If Freud taught us anything, it was that early missteps in matters toilet-related can have repercussions later in life. Perhaps that explains the anxiety and multitude of theories on the subject. Dr. Sears is of the “better late than early” school. His take is that as kids’ nerves and muscles aren’t ready for bladder control and stool retention until nearly two years of age; any attempt to impose earlier toilet-training will likely be futile. Dr. Cohen seconds not fretting over when to toilet-train; he says your child will eventually tire of dirty nappies. Yet there is a growing movement toward “infant toilet-training,” or “elimination communication.” The idea of a six-month-old using the john may sound nuts to you, but practitioners swear by it. The basic premise is that there are windows of possible toilet-training; if a baby doesn’t get too used to the concept of going in his nappies, it is easier to stop using them. The method requires you to listen to baby’s cues and to be cool with the occasional poop-on-floor mishap. One guide cautions that it will be “three steps back for every step forward.” Clearly infant toilet-training isn’t for everyone, especially not for those with wall-to-wall carpeting or white couches, but if you like the sound of a toilet-trained one-year-old you might want to give it a shot.
Children, Youth And Women’s Health
"Toilet Training"
" Most children are not ready to learn to control their poo and wee (bowels and bladder) until they are at least two years old and some not until they are three. Some boys are later than girls. Control over poo may happen before or after control over wee." …read the full article
Dr. Sears
"Toilet-Training"
“Better late than early. The pressure is off parents to toilet-train early. Gone are the days when toilet-training was equated with good mothering. Diapering is certainly not the hassle it used to be. Diaper pins are going the way of the clothespin, and even fumbling fathers can manage the new, easy-to-put-on-and-fasten diapers. Disposables have made travel easier, and many a modern mother wants to hug the diaper-service delivery person. Also, we now understand more about how a baby’s elimination system works. We now know that the nerves and muscles governing defecation and urination do not mature in most babies until eighteen to twenty-four months. As an added fact supporting later training, babies who begin toilet training later achieve control faster than those hurried to the toilet earlier.” …read the full article
Dr. Michel Cohen
Excerpt from The New Basics;
"No matter what you may have heard or read, toilet-training is unnecessary. Children learn to move on from diapers, not because they are run through drills but because they become sensitive to the increasing discomfort of marinating in their own dirty diapers. Just like any other milestone, this occurs naturally as a normal part of a child’s development, and it does not require training." …read the full article
Natural Baby
"No More Nappies: An Introduction To Elimination Communication"
" Elimination Communication (EC)- also known as Infant Potty Training (IPT), Elimination Timing (ET), Going Diaperless and Natural Infant Hygeine- is how most babies are brought up around the world. This ‘method’, which is so integral and so obvious in most cultures that it needs no name, involves the mother and baby becoming attuned and communicative so that the mother knows when the baby needs to eliminate- wee or poo. " …read the full article
Raising Children Network
"Toilet Training"
" Toilet training may take days or months. It’s not a race (no matter what other parents tell you about their own wonderful children). The key is to not push your child. Relax and let nature take its course, and encourage your child with gentle reminders and stories. What your child wants most is to please you, and praising him will point out what a good job he’s doing. " …read the full article
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
Babble Australia
“The Toddler Has No Clothes”
