Have you guys heard about this article? why not to TT before 3?

AmericanInOz

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2176253/Its-accident-Doctor-says-early-toilet-training-HARM-potty-prodigies-shouldnt-attempted-age-three.html

 

food for thought

I'm still giving it a go at 2 1/2

but makes me feel better that if she isn't ready I should just wait til she's at least 3....

sucredee

I have read that before and I don't know...I am no expert but it seems like kids are PT later and later. Kids used to be PT much earlier and all those people have survivied. Did some of them have problems? Probably so but who knows if that was due to early PT. 

I scanned the article because I had read it before but they mention (if I remember correctly) that problems have increased in the past several years.  So if kids used to be PT earlier in the past and now everyone is waiting and the problems have increased....seems like the early PT would not necessarily be to blame.

I have no idea how people PT their kids early in the past so I don't know if their was any "force" involved.  But it seems like a load of BS that kids should not PT until they are at least 3 or 4.  I attempted the 3 day PT at 25 months...big fail even though she was physically ready.  After that, lots of naked time and no making her sit on the potty at all.  1 month later she went from using diapers one day to using the potty full time the next day totally on her own.  Should I have kept her in diapers until she is 3 or 4 just because? That seems totally stupid.

 I think forcing a child to PT may potentially cause problems but I wonder if that is more a power struggle than an actual physical problem.  I rarely tell DD that she has to go potty, i let her lead the way so there are no power struggles (when I do try and tell her she needs to use the potty she fight it so I don't). During our failed  3 day PT she was holding her urine and didn't poop for 3 days so I stopped after 1.5 days. But once it was on her terms 1 month later it was fine and she has not had any problems.

I don't have a problem with kids that aren't PT by 3. I do think it is dumb to say that no one should be PT until after 3.  Each kid is different. My kid is PT at night and again that was her choice to ditch the diapers. 

I think if you PT your kiddo and it becomes a power struggle it probably isn't worth to push through that and try again later.  I was hoping to get DD PT by 3 because I had heard that by that time they become so darn stubborn/defiant and independent for a while that it might actually may make PT more difficult.  Just what I heard so I don't know but as stubborn as DD is I was hoping I could get it done well before that.  We were lucky that it worked and that I ended up not really having to do much "training".

Good luck and don't stress!

 

AmericanInOz

yea look, I don't think anything is black & white some kids are totally ready before 3 with no issues but after reading this article I decided to wait with dd she's 2 1/2 but is SUPER stubborn, always has been also we have changes coming up (moving daycare rooms in feb) and she's SUPER shy at daycare, so I think it's best for us to wait awhile to fully train if she pushes to do it herself before then, then great, but I guess this article kind of spelled out some of my fears and said 'it's ok - you don't HAVE to do it now'

sucredee

Oh I agree with you as far as not feeling like you have to do it now. I totally believe that it depends on the kid when he/she is ready. And if you have a lot of changes it may not be the right time.

I just think that the article is telling people you should keep kids in diapers until they are 3 or 4 regardless as to prevent all these potential problems and I disagree with that. As with everything with kids, each kid will get there in his other own time. For some that is early and for others later.  I think if the potty training (no matter what age) is being forced it can certainly cause problems.

It makes me wonder if "back in the old days" when kids were PT earlier if there was more of a natural progression (like sitting kids on the potty regularly starting at a younger age) plus I suppose that before we had disposable diapers the cloth diapers helped with earlier PT (I remember seeing the cloth diapers I had on as a baby and someone they seem a lot less comfy then the current cloth diapers).

 

AppleMomma

Interesting, and slightly encouraging for a mama whose 3-yo isn't wanting to give up on diapers completely yet. I keep thinking, I have yet to meet a school-aged child who hasn't been TT!

armywife7205

I PT DD1 @ 2 and DD2 PTed herself  the week before she was 18 months. When your kiddo is ready it is ready. DD2 is actually nap trained as well now and only slightly damp in the AM.

I wasn't thinking she would even know what a potty is really @22 months.

 

Go with your gut. My  4 1/2 year old regressed about 1 month after her sister's birth for a week and that was it.  

sucrets4

I haven't read the article, but I think it's mainly bull.

We started EC around 6m with DD and she was pooping in the toilet since then and peeing fairly consistently after 1, 'trained' before 2.  

I think the huge difference is that we CD'd and introduced her to it at 6m.  If it's never a part of a kid's world, it's so unfair to suddenly change everything up before they can grasp it.  Because of that, later training makes more sense to me, but I think all kids are capable of it early if exposed to it repeatedly.