97 Week Old Baby: Your Baby's Development and Your Recovery This Week

Bowel patterns settle down this week for a lot of toddlers, which helps when potty is on the horizon.

At around 24 months, many toddlers have more predictable bowel movements (often the same time of day, after a meal is common). Your toddler may start telling you they need to go, or running to a quiet corner to squat. That's a real readiness cue.

Look for:

• Staying dry for 1–2 hours at a stretch
• Telling you "wee" or "poo" before, during or after
• Hiding to poop
• Pulling at a wet or soiled nappy
• Interest in the toilet or potty
• Able to pull pants up and down a bit

• Start when life is calm. No new baby, no house move, no starting daycare.
• Favourite underwear with a cartoon print works surprisingly well as motivation.
• A potty on the floor is less scary than a big toilet.
• Praise for sitting, even with nothing happening. No scolding for accidents, that slows the whole thing down.
• Most toddlers are day-trained between 24 and 36 months. Night dryness often takes another year or two.

• Notice the "about-to-go" face. Most toddlers have a look, a freeze, a grimace, a tiny squat. That's your moment to ask gently: "Potty?"

• Soft khichdi with a spoonful of ghee, mashed roti dipped in dal, a small bowl of curd-rice with a pinch of jaggery, these go down easily and pack iron and fat in the right amounts.

The about-to-go face you have learned to spot is proof of how fluently you read your little one. This next chapter of baby development will have stumbles and triumphs, both met by your same steady kindness. However long it takes, you two will get there together.

Around 23.5 months. Toilet training thoughts, for some families, this is the moment.

Readiness signs at 23 months

• Staying dry for longer stretches (2+ hours in a nappy)
• Showing awareness of needing to go (squatting, hiding, telling you)
• Wanting to use the toilet like adults
• Able to pull pants down and up
• Communicates needs in words or gestures

If most of these are true, training can start. If not, wait, pushing too early often delays things.

Indian-context approach

• A small potty seat or training potty
• Underwear instead of nappies during the day (be ready for accidents)
• Regular potty offers, every 2 hours
• Praise the trying, not just the success
• No shaming around accidents

For mum's energy

• The first 2 weeks of toilet training are intensive. Pick a stretch when you have 2 weeks at home, a vacation, a long weekend, school break.

Indian-tradition tip

• Many Indian families do "elimination communication" early, holding the baby over a basin from infancy. If this has been your norm, formal training may be smoother. If not, the structured-training approach works fine.

Eating well

• Three meals + two snacks. Hydration matters during training, dehydration causes constipation which makes training harder.

Worth flagging

• A toddler who has been "trained" but suddenly regresses for more than 2 weeks, or who shows pain on the toilet, or has chronic constipation, talk to the pediatrician. Most are normal; some benefit from a check.

Indian-context potty training

• Many Indian families do not use nappies at home from infancy, susu time calls during play, frequent potty offers, and going commando in soft pants. By 2 years, kids in this setup are often training-ready earlier. If you have used nappies, the adjustment may take a few weeks longer; both approaches end at the same place.

Choosing the right moment, watching for readiness, refusing to shame: this is wisdom, not just training. Parenting a toddler through big transitions like this one takes reserves of patience you somehow keep finding. Trust your read on your child; nobody knows them like you.