Potty Training Age...

[blandino]

On average, what age are your children when they are FULLY toilet trained ?

I averaged it out over the past two years, and my average age is 33 months. The earliest being 30 months and the latest being 1 week before turning 36 months.

All the time I have parents saying "my mom says I was toilet trained at 18 months" or "I want them trained before 2". Sorry it doesn't work like that. I just wanted to see an overall average from kids in other programs too.

[Springdaze]

it really depends on the parents. unless the provider is going to just do it, but Im not willing to train someone elses kid, I did mine, you do yours! mne were out of diapers and doing 95% by 26 and 27 months, but if the parents dont care, Im not going to stress. i have had kids between 3 and almost 5 not trained. one i have is 38 months and still wont go.

[Springdaze]

oh, and parents that say they were trained by 18 months probably sat on the pot all day.

[blandino]

oh, and parents that say they were trained by 18 months probably sat on the pot all day.

ABSOLUTELY agree with both of your posts.

At 18 months, my guess is that they were asked every 10 minutes. Or that they were having frequent accidents, and were just put in underwear. We had a DCF who swore up and down DCG#1 was trained at 18 months. Even though we had her at 30 months and she had 2-3 accidents a day. They were basically considering trained as wearing underwear. Not in this house

[Holiday Park]

I trained my daghter the day she turned 19 months with the one day method. She didn't ANY help besides wiping (she was very tiny at that age) and only needed to be reminded to go , (ot be taken if we were outside the home) for the next few days. I even kept pull ups n her at night incase of an accident and she never wet at night , after that.
My son (born 6yrs later) learned how to potty whenever he is sat on his potty seat, since infancy. I don't consder him potty trained, because I do still keep him in diapers. But anytime I take him to the potty , He WILL go *immediately* if he happens to go because he knows what the potty is for. He was signing to be taken , consistently when he was around 13 months. Staying dry all day long in between , maybe wetting 1-2x . I wish I had switched him t underwear then and just potty trained him . Because he stopped asking ever since he accidentally went poop in his diaper (after pooping in the potty since 4months) I feel it has to be because he was old enough to realize hey this is easier than asking to go on the potty ! All he knew was the potty (for the most part) and he got "diaper trained" when I slipped up and let him go in his diapers too many times. He is 17months . He will be fully potty trained by 24 months because he does know how. He is just at that age where its SO hard to stop playing to use the potty. So yes, right now I do have to make him stop and go but he doesn't mind and goes. Its so much quicker than changing a diaper. All that work paid off from when he was younger . I think in the situation where the parents work outside the home it's got to be the #1 reason why kids PT later these days.
Because my son uses the potty immediately , he is able to empty his bowels and bladder more frequently than those kids who have no clue what the potty is for so when they are sat on it they just hold it in longer and longer while they hold out for that diaper to be put back on. All becase it's easier and so in my opinion they learn to be LAZY and I dont mean that in the sense that its on porpose. They don't know any better because the diapers were all they knew . But I have had all good experiences with pt'ing younger than 2, and horrible experiences with above 2, age range because by 2 if you wait that long they are just SO diaper trained its THAT much harder to UN-train them from diapers , or re-condition them to something else.

[blandino]

I trained my daghter the day she turned 19 months with the one day method. She didn't ANY help besides wiping (she was very tiny at that age) and only needed to be reminded to go , (ot be taken if we were outside the home) for the next few days. I even kept pull ups n her at night incase of an accident and she never wet at night , after that.
My son (born 6yrs later) learned how to potty whenever he is sat on his potty seat, since infancy. I don't consder him potty trained, because I do still keep him in diapers. But anytime I take him to the potty , He WILL go *immediately* if he happens to go because he knows what the potty is for. He was signing to be taken , consistently when he was around 13 months. Staying dry all day long in between , maybe wetting 1-2x . I wish I had switched him t underwear then and just potty trained him . Because he stopped asking ever since he accidentally went poop in his diaper (after pooping in the potty since 4months) I feel it has to be because he was old enough to realize hey this is easier than asking to go on the potty ! All he knew was the potty (for the most part) and he got "diaper trained" when I slipped up and let him go in his diapers too many times. He is 17months . He will be fully potty trained by 24 months because he does know how. He is just at that age where its SO hard to stop playing to use the potty. So yes, right now I do have to make him stop and go but he doesn't mind and goes. Its so much quicker than changing a diaper. All that work paid off from when he was younger . I think in the situation where the parents work outside the home it's got to be the #1 reason why kids PT later these days.
Because my son uses the potty immediately , he is able to empty his bowels and bladder more frequently than those kids who have no clue what the potty is for so when they are sat on it they just hold it in longer and longer while they hold out for that diaper to be put back on. All becase it's easier and so in my opinion they learn to be LAZY and I dont mean that in the sense that its on porpose. They don't know any better because the diapers were all they knew . But I have had all good experiences with pt'ing younger than 2, and horrible experiences with above 2, age range because by 2 if you wait that long they are just SO diaper trained its THAT much harder to UN-train them from diapers , or re-condition them to something else.

