When Should I Potty Train? 30 Moms Weigh In

Potty training… dare we even ask about it? All too often, moms worry about when the time is right. “Why the heck is my kid still struggling at 2 ½ years when so-and-so’s daughter was trained by 9 months?!”

Well, because so-and-so’s daughter is not your son. Should you be worried? Well, no, not yet. We took the question of “when” to our Facebook page and a number of moms weighed in on this burning question. Here is just a fraction of the responses:

“11 months .. she could not stand to be dirty … no joke, the Dr was super impressed she was potty trained and walking by her first birthday!” –Sarah C.

“My daughter was 3.5. Up until that point she flat-out refused. Then one day, she went alone and hollered for me to help wipe and hasn’t worn diapers since day or night. She is now 4.5 and has only had 1 accident since and that was at night :)” –Kristina W.

“My oldest was really hard to potty train but she was diagnosed with autism at 2 years. My son was really easy and was completely potty trained before his 3rd birthday.” –Ashley W.

“My daughter was fully potty trained at 18 months. My son has autism and he didn’t “get it” til he was almost 4 (which his therapists say is awesome).” –Mandy C.

“My daughter was 14 months, my son was right before his 3rd birthday.” –Janelle P.

“My daughter is working on it now. She’ll be 3 in July. Baby #10 and all 10 were completely different.” –Maria C.

“Oldest (daughter) has been off and on since 3, lots of changes so she had night time issues off and on. Oldest son potty trained himself at 3, he just started using the potty on his own. Second son is 2 and little to no interest so far, youngest is only 6 months old.” –Terri H.

“My first son was over 3 and my second son was 2.” –Paulette V.

“My daughter is 2.5 and has no interest or desire to try. She has no problem sitting in poop all day if I let her which I do not.” –Christina S.

“I let mine walk around naked. 2.5 year old son. We had two accidents but then he learned. I also used mini marshmallows as a treat since I didn’t know how well he’d learn. It look about two weeks and now we don’t even need to wear pull ups or anything. Just normal clothes even during nap time and in public. And he doesn’t like his little potty anymore. Just stick with it and it’ll happen!” –Amberlynn D.

“My 1st son just before 2. My 2nd son 2 1/2 and my third son 3.” –Vanessa C.

“Oldest daughter around 3.5. Next daughter 3.75 (required for preschool attendance.) Next daughter by 3. Son with ADHD and PTSD still a work in process at 9. Two more sons (both 3) with no interest. One day I’ll be done with diapers, I hope!” –Kristin R.

“2.5 for my son, and 17 months for my daughter.” –Autumn H.

“Piper was almost 3 and has only had 2 night accidents! She’s 5 1/2 now! I let her sort of do it on her own time?! I told her when she started wearing pull ups that she needed to tell me and she just always did! Big girl princess panties soon followed and she FOR SURE didn’t want the princesses to be dirty/wet!” –Michelle S.

“Actually she was two and it was easy, the bottle was harder to train of not wanting/having.” –Kristy S.

“9 months and she went herself.” –Ileana V.

“We started with my son at 18 months, but I think we should have waited til at least 2. It took several months, maybe a year even. He didn’t take to the little potty. He wanted to be put on the big potty. I think I’ll wait til at least two with my second son. Maybe, whenever he shows interest.” –Ashley M.

“I am potty training right now – my daughter is two – we have trouble with wearing bottoms but if you let her go without bottoms she does amazing!” –Megan Q.

“With my first we did it 18 months and she regressed and I didn’t stay on top of it due to working so we retrained her at 3, the 2nd child, tried early but wasn’t til she was 3 that it clicked, by the 3rd child I just waited til 3 and it wasn’t as much work because they were excited about it and it just clicked. So now I don’t start til they are 3 and want to do it themselves.” –Jessica H.

“My kids 2, 2, 1, 3 (step-daughter), 2. I also potty trained 2 other 3 year olds. At age 3 it is just direction, they already know.” –Ember M.

“All mine were around 3. I’m not ashamed either. I didn’t rush my kids by any means. They’ll go when THEY’RE ready!!” –Emily M.

“I have 4 kids & they all did it differ times. From 18 months to 3 years old.” –Melody J.

“My son showed interest at 20 months. Then stopped. Now he’s 28 months and he is almost fully trained. Every kid is different, no need to rush. Once they show excitement the. It’s time.” –Ruby M.

“Out of 8 kiddos, the girls were trained at 2 1/2, the boys at 3.” –Robin F.

“2, she is potty trained for all day but we are still working on the night potty training. What helped us is during the day we used panties instead of pull ups. We only use pull ups at night. Huge difference!!” –Katrina H.

“My daughter was 3. Why do people rush it? You just make more work for yourselves.” –Jennifer M.

“2 is when we started! Not saying that is when we ended!! LOL” –Gene K.

“My daughter was 3 before she was ready. I knew she was ready when she told me “Mommy, I’m peeing!” Then I potty trained her in 3 days. He will let you know when he’s ready.” –Jennifer M.

“2-3. I’ve got 5 so I listing each would be a forever long post! Lol! But they were all late 2 early 3, except 1 who refused to train until she was 4. 🙁 I finally just said, nope, you’re done!” –Heather L

“My boy was 2. Most boys do wait longer than girls.” –Ashley L.

Moral of the story? There is no right answer or set age, mama. You should potty train your kiddo when he is ready. If you avoid forcing something that is not clicking, it will be much easier on both you and him.

Good luck and don’t worry! These real moms are proof that it will happen when it happens.