I always hoped I'd be the kind of parent who was patient and encouraging.

I mean when my kids were learning to walk I was right there saying 'come on.... you can do it!'

Did I ever say ‘Aren’t you a bit too old to still be crawling'?

or 'Look, your brother was much younger when he took his first steps'

Of course not!

But when I'd catch my second son Felix creeping out from behind the sofa with a steaming poo swinging in his pants I'd jump in with 'Eeeeew Felix – why can’t you JUST POO ON THE POTTY!' and I know he felt my impatience and judgement.

What I discovered later was that I'd followed the wrong roadmap for Felix’s potty training.

I rushed at it, thinking that my maternity leave with my third child would be the perfect time.

I had my deadline, not his readiness in mind and I’ve since used my mistakes to help so many others get potty training nailed without the stress.

I've also spent a long time working on myself and helping other...