Young infants have a reflex known as the gastrocolic reflex.
About 20 minutes after eating, an infant will have a reflex bowel movement.
This reflex, like all others will gradually diminish, around 12 to 15 months.
Willful control of bowel elimination can develop only after the child has overcome this reflex.
There are stories of children being toilet trained by the age of 6 months.
These children are not really toilet trained but are passing stool in a regular pattern determined by the gastrocolic reflex.
Some parents have confused the natural disappearance of this reflex with a conscious decision by their 12 month-old to be uncooperative.
This is far from the truth.
A 12 month old is still much too young to toilet train.
Other skills must develop and mature first.
The child must be able to sense that a bowel movement is occurring.
Most acquire this knowledge after 1 year of age.
Parents can often recognize that their child is producing stool by facial expressions or other gestures.
Initiation of bowel control is often begun at this time, most often unconsciously.
The association between act and language will have begun, but the final act of this complex learning task will not be accomplished for another year or 2.
After the child is able to detect the sensation of a bowel movement, they become able to sense the presence of fecal material before it passes.
Following this, the child begins to achieve some muscular control over the passage of the stool This muscular coordination develops at different ages in different children.
Some children develop it early in the 2nd year, others not until the end of the 3rd year of life.
The rare child with a neurological condition may develop this control much later or not at all Children should not be rushed to the toilet.
Frantic activity can be frightening experiencing for children.
Of course, many households have such a high level of activity that rushing may be normal.
The speed with which you take your child to the toilet should be similar to the speed with which you do other things with your child.
Once your child begins to inform you of an impending bowel movement, you can begin taking the child to the potty.
Most children will be able to do this when they are 2 to 3 years old.
Introducing your child to the toilet should be a relaxed affair.
Initially, there is no need even to remove the child's pants.
Consider that the child's potty is often on the floor, where it tends to be colder than elsewhere in the room.
Sitting on a cold seat can be a shocker for anyone, especially a 2-year old Merely associating the bowel movement with the potty is enough at 1st.
Staying there too long should be avoided.
The energy level of a 2-year-old is such that the child will not wish to remain on the potty too long anyway.
A potty that sits on the floor generally seems more secure than a toilet seat placed way up high on the big toilet.
It's also easier to push with feet on the ground.
A portable potty also can be easily taken on trips and it becomes the individual possession of the child.
A major accomplishment during the long process of development is the ability to put things off, or delay.
Learning to postpone urges can take months or years.
Having a bowel movement is a biological pleasurable experience.
A child learns to delay this pleasure in order to receive something equally pleasurable-a parent's reward.
The child is beginning to make decisions about the pleasures that social behavior can bring.
A 2-year-old appreciates the social interaction with parents.
Smiles and praise, not overdone, should accompany potty sitting.