TT is a universal issue for children and one of the most important first steps toward independence. Researchers emphasize the importance of starting TT at the moment the child is ready and shows certain developmental skills and characteristics. But at the same time, parents tend to initiate TT at a later age, leading to a delayed acquisition of volitional bladder and bowel control. Delay in TT can lead to several disadvantageous consequences, both for the child and for their environment. The main objectives of this thesis were to address four factors contributing to the postponement of TT: 1. parents’ perception; 2. diverse information; 3. stool problems ; and 4. time. In chapter 2 the perception of 832 parents on TT was investigated by means of a questionnaire. 50% of parents initiated TT because the child would soon be attending school and parents seem to rely on external factors to start training, rather than taking into account the maturity or readiness of the child, although the latter group ended toilet training significantly sooner. Chapter 3 highlighted the diverse information on TT that is available nowadays and the insecurity of parents on how and when to initiate TT. Six focus group discussions (FGD), involving 37 participants, were used to explore parents' experiences on TT. The findings of this qualitative study show that reputable agencies, family, friends, daycare workers and nursery school teachers were considered trustworthy sources. TT information should be easily understandable and not contain scientific terms. A colourful and illustrated brochure sent by regular mail seems to be preferred. A prospective, observational study was performed in Chapter 4 to explore the occurrence of postprandial defecation in 40 healthy infants not yet toilet trained. We observed a bowel movement within the first hour after a meal in 75% of the children. Of them, 37% would defecate within 15 minutes and 72% within half an hour. Fifty-nine percent of all children defecated in the morning, 54% at noon and 28% in the evening. We believe the implementation of the gastrocolic reflex in TT, as scheduled toilet seats 15–30 minutes after a meal, might help a child in his learning process to defecate on the potty. In Chapter 5 we addressed the problems of the growing population of children in daycare that needed to be toilet trained and parents that are insecure about the right timing and manner or lack initiative and time to start TT. In a prospective clustered randomized controlled trial 55 children in total (16 boys and 39 girls) were trained: 27 children in 11 different daycares in the intervention group and 28 in 11 other daycares in the control group. Innovative aspects of this toilet training method were a 2-hour intensive training on two consecutive days, carried out in small groups in daycare centres. The intervention had a significant influence on the duration of toilet training in healthy children, with a median duration of 2 weeks, compared to 5 weeks in control groups. The hazard of being clean during the following 6 weeks was twice as high in the intervention group compared to control groups. Education of parents and daycare workers on the assessment of the child’s readiness and evidence based guidelines for conducting TT could be the first steps in tackling the postponement of TT in healthy children.