A few top tips for potty training boys:

Follow Daddy to the toilet

Toddlers learn by copying, so watching an older siblings or Daddy go to the bathroom is the best way to get your son started with potty training. If it can’t be Dad, enlist the help of big brother, an uncle or an understanding friend. He’ll soon realise that the way Mummy does her wee is different, so be ready to answer basic questions about the difference in male and female plumbing.

Teach him to wee sitting down first

Most children learn to wee in the loo before they learn to poo so teaching him to sit down to wee will give you a head start when he comes to potty training for poo. Plus the early days are the messy days when your son will have little or no control over where anything is pointing so you’ll have less cleaning up to do if he starts by sitting down!

Move on to stand-up wees

There’s no deadline. Some boys sit down to wee right up until they go to school; it’s only when they see their friends standing up do they feel like giving it a go. Leave it until he seems happy with the whole idea of using the toilet. You can encourage him to aim correctly by using a floating target in your loo – like a ping pong ball. Remind him to lift up the toilet seat and make sure it doesn’t fall down.

Essential equipment for potty training boys

If you start your son training on the toilet straight away get him a non-slip stool so he can reach the loo by himself. Even if he sits down to wee at first, the stool will help support his feet and make him feel stable. Clothing: time to ditch the dungarees – cute as they are. Just loose clothing that slips up and down.

Get some cool underwear

Never underestimate the difference Ben 10 or Spiderman can make to a little boy’s feelings about potty training. Tell him you’re going shopping for some big boy pants like Daddy’s or his big brother’s/cousin’s. Go up a size so he won’t struggle to get them down in a hurry. Oh and buy plenty since they’ll spend the first few weeks in and out of the wash.

A mum’s view:

Michelle, mum of Louis (5), Philip (6) and Michael (8) says: “With three boys in the house poor toilet aim was a real bugbear of mine. If you don’t mind a bit of wee in the garden, this is a great place to let boys learn about target practice. I taped a laminated bull’s eye onto a tree for the summer and my sons really enjoyed trying to get 100 points in the middle with each wee. By autumn I had a much cleaner toilet floor!”

The expert view

American paediatrician and childcare expert Dr Benjamin Spock says "Many boys, when they’re trained for urine, stop doing their bowel movements on the potty. They apparently can't give in to all of their parents' requests at once. Pressurising them at this point can make matters worse. Take a very relaxed approach until he has regained his interest in doing poos on the potty, maybe let him poo in trainer pants until then”.