I would definitely say practicing elimination communication is an exception to what I was talking about. That is a process I understand and am interested in, but have never dealt with in childcare. The parents I am referring to have put in no work up until the early twos and then expect them to PT right after turning two. I actually encourage my DCP to let their children play outside without a diaper on, just so they know the sensation of peeing.

I will never forget a little girl in my care, whose parents were not going to initiate the PT process. It was summer and we were playing outside and I didn't put a diaper on her, and the first time she peed she was fraking out. She was that far removed from the sensation.

I would agree about parents working full-time affecting potty training ages. All of my friends who stay home have children who PT at around 2. My mom stayed home and I was PT at 24 months. It makes a world of difference IMHO. Although my DCP don't seem to understand the difference

[blandino]

I trained my daghter the day she turned 19 months with the one day method. She didn't ANY help besides wiping (she was very tiny at that age) and only needed to be reminded to go , (ot be taken if we were outside the home) for the next few days. I even kept pull ups n her at night incase of an accident and she never wet at night , after that.
My son (born 6yrs later) learned how to potty whenever he is sat on his potty seat, since infancy. I don't consder him potty trained, because I do still keep him in diapers. But anytime I take him to the potty , He WILL go *immediately* if he happens to go because he knows what the potty is for. He was signing to be taken , consistently when he was around 13 months. Staying dry all day long in between , maybe wetting 1-2x . I wish I had switched him t underwear then and just potty trained him . Because he stopped asking ever since he accidentally went poop in his diaper (after pooping in the potty since 4months) I feel it has to be because he was old enough to realize hey this is easier than asking to go on the potty ! All he knew was the potty (for the most part) and he got "diaper trained" when I slipped up and let him go in his diapers too many times. He is 17months . He will be fully potty trained by 24 months because he does know how. He is just at that age where its SO hard to stop playing to use the potty. So yes, right now I do have to make him stop and go but he doesn't mind and goes. Its so much quicker than changing a diaper. All that work paid off from when he was younger . I think in the situation where the parents work outside the home it's got to be the #1 reason why kids PT later these days.
Because my son uses the potty immediately , he is able to empty his bowels and bladder more frequently than those kids who have no clue what the potty is for so when they are sat on it they just hold it in longer and longer while they hold out for that diaper to be put back on. All becase it's easier and so in my opinion they learn to be LAZY and I dont mean that in the sense that its on porpose. They don't know any better because the diapers were all they knew . But I have had all good experiences with pt'ing younger than 2, and horrible experiences with above 2, age range because by 2 if you wait that long they are just SO diaper trained its THAT much harder to UN-train them from diapers , or re-condition them to something else.

Oh and personally I would be working with my own (future) children just as you are. But when children are in daycare, and parents expect the same thing to happen that is when I have to just roll my eyes. You can't have both one on one attention (and the benefits it leads to) and not be staying home with our child.

[Cat Herder]

On average, what age are your children when they are FULLY toilet trained ?

I just wanted to see an overall average from kids in other programs too.

15 years ago my average age was 2, with a variant of 18 months -2.5 years of age.

In the centers I worked in they had to be trained to be able to move into the "Two's" room. The only rooms with changing tables were Infants, Wobblers and Ones. (Rooms gradiated: Infants, Wobblers (mobile infants), Ones, Twos, etc.)

Now my average age is 3-4 years of age. A few years back, out of frustration with adults, I transitioned to a "No Potty Training" program. I simply take kids to the potty every time they ask. This placed the responsibility back on the parents.

I do, however, tell parents when to send cloth undergarments (two weeks accident free).

Life has been blissful, the kids go willingly (albeit much later) and I don't have to beg or bribe anyone (adults included). By the time the kids reach 18, nobody cares about a 12 month delay in diapers, anyway. Why waste so much time stressing over it....

