase isn’t even two yet so we have yet to start on this adventure. I am definitely ready to not have to change his diapers on top of adding another little one into the mix, and our budget would be thankful. But I also am waiting for a few things before I start this process. So since I don’t have any potty training tips for you (yet), I will start by sharing what to look for before starting the potty training process in hopes that it helps all you eager to potty train mamas too!

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5 Signs Your Toddler Is Ready to Potty Train:

1) Knowledge. Before Jase is ready to go on the potty, he has to know that something is happening. He has started to tell me when he has poopy diaper, but he hasn’t really noticed if his diaper is wet. When he wakes up in the morning and it’s really full, that would be the only time he says something if he does at all. Before you can potty train your child, they need to have a basic understanding of what their body is doing so that you don’t get frustrated trying to teach them something before they are ready.

2) Patience. Before Jase can master this whole potty training thing, he needs to know about patience and waiting. He has to have the ability to wait to do something he wants to do and use the bathroom first. Toddlers are very busy little humans, if they are too busy to realize they need to stop and go then your potty training venture isn’t going to go too well. We are just now working on the concept of waiting. Wait, we need to wash your hands first. Wait, we need to put your jacket on first. Things like that are only going to help make your potty training venture easier.

3) Communication. It’s kind of important that your toddler is able to communicate when they need to use the bathroom to potty train, don’t you think? It would be pretty silly to try and potty train when your toddler isn’t able to communicate yet. Jase is a great communicator, but when it comes to potty training there has to be knowledge before communication. We are still waiting on the knowledge aspect so then he will know to communicate his need to use the bathroom.

4) Interest. This might be directly tied to the knowledge thing, but Jase has no interest in what goes on with that toilet sitting in the bathroom. He loves baths. He loves brushing his teeth. He is obsessed with washing his hands. That toilet is like some foreign object to him. When your toddler starts to have knowledge about the concept of potty training it is a great thing to do next to start introducing them to the next step. This will spark interest so that when you’re ready to start potty training you already have your foot in the door.

5) Time. One of the most important things you need to start potty training is the time to do it! This would be a big part of why I haven’t started the venture with Jase yet. I am definitely still looking for some of these things to happen, but I also knew that dealing with a toddler potty training accidents in the first few weeks of having a newborn was not something I wanted to be juggling. I also didn’t want to risk him regressing when the change came into the family. Potty training is really good if you can give it a good few dedicated days to get a routine and pattern going so your child knows to use the potty. It wouldn’t be wise to try anddo it all in one day, and it wouldn’t work if you tried in a very busy season. You definitely don’t want to stress yourself out during the process! So make sure that you have the time to set aside to dedicate to the task of potty training.

When did you start potty training? How did you know when your child was ready? Any tips for when we start potty training? Check out more posts about parenting toddlers in my Beyond Baby’s First Year series.