Updated guidance

Potty training is an important milestone in a child’s development.

Almost all children can learn to be clean and dry with the right support, including children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND). Children with sensory needs may require additional time and support.

Potty training should be seen as a process and not a single event. It happens over time and children can practise sitting on a potty or toilet from when they can sit up independently usually around 6 – 9 months.

Research shows it’s best for a child’s bowel and bladder health to stop using nappies between 18 and 30 months. Even if a baby or child has SEND, they don’t need to wait to start toilet training.

Toilet training is about learning skills, and these can be taught with extra help and/or a clear routine. The longer you wait, the harder it can be for a child to learn the new routine and feel confident without nappies.

Parents can access support with toilet training

Parents can ask about potty/toilet training during any conversations they have with their health visiting team. They can expect their health visitor to talk about potty training at their child’s 9–12-month health review.

There’s plenty of expert advice available, including for families of children with SEND.

Visit The Potty Training Guide website for useful links, resources, and tips from the clinicians at ERIC, The Children’s Bowel and Bladder Charity.

Click the image to download the full guide.

Further advice and support for parents:

• Potty training page within the Starting Well section of the Healthy Dudley website
• Health Visitors will be giving parents The Potty Training Guide at the 9-12 month and 2-2.5 year development check
• Health Visitors provide support to parents around toilet training
• School Nurses offer support to parents and children who are at school and still wearing nappies
• Schools to ask parents about toileting when the school place has been accepted and signpost to support if needed to ensure they are supported to be out of nappies before school starts in the September
• Links with Waste Management Services to signpost parents to support for the collection of nappies and and further support if the child is still in nappies beyond 30 months
• A guide for expectant parents (4th edition) which has been updated with new messages and links to ERIC

The Department for Education has created a helpful guide called “Toilet training – help for early years providers”. It explains how early years settings support children with toilet training, including those with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND).