Taking your time leading your child through the preparation and practice stages should help to avoid the most common potty training problems.

Teaching your child how to use a potty and feel comfortable around wee and poo gives them a gentle journey towards being independent from nappies. It also helps avoid many common potty training problems in the future. Reusable cloth potty training pants are handy if you are travelling or when your child is at nursery. These are like underwear but with an absorbent layer to help soak up accidents which can be washed and used again. Your child has a lot to learn at each stage. This is why it makes sense to do some preparation and practice together before they stop wearing nappies. Try not to panic if it seems as if they just aren't getting it. Some children take longer to learn, and just need more time.Learning to sleep without a nappy on at naptime and use the potty when they wake up, will help prepare your child for being dry at night. That's where devices like this option from pStyle come in. Marketed as "portable urinals," they're funnels that can be used without pulling down your pants all the way — you just have to unzip and place them inside the fly. As long as the end of the funnel is outside your clothing and pointed downward, you'll be good to go. When you are ready, tell your child it is time to stop using nappies. You may like to help your child to say goodbye to their nappies and explain that from now on, they will do all their wee and poo in the potty or toilet. The toilet can stand alone in "seat mode" or, when its hinged legs are folded up, be affixed to the top of a standard toilet for potty training. It's designed for children up to 50 pounds (when used as a standalone toilet), fully collapsible, and comes in a pretty stylish range of color combinations, including a vivid pink and purple situation that would work well for any Barbie fan. (Bright colors might not make using a portable toilet more enjoyable, but come on, we're trying.)

Flushable portable toilets: This kind of portable toilet has a built-in flusher, which means waste will travel from the bowl to a tank below. Some flushers are battery-powered and others are manual. We've included both types on our list. For potty training to go well, your child needs a consistent approach to help them learn what they need to do whether they're at home or in childcare.

Using the toilet away from home is a good thing for your child to get used to.Talk to them about things like how the flush at the supermarket is different from the one at home or nursery for example.