Toilet training

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Toilet training (or potty training) is the process of weaning a young child off diapers (or "nappies" in Commonwealth countries) and training the child to use the toilet for urination and defecation. Toilet training is usually started and completed between the ages of 12 months and three years[1] (generally towards the later end of the range in America[2][3]). Boys are typically closer to the high end of the age range than are girls, by an average of 3 to 6 months, at the mastery of toilet training.

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[edit] Psychology

Many psychologists believe that toilet training is among the most formative events of the human psyche because it is the child's first introduction to the fact that social imperatives can take precedence over bodily desires.[4] According to Sigmund Freud, a child can have problems later in life if the toilet training does not go well, or is too strict.[5] For example, as an adult a person could strive for perfection or excessive cleanliness because they were too harshly trained. The current popular wisdom on this subject is that toilet training is a mutual task, requiring cooperation, agreement and understanding between both the child and the caregiver. It is strongly recommended that coercion and shame are not used as disciplinary instruction tools during this phase of development. Though recent studies in Japan show that an increasing number of children are wetting their beds or wearing diapers full time, even in elementary school. [6][7] Indeed, the best potty training techniques emphasize consistency and positive reinforcement over punishment [8].

[edit] History

Formal toilet training is a relatively recent phenomenon. It is necessary because contemporary society requires privacy for the act of excretion.[4] Before the widespread social adoption of the private bathroom, most children learned toilet skills simply by observing. Such is still the case in countries where few members of society have private bathrooms.

[edit] Footnotes and citations

  1. ^ Paul, Pamela. Parenting, Inc. Times (Henry Holt), 2008. ISBN 978-0-8050-8249-4. Page 244-245.
  2. ^ Paul, Pamela. Parenting, Inc. Times (Henry Holt), 2008. ISBN 978-0-8050-8249-4. Page 244-245.
  3. ^ Honig, A: "Toilet Training Stubbornness," Scholastic Parent and Child
  4. ^ a b Poop Culture: How America is Shaped by its Grossest National Product, ISBN 1-932-59521-X
  5. ^ The Standard Edition of the Complete Psychological Works of Sigmund Freud, Vol. 11. ISBN 0-393-01128-3
  6. ^ Japan messes up with potty training, April 2, 2005 retrieved May 2, 2007
  7. ^ Big bedwetters left high and dry in diapers, July 26, 2002 retrieved May 2, 2007
  8. ^ Potty Training Consistency.

[edit] See also