When should I start toilet training my child? Is it different for girls and boys?

You should start toilet training somewhere around age 2 years of age. It really doesn't matter if it's a boy or girl in terms of when they start. It's more about when the child is showing signs of readiness. The signs of readiness are them able to tell you that they are wet or dirty, they're able to walk well, pull their pants up and down without falling over, that they're able to be dry after a nap, or a period of time, or in the morning when they get up. Once they're doing that, then you're ready to start the process, and that could be anywhere from age 2 to age 3 1/2. There's a huge variability on it, so not to worry if they're 2 and haven't shown any interest. My suggestions are that if you start, you want to be consistent. So you wait til you have those signs of readiness, and then once you have those signs then you want to offer them the opportunity to go to the bathroom about every 90 minutes or so during day. What you say to them is not, "do you want to go potty"? Instead you say, "Do you want to try to potty now or after we..." do something, like, "Now or after we wash our hands?" "Now or after we have our sandwich?" "Now, or after we brush our teeth?" 'Cause 2 year-olds are about being independent. They want to be in control, so if you let them have a choice they will do much better. If they say "No", you say "Okay, we'll try later", and an hour and a half later you ask them again. What will happen is eventually they'll go or have to go at the time you ask and ...