1 in 4

[ValentinesStuff]

I know there is a thread discussing kids starting school in diapers somewhere, but I can't remember where. Anyway.

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cp3dykw576yo

 

OK, these kids were born during the pandemic, so why did that stop their parents from potty training them? I am truly tired of everything being blamed on the pandemic. 

 

Yep they say 1 in 4 kids to start school in diapers/nappies as this is the UK. 

[safeandhappy]

4 hours ago, ValentinesStuff said:

OK, these kids were born during the pandemic, so why did that stop their parents from potty training them? I am truly tired of everything being blamed on the pandemic.

Yeah, wasn't this a growing trend already? Now its being attaching it to the pandemic? I'd like to see some statistics that it was trending up at a slower rate pre-2020.

[Permanently Pampered]

I'm still stunned by the number of five year olds without toilet training. I can state that this IS NOT the case in Canada. There are children with special needs but within the general population it's  mostly a non-issue. 

[LGGrace]

@ValentinesStuff, the thread you are looking for is in Scoop the Poop on UK vs US kids being in diapers longer.  This article references a study by Kinder.  I have read the 34-page report on school readiness that was published in Feb 2024 and this article is misleading.  In the report, it states that just under 25% of kindergarteners are not properly potty trained.  It was based on a survey of over 1000 teachers in the England and Wales area.  It never stated if the child was in diapers or not; just that they were having frequent accidents and needed help going to the bathroom on their own.

@safeandhappy, you are correct.  I did a deep dive and researched this topic during the Scoop the Poop thread and what I found was shocking.  There was an article from 2013 showing that this was a problem then too.  I was able to find multiple sources with graphs showing that the average age of potty training has been steadily increasing since the 1960s.  In all the reports I could find, it showed that the average age has gone up from 18 months in the 60s to 30 months in the 90s to just over 3 years old in the 2010s to spiking during the pandemic to just under 4 years old.  The average does not tell the full story and I was not able to find the distribution of ages, so I was unable to find out exactly how many children would be in the 5(+)-year-old age range, but since it is an average, there would have to be more children that are not potty trained at that age than before.

Most of the US, and UK articles I have found like to blame it on either the pandemic or poverty.  One thing that kind of irks me about this is poverty is nothing new and this was not a problem beforehand, correlation does not mean causation.  I did find an article from the Netherlands that flat out blamed the parents for being lazy.  I also found a study from China that blames the widespread use of disposable diapers for why they are starting to have these issues with preschool-aged children.

 

[spark]

3 hours ago, Permanently Pampered said:

I'm still stunned by the number of five year olds without toilet training. I can state that this IS NOT the case in Canada. There are children with special needs but within the general population it's  mostly a non-issue. 

I doubt it's 1 in 4 out here.    In the article, they mention that they are 4 years old.  It's 7 out 27 4 year-olds in reception class.  That might be believable, but it's probably outside of the norm for reception classes.   That's still a notable change.

[Guilend]

I don't think it's just one thing to blame. However, since the 60s, at least in the US, both parents started working and as for the poverty statement, those lacking money couldn't hire nanny's to help while both parents worked. Now there's many families that need at least 3 incomes in the house just for basic needs to be met so not a lot of time can be spent on the kids in their early years. While every company here in the US has to give maternity leave, a lot of companies find a reason to fire pregnant women right before so they don't have to give them that and even if they're suid, it's cheaper then giving them maternity leave. The rise in children staying longer in diapers are mainly due to parents not having time or energy to potty training their children and not many grandparents are able to help because they're having to also work even after retirement to survive.

[diaperuser]

I saw another article about UK. Prior to Covid. Where 7 and 8 year olds we’re going to school in diapers. 

[barnburner]

On 8/18/2024 at 12:56 PM, LGGrace said:

@ValentinesStuff, the thread you are looking for is in Scoop the Poop on UK vs US kids being in diapers longer.  This article references a study by Kinder.  I have read the 34-page report on school readiness that was published in Feb 2024 and this article is misleading.  In the report, it states that just under 25% of kindergarteners are not properly potty trained.  It was based on a survey of over 1000 teachers in the England and Wales area.  It never stated if the child was in diapers or not; just that they were having frequent accidents and needed help going to the bathroom on their own.

@safeandhappy, you are correct.  I did a deep dive and researched this topic during the Scoop the Poop thread and what I found was shocking.  There was an article from 2013 showing that this was a problem then too.  I was able to find multiple sources with graphs showing that the average age of potty training has been steadily increasing since the 1960s.  In all the reports I could find, it showed that the average age has gone up from 18 months in the 60s to 30 months in the 90s to just over 3 years old in the 2010s to spiking during the pandemic to just under 4 years old.  The average does not tell the full story and I was not able to find the distribution of ages, so I was unable to find out exactly how many children would be in the 5(+)-year-old age range, but since it is an average, there would have to be more children that are not potty trained at that age than before.

Most of the US, and UK articles I have found like to blame it on either the pandemic or poverty.  One thing that kind of irks me about this is poverty is nothing new and this was not a problem beforehand, correlation does not mean causation.  I did find an article from the Netherlands that flat out blamed the parents for being lazy.  I also found a study from China that blames the widespread use of disposable diapers for why they are starting to have these issues with preschool-aged children.

 

The poverty thing, I would think that not having to keep buying diapers and supplies or replacement clothes would be an incentive if a parent were in that situation.

[LGGrace]

30 minutes ago, barnburner said:

The poverty thing, I would think that not having to keep buying diapers and supplies or replacement clothes would be an incentive if a parent were in that situation.

I would think so too.

I think there could be a multitude of reasons for why this is happening and we can not point the finger at one thing alone.  One thing I have noticed about my generation compared to my parents, is that more parents today seem to take a passive approach to raising their children than before.  The report that this article references shows that toilet training is only part of the problem.

One of the best pieces of wisdom that was shared with me a few years ago that can be applied to anything in life is that: No matter what, if something is important to you, you will find and make the time for it.

[spark]

17 minutes ago, LGGrace said:

I would think so too.

I think there could be a multitude of reasons for why this is happening and we can not point the finger at one thing alone.  One thing I have noticed about my generation compared to my parents, is that more parents today seem to take a passive approach to raising their children than before.  The report that this article references shows that toilet training is only part of the problem.

One of the best pieces of wisdom that was shared with me a few years ago that can be applied to anything in life is that: No matter what, if something is important to you, you will find and make the time for it.

Gentle Parenting was not a thing in my day.   I've use the phrase, "I tried that once," more than once.   I definitely to my sweet time to get on the potty train, but I think I learned what was expected.

AFAIK, the poorer a community is, the quicker they potty trained their children.  When you read these things, it is usually the children of affluent parents who have children that stay in diapers for a prolonged period.