Too Early Potty Training – Top 9 Dangers
The topic is as debatable as it seems and you will find a lot of parents who are in favour of early potty training for the toddler. However, you need to adopt a cautious approach while making the toddler learn potty training techniques. There a number of problems that arise due to potty-training early.
These problems arise from very simple facts. Let us briefly explain the reason. Kids do not want to spend their time in the toilet, apparently they think that they have better things to do. What they end up doing is holding the pee or poop inside. Now the more they hold pee in, the stronger the muscles in the bladder get. The muscles become thick and occupy more space, making the bladder smaller; ultimately making it impossible for the kis to hold the pee in and hence peeing involuntarily. Holding in the poop also creates pressure on the bladder and creates problems.
As such, we see that early potty training has its own associated risks and should be avoided. Let us discuss a few of the problems.
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Frustration for the parents
Making the toddler sit on the potty is a tough task for the parents too as the toddler is not mentally prepared for the act too. It is imperative for the parents to realize that making futile efforts will make the task tough for the toddler too.
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Tough for the toddler too
Studies have proved that it is tough for the child too. The toddler is not able to voluntary control the bowel or urination movements until the age of 18 months. A child of about 12 months is able to realize the time they need to urinate but holding it long enough to reach the potty is a tough task for the toddler too.
Do not insist on imparting early potty training to the toddler. This will make the task difficult for both of you. Going against their natural inclination is really not a very good idea. Potty training early certainly does not mean it has to at 2 years of age.
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Resistance from the toddler
Making the toddler sit on the potty early enough will result in stiff resistance from the toddler too. Research proves that the toddlers have insufficient motor skills so as to enable them to understand the process to walk to the potty and manipulate clothing as they feel the urge to pee.
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Behavioral problems
Insistence on your part for the toddler to use the potty too early can result in behavioral problems for the toddler too. The toddler may start behaving in irrational manner getting annoyed at times. This not only makes things difficult for the toddler but as a parent you will feel stressed. Avoid this situation and encourage the toddler to use the potty only when they are of 18 months only.
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Frequent accidents
As the toddler is not mature enough to understand the process, insisting on early potty training might result in physical accidents too. The child might slip over from the potty resulting in some physical injury. It has been scientifically found that till 18 months of age the kids do not have sufficient motor skills to rush to the potty and manipulate clothing out of the way to pee or potty.
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Constipation problem
It might surprise you but insisting on compulsory potty training to the toddler can result in constipation problems too. The toddler might develop some unfounded fear and hold on to the urge of urinating or passing the stool. Unknowingly, this complication can develop into a constipation problem too causing medical complications for the toddler too. Remember, kids who poop multiple times a day too may have constipation. Constipation actually means a solid mass of poop lodged in the rectum which is difficult to get out.
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Urinary tract infection
Holding on to the urge urinating for long enough can result in urinary tract infection too. Research done by American Academy of Pediatrics proves that some of the toddlers are not in a position to understand the urge of urinating even until the age of 30 months. Insisting on imparting potty training to such toddlers comes with associated risks as they might hold on causing urinary tract infection instead.
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Bed-wetting
Holding in the pee while being awake is one thing but while sleeping it is a different story. Holding in the pee for very long makes the bladder irritable and small. Therefore, there are kids who end up wetting their bed up to the age of 12 years. Bed-wetting is a concern for both the parent and the kid. For the parent it might just be a matter of concern but for the kid it may become a blow to the much needed self-confidence. The future consequences are numerous.
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Unable to feel the natural urge
As mentioned several times in the article already, the bladder and the rectal muscles become thicker due to holding pee or poop. This makes the kids harder to feel the urge to pee or poop. This unpredictable process and their inability to comprehend it causes a number of problems in the future.
Passing off the urine or stool is a natural process. Insisting on imparting potty training to toddlers has its risks and you should avoid this practice until the toddler attains the recommended age that varies between 18 to 24 months. Every parent waits for the day when his/her kid will be able to go to the potty without their help. It is indeed a big milestone in the process of growing up. But, that does not mean that the child needs to be exposed to these risks. They will achieve the milestone in due time, hurrying will do more harm than good. So, be patient and support your child.
Yep. That was the approach we took. My husband felt that his childhood experience of night time training was very stressful, and vowed that we wouldn’t put that sort on our kids.
We made sure all beds had waterproof bedding, and kept the kids in pull-ups until they woke up almost dry. Then we just made sure we had spare bedding and spare pyjamas.
Whenever a night time accident happened, we’d strip and pop the unhappy child under a warm shower while we quickly changed the bedding and then put them straight back to bed.
I think the key thing is that we decided that was going to be our strategy and not get upset about it, so it was all very normal part of life. Then they got old enough that they’d wake when the urge to go to the toilet came. And then they were dry.
Parenting little ones already come with their own challenges so anything that made things easier… Like conscious acceptance of things you can’t change, helps immensely.
We didn’t feel that forcing a child to be dry at night as soon as possible had any bearing on how happy or well adjusted they would be when they grow up.
Thanks 🙂 its quite informative!