You may be surprised that there is actually a real lack of research about natural and normal toileting in human beings. Some research is really old, some is poorly done, and some is based on very small numbers of children. What research we have is also mostly based on western, US or UK families, generally white families, living in urban environments.
Despite this lack of research, it seems every person has beliefs about when and how toileting happens. “Potty training” or “Toilet training” is a big topic when parenting or caring for small children.
In Montessori, we try not to use the word “training” because it gives the impression that it is the adult who is ‘training’ the child. We prefer to call it “Toileting awareness” or “Independent Toileting” or simply “Toileting”.
Here are some common questions about toileting and the research that I have found to answer those questions:
What is ‘readiness’ – how do I decide when my child is ‘ready’ to use the toilet ?
Eric, the Children’s Bowel and Bladder Charity in the United Kingdom, provides this checklist: https://www.eric.org.uk/pdf-toilet-readiness-assessment
If you click here you can download their checklist document: https://www.eric.org.uk/Handlers/Download.ashx?IDMF=e55046e9-ac09-4783-9c74-07a29d5174ee
Constipation can be a big factor in toileting – children who are constipated have hard, difficult to pass stools. They struggle to empty their bowel properly. This comes up regularly in the research and in daily work with small children and anyone (of any age) who have problems with toileting.
This checklists is supported by articles such as:
Paediatr Child Health. 2000 Sep; 5(6): 333–335. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2819951/
This article is really great, as it provides an overview of the current available reseasrch, and a good list of references.
A personal note: My daughter was born in 1999. At that time, in Australia, cotton nappies (diapers) were almost gone. By the time my son arrived in 2001, the hospital had changed from providing cloth, to providing super-absorbent plastic nappies. Where I work now in Switzerland, cloth nappies are a novelty and used by very very few parents, most children are being given super-dry plastic nappies from day 1. There is very little incentive to toilet-train when the child can be in the nappy for hours and hours without any leaks or discomfort. We also see very few children with nappy rash, and over the years I would say the incidence of nappy rash has also decreased. I will write more on another post.
montessoriatoi 