Just read something interesting about toilet training

[buliej]

During one of my google searches related to nappies, I came across an assertion that prior to disposables and the marketing campaigns associated with disposables, toilet training occurred at 1-1.5 years of age. It was only when the production/marketing of disposables and the making of disposable nappies in toddler sizes started (in the '70's) that people stopped toilet training their children at 1/1+ years of age. It went on to say "ask your parents" when you were toilet trained which I will do as now I'm really curious.

My baby is still 2 months away so I have zero experience with this, but I found it really interesting.

Anyone here tried to toilet train at 1-1.5 years of age - how did you find it?

[LionsandBears]

No experience with TT, but read a lot about what's now called Elimination Communication in the West and in most other countries is just the normal way children learn to go. Most of those kids are TT by 18 months.

We were all TT by 18-24 months. Mum used terry flats and wool pilchers on us.

[Olive]

im a 70's baby (late 70's ) and i was trained by 2! mainly because i had older siblings and didnt want to wear nappies anymore

[Heaven]

Very interesting! Because they are able to actually feel when they're wet easier?

My mum used cloth on me and I was toilet trained day and night at 18 months! We use cloth on DD and she knows when she needs to go and tells us. In the last couple of weeks she's been telling us when she needs to use the toilet and then actually doing it when we put her on there. She's 20 months.

[Maruschke]

doh just lost my post...

DD1 is 18 months and does morning pee and poo on the toilet, she also tells us when she is doing her pees and poos in her nappy, and occasionally she will take off her nappy and pee on the floor, pretending she is on the toilet. We are going to try the three day TT course once we have moved into the new house.

HTH, PX

[Freya]

Id love to let anyone who would generalise that ALL kids could be toilet trained by 18mths come and have a crack at my Ds2 who is 3 in 6wks and STILL wont train no matter what we do!

I think that there are always children who will train when they are ready no matter the age. I know of some kids who have been fully trained by 14mths! Others who are still in the process of being day and night time trained at 5. My kids are a classic example of that; my Ds1 was 3y3m when he was fully toilet trained practically overnight when I gave up on harrassing him and just waited for him to be ready, Ds2 is just under 3y and nowhere near willing or ready, Ds3 is 20mths and very willing to give the potty a crack and very happy to come and let me know he's going to do a poo or wee. I will be surprised if he isnt toilet trained by 2.5 AND trained before Ds2.

I think sometimes parents place waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay to much emphasis on rushing their kids to do stuff, especially toilet training. Every kid is different and will do different things in their own time. No wonder there is such a competitive mentality in society these days.

[skybie]

lol freya dnt feel too bad DD1 is 4 yrs and 3 months old and still wears a night nappy to bed!
interesting findings though

[Nai]

Also most mums were home all day with the kids so they could do intensive TT. I was trained day by 2.5 and night by 3. DD1 was almost identical and we used cloth on her. She let me know when she was ready and she virtually TT overnight with hardly any accidents ever! DD2 is also in cloth and tells me when she is doing something in her nappy but won't use the potty.

[luna moth]

Id love to let anyone who would generalise that ALL kids could be toilet trained by 18mths come and have a crack at my Ds2 who is 3 in 6wks and STILL wont train no matter what we do!

That's still well within normal ranges. Let go of the angst! It will happen.

In answer to your original post, buliej, I have definitely noticed, over 10 years and hundreds of kids I have seen through childcare (so, yes, a generalisation, but based on a far wider sample size than one little family) that kids who use cloth do generally TT a lot earlier and faster. There are always outliers, but as a rule, it's often true.

[buliej]

What I read wasn't saying that those who use cloth nappies tt earlier - it was saying that the marketing campaigns driven by the disposable nappy companies resulted in a change in mentality in terms of when TT should take place.

[Miss E]

lol freya dnt feel too bad DD1 is 4 yrs and 3 months old and still wears a night nappy to bed!
interesting findings though

Yeah, my 6 year old niece still needs a night nappy but was fully TT by 2.5 during the day. My sister has done a lot of research into it and there are a lot of factors that come into it from hormones to physiology. Some kids simply don't get a strong enough sensation to wake them up. So I definately support the theory that all kids are different.

My DS is 16 months and I can't even imagine broaching it at the moment, I think (but don't really know for sure) that he is blissfully unaware of weeing... Poos are another matter, but again I don't think his language is well enough developed to express the need iykwim?

[Just Me]

Yeah, my 6 year old niece still needs a night nappy but was fully TT by 2.5 during the day. My sister has done a lot of research into it and there are a lot of factors that come into it from hormones to physiology. Some kids simply don't get a strong enough sensation to wake them up. So I definately support the theory that all kids are different.

My DS is 16 months and I can't even imagine broaching it at the moment, I think (but don't really know for sure) that he is blissfully unaware of weeing... Poos are another matter, but again I don't think his language is well enough developed to express the need iykwim?

I wet the bed until I was 9 years old - and I didn't have a night nappy. Sleeping in a wet bed didn't wake me up either. My brother also wet the bed until he was 15. My mum did until she was 10 so I wonder if there are genetic factors involved there. I think kids have been wetting the bed until they are quite old for a long time. My mum tried lots of different things with us to help us stop and nothing worked. Honestly, I think night nappies are a great invention because I hated waking up in a wet bed every morning when I was growing up - it is a horrible feeling. It made going to school camps and slumber parties really difficult and a night nappy would have made so much difference to me.

My DD1 has been wearing pull ups to bed at night (she has only just started staying dry during her day time naps) and last night, DH and I were up really late and we heard her door open and her going to the toilet and she walked straight back to bed pulling up her pull up as she went We had no idea that she did that and we haven't taught her. Her pull up was still wet this morning so she must have still needed to wee in the middle of the night and not woken up for it but I was amazed that she could do it. Needing to wee never woke me up in the night as a child. So I agree, there are a lot of other factors at play. I don't think being able to feel wetness in a wet bed teaches anything and I don't think that having a night nappy makes it okay to wet the bed ... but I would have dearly loved to wake up in a dry bed when I was growing up and the handful of mornings that I did were bliss

[butterfly_warrior]

I think I come from a family that resists TT.

I've heard many stories about how stubborn my sister was in relation to TT... and I know her son was even more stubborn. I recall him being over 4 and pretty much just flat out refusing to use the toilet. He knew when he needed to go, but wouldn't tell anyone. I recall one shopping trip with them where he ran away because he needed to poo. We eventually found him and he could tell us that he did it because he was scared.

As for my son... He can even tell us when he's done a poo, let alone that he needs to go. If he's running around without a nappy after bath time, we'll often see him grab his penis just before he starts to pee... but I don't think he gets enough warning to be able to use that as a cue for us to get him to toilet/potty. I'm in no particular hurry. When his language skills develop a bit more we may start to pursue it a bit more, but not now.

Honestly - I think back in the days where terry cloth squares were the norm, it was probably more about timing and watching the child's cues as to know when to get them to a toilet rather than the child knowing they needed to go and being able to take themselves or communicate the need to be taken.

BW

[Heaven]

I also discovered today that I couldn't find any undies small enough for my DD! They started in size 2-3 which looks a bit big for her yet.

[buliej]

This is all so interesting to me...I can't get much info from my mother because she says that she sent me to my grandmothers for 3 days and I came back TT ... same with my sister...don't know what age we were though...need to ask. My mom still has no idea how my grandmother did it and my grandmother hasn't been with us for years and years (she passed away way before I thought about TT anyone!)