The best time to start toilet training has been debated for years. Parents hear all sort of claims. Start too soon and constipation results. Delay training and children learn control quicker.
To find answers to some of these questions, doctors at the University of Pennsylvania studied the 406 children from a suburban pediatric practice. The children, mostly white and upper class, were enrolled in the study before toilet training was started.
Initiation of toilet training was defined as when the parents first took out the potty chair and discussed toilet training with their children. A child was considered toilet trained when there were no daytime accidents. The parents were contacted by telephone every two to three months until the child had completed day time toilet training.
The researchers found that the earlier the toilet training began, the longer it took for the children to become toilet trained. The older the children were at the initiation of toilet training, the short the time it took to complete the training.
The feared adverse effects of early toilet training - constipation, stool withholding or stool toileting refusal didn't occur.
There is no one best age to begin toilet training children. Starting at a younger age has no adverse effects on children, but results in longer training time.
Pediatrics, 4/03, pp. 810-815.
May not be reproduced in any format without written permission.
