Toilet training
Encyclopedia
Toilet training, or potty training, is the process of training a young child to use the toilet
for urination
and defecation
, though training may start with a smaller toilet bowl-shaped device (often known as a potty). Cultural factors play a large part in what age is deemed appropriate, with the expectation for being potty trained ranging from 12 months for some tribes in Africa
to 36 months in the modern United States
. Most children can control their bowel before their bladder
, boys typically start and finish later than girls, and it usually takes longer to learn to stay dry throughout the night.
over punishment
- making it fun for the child. There are articles suggesting that it is easier to toilet train a child when he/she is at least 18 months old, and for boys it is better to wait even longer since they usually lack the necessary language and fine motor skills. This time frame is much easier to use because of the child wanting to please his/her parents. A recent trend on the rise in the United States is to begin soon after birth using the practice of EC or Elimination communication
. (EC) is a toilet training
practice in which a caregiver uses timing, signals, cues, and intuition to address an infant's
need to eliminate waste and reduce the use of diapers.
put out a series of publications called Infant Care starting in 1914, and recommended toilet training to be started in the first year until the 1951 edition. In 1914, parents were advised to start toilet training by the third month "with the utmost gentleness". A somewhat harsh method that used suppositories to put the baby on a strict schedule of bowel movements was advocated in 1929 and 1935. In 1938, parents were advised to start bowel training "as early as the sixth month". By 1951, fears of psychological ramifications of early training surfaced and parents were advised to wait "between one and a half to two years" to commence training. However, in 1957, the average age of starting toilet training was still under one year, at 11 months, and 90% of children were dry during the day by 2 years. In 2002, the average age that parents recognized their child "showing an interest in using the potty" was 24–25 months, and daytime dryness was achieved on average at almost 3 years of age. Nighttime accidents are now considered normal until 5 or 6 years of age.
Toilet
A toilet is a sanitation fixture used primarily for the disposal of human excrement, often found in a small room referred to as a toilet/bathroom/lavatory...
for urination
Urination
Urination, also known as micturition, voiding, peeing, weeing, pissing, and more rarely, emiction, is the ejection of urine from the urinary bladder through the urethra to the outside of the body. In healthy humans the process of urination is under voluntary control...
and defecation
Defecation
Defecation is the final act of digestion by which organisms eliminate solid, semisolid or liquid waste material from the digestive tract via the anus. Waves of muscular contraction known as peristalsis in the walls of the colon move fecal matter through the digestive tract towards the rectum...
, though training may start with a smaller toilet bowl-shaped device (often known as a potty). Cultural factors play a large part in what age is deemed appropriate, with the expectation for being potty trained ranging from 12 months for some tribes in Africa
Africa
Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...
to 36 months in the modern United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. Most children can control their bowel before their bladder
Bladder
Bladder usually refers to an anatomical hollow organBladder may also refer to:-Biology:* Urinary bladder in humans** Urinary bladder ** Bladder control; see Urinary incontinence** Artificial urinary bladder, in humans...
, boys typically start and finish later than girls, and it usually takes longer to learn to stay dry throughout the night.
Modern practice
Most people advise that toilet training is a mutual task, requiring cooperation, agreement and understanding between child and the caregiver, and the best potty training techniques emphasize consistency and positive reinforcementReinforcement
Reinforcement is a term in operant conditioning and behavior analysis for the process of increasing the rate or probability of a behavior in the form of a "response" by the delivery or emergence of a stimulus Reinforcement is a term in operant conditioning and behavior analysis for the process of...
over punishment
Punishment
Punishment is the authoritative imposition of something negative or unpleasant on a person or animal in response to behavior deemed wrong by an individual or group....
- making it fun for the child. There are articles suggesting that it is easier to toilet train a child when he/she is at least 18 months old, and for boys it is better to wait even longer since they usually lack the necessary language and fine motor skills. This time frame is much easier to use because of the child wanting to please his/her parents. A recent trend on the rise in the United States is to begin soon after birth using the practice of EC or Elimination communication
Elimination communication
Elimination communication is a toilet training practice in which a caregiver uses timing, signals, cues, and intuition to address an infant's need to eliminate waste. Caregivers try to recognize and respond to babies' bodily needs and enable them to urinate and defecate in an appropriate place...
. (EC) is a toilet training
Toilet training
Toilet training, or potty training, is the process of training a young child to use the toilet for urination and defecation, though training may start with a smaller toilet bowl-shaped device...
practice in which a caregiver uses timing, signals, cues, and intuition to address an infant's
Infant
A newborn or baby is the very young offspring of a human or other mammal. A newborn is an infant who is within hours, days, or up to a few weeks from birth. In medical contexts, newborn or neonate refers to an infant in the first 28 days after birth...
need to eliminate waste and reduce the use of diapers.
History of Toilet Training in the United States
Until the mid-1900s, the vast majority of babies finished toilet training by 2 years, and achieved nighttime dryness by 3 years. Since then, the age for toilet training has increased dramatically. The US Department of Labor Children’s BureauUnited States Children's Bureau
The United States Children's Bureau is a federal agency organized under the United States Department of Health and Human Services' Administration for Children and Families. Today, the bureau's operations involve improving child abuse prevention, foster care, and adoption...
put out a series of publications called Infant Care starting in 1914, and recommended toilet training to be started in the first year until the 1951 edition. In 1914, parents were advised to start toilet training by the third month "with the utmost gentleness". A somewhat harsh method that used suppositories to put the baby on a strict schedule of bowel movements was advocated in 1929 and 1935. In 1938, parents were advised to start bowel training "as early as the sixth month". By 1951, fears of psychological ramifications of early training surfaced and parents were advised to wait "between one and a half to two years" to commence training. However, in 1957, the average age of starting toilet training was still under one year, at 11 months, and 90% of children were dry during the day by 2 years. In 2002, the average age that parents recognized their child "showing an interest in using the potty" was 24–25 months, and daytime dryness was achieved on average at almost 3 years of age. Nighttime accidents are now considered normal until 5 or 6 years of age.
See also
- BedwettingBedwettingNocturnal enuresis, commonly called bedwetting, is involuntary urination while asleep after the age at which bladder control usually occurs. Nocturnal enuresis is considered primary when a child has not yet had a prolonged period of being dry...
- Elimination communicationElimination communicationElimination communication is a toilet training practice in which a caregiver uses timing, signals, cues, and intuition to address an infant's need to eliminate waste. Caregivers try to recognize and respond to babies' bodily needs and enable them to urinate and defecate in an appropriate place...
- HousebreakingHousebreakingHousebreaking is the process of training a domesticated animal that lives with its human owners in a house to excrete outdoors, or in a designated indoor area, rather than inside the house. The pet owner's desire is to break the habit of eliminating in the house, hence the term...
- Pants PankuroPants Pankurois the name of a series of animated shorts that aired on Japanese public television from April 2004 until March 2008. The series is geared to toddlers and young children, and most episodes focus on the issues involved with toilet training...
, an education animated series in Japan used to educate on toilet training - Urinals
- Infant potty training method