To think that the way most parents approach toilet 'training' is strange?

[Curiouskay]

I have a DD who is 2.7 so I am not an expert on TT but what I see written in parenting books and from other mums around me doesn't strike me as the best way to approach this stage. For example, I was talking to a mum the other day who sat her child on the toilet every 20 minutes for a week or something like that. If you are constantly sitting a child, or asking 'do you need a wee wee little Johnny?' how will little Johnny work out the cues within his own body as to when he needs to go? It just comes over rather controlling and pushy for me. Are we training children on our timetable rather than theirs? And is giving chocolate as a reward for carrying out a normal bodily function not, well, a bit strange?

Like I said, I am not an expert, but I feel the current methods for TT don't sit right with me and I'd prefer to let my DD reach this important developmental milestone when she is ready. Have TT 'experts' convinced parents that this won't happen without their intervention?

I had some fire safety training last week. I have lots of different types of training.

I dont think I am like a dog.

Whats wrong with toilet training for children?

Nothing. But sitting them on the toilet every 20 minutes isn't training, it's just statistically very likely that if you sit them there long enough, they will wee. SO they aren't really "trained" at all. Totally counterproductive.

Totally agree with tralala - only took us a few days, dry day and night, age 2 (pretty much bang on the 2nd birthday), none of this excessive "training". A few incidents of wet feet, but that was it. They know what to do because they have watched you, so I suppose that is some sort of subliminal training.

And I instigated the process, obviously; most children of that age will not ask to start going on the toilet. So if that counts as "training" then we did that; I didn't just wait for her to announce one day that she would like to go on the toilet.

Asking them if they need to go is fine, especially if you're about to go out, but at realistic intervals, not every 10 minutes.

Sitting them on toilet often is surely something we do in the first days without a nappy. Nobody does it once they are reasonably sure that their DC will recognize the feeling of a full bladder and ask to go before they wet themselves. So I don't get why some people got stuck on "toilet every 20 mins".

DS was potty trained just last week. I now only ask him if he needs to pee before leaving the house. Yet, if you saw us during the first couple of days of his training last week, you would see him sitting on the potty even more frequent than every 20 minutes. I can assure you that it was not "totally unproductive".

I certainly would be any good at the 20 minutes thing. I would forget.

I just dont think there is anything wrong with the word. I dont think there is anything wrong with reins or playpens though. Lots of people use the dog analogy about them too.

Each to there own with TT. Personally after many years and lots of kids I tend to leave it until I feel they are ready, are bothered about it and this is probably a lot later than things were done years ago.

I dont think pull ups and uber nappies help things at all, hence the cheapo nappies when they get a bit older.

The sittint them on the toilet thing didn't work for mine at all. Would sit him on the toilet or ask him if he needed to go and he would either not do anything or say he didn't and then minutes later pee himself.