Children need to be old enough to learn to gauge their own body signals and attend to them. Girls usually learn toileting before boys. For girls, toilet learning may occur as early as 18 months and, for boys, around 22 months. However, there is no magical time to begin, and this process cannot be rushed. Each child will have his or her own schedule.
Children begin toilet learning first in the daytime then progress to nighttime learning.
Problems in toilet learning often can be traced to parental stress or other struggles between parent and child. For example, if both parents work away from the home, the process may need to be started on the weekend. Or, if there is a family crisis or other major family event requiring the child's or adults' attention, the process may need to be delayed. The process should be discussed with child care providers, family members, and friends, and procedures should be agreed upon. In general, the learning process is least stressful when parents think through the process and give the child strategies and reinforcement to begin work on this special growing step.