Toilet training
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Toilet training (or potty training) is the process of weaning a young child off diapers (or nappies in the British Isles and many 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 eighteen-months and four years[1], 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.[1][2]
According to Sigmund Freud, a child can have problems later in life if the toilet training doesn't go well, or is too strict.[2] 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.
Elimination communication (EC) is a toilet training method which begins at birth. An adult helps an infant address their elimination needs, partially or completely avoiding the use of diapers.
Notes
- ^ Honig, A: "Toilet Training Stubborness," Scholastic Parent and Child
- ^ The Standard Edition of the Complete Psychological Works of Sigmund Freud, Vol. 11. ISBN 0-393-01128-3