Potty Training Argument

[Takadaweird]

Okay this may or may not be off topic for this site but I'm curiouse, what's your opinion on potty training age. Would u let your child stay diapered longer if they so choose. If already potty trained and they refused underwear, would u argue with them or let them ware what they want weather it be pull ups or diapers?

Just general curiosity.......

[drynot]

Man, that would be quite the argument. There are huge benefits for kids by being out of diapers. Other kids are cruel and I would hate to have any child of mine get teased and bullied because they still wore diapers. I think most pre-schools and Kindergarten classes these days require kids to be diaper free if I recall correctly.

Night time would be a completely different story though. If my child wet the bed I wouldn't hesitate to let them use diapers or pull-ups if THEY wanted to. I didn't like dealing with wet sheets and I'm certainly not going to let my child have to deal with them either.

[Angela Bauer]

This is a hotly debated topic on incontinence groups.

There has been a website, WKLD, since 1998 on the subject of what parents need to know When Kids Love Diapers.

[mike indiapers]

I was potty trained at a very late age and there were pros and cons being in diapers as an older child. My mom tried to potty train me the first time when I was three right before my brother was born, but a new sibling and moving across country caused me too much stress and I had lts of accidents. My mom returned me to diapers full-time and kept me in them until the summer before I started kindergarten. It worked for her and I grew attached to being in diapers and the extra attention that came with it.

[thickdiaperedbaby]

While I get the arguments for not doing so, I would let my kid wear diapers if they so chose. But I would NOT make them wear them against their will (unless for a legitimate medical need).

[Hookedondiapers]

My mother always said that all of us were trained by the age of 2. I know I stopped wetting the bed around 6, and two of my sisters went until about 10.

Now, I have a niece who wore diapers until right before kindergarten. My sister was stressed out about it, because school was starting so soon. My advice was to let her go to school on the first day in diapers. She would probably come home trained. Somehow, she got it done before that first day, but continued to wet the bed until at least 12.

I think once children are showing signs of being able to control when they go, the training should begin. It sounds strange, coming from a diaper lover, but, I can't stand seeing healthy children over the age of 4 or 5 in diapers. It screams lazy parents to me.

My wife has a similar opinion - she says when her youngest walked into the room with a clean diaper in her hand and said "change me", she told her to change herself, or start using the toilet. She started using the toilet that day. Of course, there were accidents, but she pretty much trained herself. She was about 2-1/2 at the time.

[rusty pins]

Interesting topic. First, I don't remember anything about my own toilet training although I must have been potty trained by age 3. I did wet the bed until I was about 6 years old and do remember being diapered every night in cloth and plastic pants.

I have a friend who's first 2 kids were opposites. The oldest, a girl didn't want anything to do with potty training, so it seemed. I guess the parents tried but I would go somewhere with my friend and his 2 kids and his daughter would always mess her pants, training pants. It happened over and over all the time and she was almost 3-1/2 years old. When her dad would get mad, she would say, "I'm sorry daddy. It just came out!" They finally had to resort to light spankings when she messed her pants and within a week she was using the potty. It was just that she knew she could get away with going in her pants instead of the toilet without anything happening to her. It was the grandparents that finally suggested a light spanking to get the point across to her.

On the other hand, his son wanted to start using the toilet like his dad the moment he turned 2! The boy was always more independant in everything he did! NOw, the thrid kid, a boy, was a bedwetter and I know he used goodnites when he was 6 and we were on camping trips. I suspect that he had a bedwetting problem almost to his teens, if not even older, based on what I've heard when over at his house.

I hate seeing kids that are older than 3 still in diapers! I've seen kids up to 5 years old or more still wearing diapers and part of that is the area I live in. The neighboring town is poor, lots of welfare and lots of kids. I think the parents are lazy and don't mind changing diapers.

That said, I was at the Babies-R-U store out of town the other week looking to buy some diaper doublers. A woman came in with her 2 kids, one about 10 and the other about 5 (closer to 6 I would guess, but I'm giving her the benifit of the doubt). They asked where the pull ups were and since they were in the same part of the store as the diaper doublers, we were both headed in the same direction. The mom asked the 5 year old what size to get and he was very happy, smiling and actually did all the picking out of his pull ups! When the mom pulled out a package, he said, "No, those aren't the right ones. They have to be this size" and they had the 4T size on them. He then asked his mom if that meant they were only for 4 year olds and not older kids! The kid was happy like it was his birthday presant and I got a sick feeling in my stomach from it. Maybe he did have a medical problem, but I got the distinct impression that the kid just loved being in pull ups and the mom let him wear. At almost 6 years old, that's actually child abuse in my opinion.

Maybe I'm wrong. Maybe people feel that the kid should only be trained when he or she is ready for it. I don't agree entirly. A kid will not want to learn something like potty training if his mom will keep changing his pants for him all the time. I think that if a kid hasn't shown an interest in potty training by the time he turns 3, the parents should start getting him interested in learning toilet training. In some cases, a kid may still be in full time diapers at age 4, especially if he or she has a learning problem, but I feel that all normal kids should be potty trained by 3-1/2, no later than age 4. I have another friend who started training his boy at age 2 and at 26 months, the kid was out of diapers! I think that proves that a lot of it rests upon the parents and how they go about it. By the way, both my friend and his wife work full time jobs, too! They still managed to train their sone at age 2.

[Takadaweird]

Let's say that there fully potty trained......."nighttime accidents not included..." and refused underwear. Excluding your feelings as an dl would u let them ware pull ups or diapers? School can't complain if there potty trained, if it's just a simple choice in undergarments.

[DailyDi]

I would potty train my children normally. I wouldn't rush him/her but wouldn't hold them back either. Children NEED to be potty trained if they are medically capable.

But yes, if they wanted to wear pull-ups I would let them. Diapers would be too toileting limiting, but pull-ups they could manage and still use the toilet. If they wanted to wear diapers when they are older I would probably allow it at home, but discourage it at school.

[Nat]

It would depend on the age of my child. At the potty training age, he needs to be out of diapers. When he is older and he wants to wear, I may let him but I won't allow him to wear to school. when he is in his teens and decides to, I may let him since he be old enough to make his own choices and face the consequences if he is caught. I would not be buying them for him of course. I don't want to be buying them for my son all the time. When he earns his own money, he can buy his own.

Bed wetting, of course I would allow diapers at night because better than wet sheets.

As for me being potty trained, I stopped wearing them at age three and had accidents until I was five years old. My parents refused to get me diapers in 6th grade when I told them about my desires for them. But with my kids, if they wanted to wear them, I would let them. But I would expect them to be responsible about it meaning hide them, keep it a secret, not wear to school. Making wise decisions about wearing or I am going to have to be telling them no they cannot wear to school or to friends houses, etc. It be my job as a parent to protect them from bullying until they are in their teens because they be at that age where they need to make their own choices and they be old enough to face the consequences. I would not be changing them.

[Billiardnut]

I dont remember when I was potty trained however, I wet the bed for some time afterwards. But from a parents point of view, we potty trained both our daughters as quickly as possible.