Once you start toilet training your child, you may see success within a month but some children take longer, says Faull. “All children need support and reminders for a long time – eight months or so.” Try these ideas to boost your odds of early success:

Turn it into target practice: If you have a boy, put Cheerios or Froot Loops in the toilet bowl and let him aim, says Dee Messer, mother of three in North Vernon, Indiana. “I know it sounds silly and kinda gross, but it works.”

Tap into your child’s imagination: Use imaginative play to help your child get over any angst she might have with the process, suggests Faull. “If a child says ‘No, I’m not going to sit on the potty,’ then you say: ‘Oh, but your dolly will.’ If you engage the child’s imagination in the process, they’re more willing to try.”

Prepare for outings: When Donna Young’s son Lucas was getting toilet trained, the Albany, N.Y. mother of two thwarted some accidents by taking him to the toilet regularly, even if he didn’t want to go. “Whenever we went out, we took along a change of clothes and wipes and took him to public toilets at every opportunity.”

Go for it: “ At first I started with training pants but after that introduction, success came when I put on the underwear,” says Kaboose editor Leigh Felesky, a mother of two. “Once my son, who was two-and-a-half at the time, realized that if he went he would be really wet he soon started asking to go to the potty almost every time.”

Work with your childcare provider: You don’t want them scolding your child for accidents when you’re being positive. “Discuss how you’re proceeding and they’re proceeding and the successes and setbacks the child is having so you’re on the same page,” suggests Faull.