Also, potty training is one of the biggest known preceptors to child abuse in daycare (naptime, food issues are the other). Getting rid of the stress involved with it in group care only benefits providers, parents and children in the long run.

[Springdaze]

yea, Im not going to force a child to sit and try to go if when I put them on, they immediately jump off. that tells me no, your child does not go at home for you!

Catherder, what do you mean " potty training is one of the biggest known preceptors to child abuse in daycare "? because it causes frustration on the part of the caregiver? If so, I can see that.

[3amazingkiddos]

It depends on the kid, but the average age here is between 2.5-3. My own children were trained probably later than the norm. My husband and I tried to push our 1st child, but she wasn't ready, so we backed off. Just before her 3rd birthday she decided she was ready, started going on her own and only had a few accidents. My twin boys were even later, about 3 years and 4 months. Although my kids were all a bit older, the process took max 3 days and they were completely trained, they pretty much did it on their with little help from us.

[itlw8]

I find that somewhere between 18 and 22 months they WANT to go it is fun and they want to be like others. but wait to long and you might as well wait til the next window of them wanting to please you.

back when children were trained betwen 18 and 24 months. parents did not have pull ups. disposable diapers ( there was only Pampers were not that great.) Parents stayed home and were not run run run all the time. children did not walk around with sippy cups and were off the bottle at 12 months.

If the parents are working hard at potty training and I am not we do not make any progress. And If we work hard here and the parents do not on weekends and evenings. I am wasteing my time. It takes both to b committed to make good progress.

Mine are all early trainers because parents and I work together and start around 18 to 20 months when we see some interest.

[EntropyControlSpecialist]

They either come to me potty trained (ages 3 to 5), or they come to me still in Pull-Ups and are not trained until they are 3.5+.

[TigerLily]

My own kids were 19 and 18 months. We cloth diapered and I think that helped a lot. They were also VERY verbal fairly young. They only had minimal accidents, maybe a few the first week or so. When my son was first in underwear, I think in the first week, we had back to back graduation and birthday parties. He didn't want a diaper, so we just loaded up on extra clothes and went with it. We took him to the bathroom several times, but didn't go. He held it from 2:30 to 8:00 when we finally got home!

Day care kids have all been right around 2.5 or so. When I worked in a center they couldn't move to the 3 year old room if they were in diapers b/c they didn't have changing tables (I think that was the reason - I worked with the 4/5 then)

[blandino]

15 years ago my average age was 2, with a variant of 18 months -2.5 years of age.

In the centers I worked in they had to be trained to be able to move into the "Two's" room. The only rooms with changing tables were Infants, Wobblers and Ones. (Rooms gradiated: Infants, Wobblers (mobile infants), Ones, Twos, etc.)

Now my average age is 3-4 years of age. A few years back, out of frustration with adults, I transitioned to a "No Potty Training" program. I simply take kids to the potty every time they ask. This placed the responsibility back on the parents.

I do, however, tell parents when to send cloth undergarments (two weeks accident free).

Life has been blissful, the kids go willingly (albeit much later) and I don't have to beg or bribe anyone (adults included). By the time the kids reach 18, nobody cares about a 12 month delay in diapers, anyway. Why waste so much time stressing over it....

Also, potty training is one of the biggest known preceptors to child abuse in daycare (naptime, food issues are the other). Getting rid of the stress involved with it in group care only benefits providers, parents and children in the long run.

This is a policy we adopted too. That way when parents mention it, I simply say "great, I will take them when they need to go". It has been modified lately, but is still essentially a "hands off policy". They need to be taking themselves after some minimal and initial reminding.

[Cat Herder]

yea, Im not going to force a child to sit and try to go if when I put them on, they immediately jump off. that tells me no, your child does not go at home for you!

Catherder, what do you mean " potty training is one of the biggest known preceptors to child abuse in daycare "? because it causes frustration on the part of the caregiver? If so, I can see that.

Yes.

I have to take extensive child abuse recognition classes for my other job and statistically (* from investigations of actual crime histories) potty training issues, and the pressure/stress relating to it (diapers are expensive, parents are judged by other parents, etc.), on the part of the adult, is what escalated to actual abuse.

Reading the potty training threads (here and on most parenting boards) can show a escalation pattern. Luckily MOST providers (and parents) simply decide it is not worth it and back off... but the few who don't end up as statistics .

Naptime issues and meal time issues are the other two biggies...