Using the toilet in the day
Most children are out of nappies during the day somewhere between about 2½ and 3½ years, but the age differs a lot between countries, families and generations. In some communities, babies are trained in their first year.
How sure are we?
Researchers disagree. Studies in different places and times found quite different ages, partly because families start toilet training at very different ages. How we know this
What it’s a sign of
Your child is noticing their body's signals and managing them, often with a lot of practice.
In the four-country study, half were trained by about 2 years in India and South Africa but by about 2¾ in Argentina. Among the Digo of East Africa, babies were dry by about 5 or 6 months, after training from their first weeks. In Belgium, families have started training later over the last 60 years. In a US study, girls were a little earlier than boys.
We don't know the age by which nearly all children are dry by day, and studies define "dry" in different ways.
A main source for the ages
Similarities and differences in child development from birth to age 3 years by sex and across four countries: a cross-sectional, observational study
Ilgi Ozturk Ertem, Vibha Krishnamurthy, Mphelekedzeni C. Mulaudzi, Yanina Sguassero, Hakan Balta, Ozlem Gulumser · 2018 · Lancet Global Health
- Children
- About 4,900 healthy children
- Where
- Argentina, India, South Africa and Turkey
- Ages
- Birth to 3½ years
- How
- Trained staff asked parents open questions about what their child could do, at health clinics
- What it found
- Found the age by which half of children reached more than 100 milestones. Most came at similar ages in all four countries, and for boys and girls. For example, half of children waved bye-bye by about 11 months and said a first word by about 9 months.
- Limits
- Only four countries and no rural areas, children from city clinics, and only healthy children (about half of those who came were left out for health reasons). It gives the age for half of children, not the full spread.
A main source for the ages
Sequential Acquisition of Toilet-Training Skills: A Descriptive Study of Gender and Age Differences in Normal Children
Timothy R. Schum, Thomas M. Kolb, Timothy L. McAuliffe, Mark D. Simms, Richard L. Underhill, Marla Lewis · 2002 · PEDIATRICS
- Children
- About 270 children
- Where
- Milwaukee, United States
- Ages
- 15 months to about 4 years
- How
- Parents filled in a survey every week
- What it found
- About half the girls were staying dry during the day by about 32½ months and about half the boys by about 35 months. Showing interest in the potty came earlier, at about 2 years.
- Limits
- We have only read the summary. Most families were white and from one city.
A main source for the ages
VOIDING PATTERN AND ACQUISITION OF BLADDER CONTROL FROM BIRTH TO AGE 6 YEARS—A LONGITUDINAL STUDY
U.-B. Jansson, M. Hanson, Ulla Sillén, A.L. Hellström · 2005 · The Journal of Urology
- Children
- About 60 children
- Where
- Not given in the summary we read
- Ages
- Birth to 6 years
- How
- Researchers followed the same children from birth
- What it found
- About half the children were dry during the day by 3½ years and at night by 4 years. Nearly all were dry by day before they were dry at night.
- Limits
- We have only read the summary. A small group.
A study that questioned earlier findings
Cultural Relativity of Toilet Training Readiness: A Perspective From East Africa
Marten W. deVries, Marten W. deVries · 1977 · PEDIATRICS
- Children
- Not given in the summary we read
- Where
- The Digo people of East Africa
- Ages
- First year
- How
- Researchers studied families in one community
- What it found
- Among the Digo of East Africa, families began toilet training in the first weeks, and babies were dry day and night by about 5 or 6 months.
- Limits
- We have only read the summary, which doesn't give how many babies or how "dry" was defined.
A study that questioned earlier findings
Changes in the toilet training of children during the last 60 years: the cause of an increase in lower urinary tract dysfunction?
E. Bakker, Jean‐Jacques Wyndaele · 2000 · British Journal of Urology
- Children
- About 800 children, from three generations
- Where
- Belgium
- Ages
- Childhood, over 60 years
- How
- People recalled how they toilet trained their children
- What it found
- Over three generations, families started toilet training later and later.
- Limits
- We have only read the summary, which gives no ages.
If you’re worried about your child, talk to your child and family health nurse or GP.
Last checked 2 November 2026