Interesting article in the Daily Mail "How children are still wearing nappies to SCHOOL"

[Jane99Thomas]

Disposable nappies are partly to blame:

The key to potty training is for the child to associate the sensation of needing to go to the toilet with the result this produces.

But nappy technology is so advanced that the fabric in contact with the skin simply wicks away any dampness or discomfort, and the child obliviously carries on with his or her activities.

I am hoping that potty training will be easier to deal with in cloth.

I was genuinely surprised to see Pampers night-time nappies advertised for 6-8 yr olds on TV, I didn't realise there was a big demand. I can't believe though it's down to parental laziness - surely the faff & the expense - means parents want dcs out of nappies as soon as possible?

oh come on riven its in the daily mail so it will be single mums, immigrants and people on benefits that are to blame

We recently went to a meeting at the school that our dc will be going to in September. One of the most frequently asked questions was what happens if accidents do happen. It's very common apparently and something they are used to dealing with! Although, having accidents is rather different to children actually turning up to school in nappies, but I found it interesting all the same!

That article is steeped in total bollocks!

The AVERAGE age of toilet training is 3 or 4? For that to be true as many would be training at 5 and 6 as at 2. Children in nappies are spreading infection in schools?

I have done countless projects in reception classes and never come across a child in nappies. There is none in DS's school. Has ANY MN-er started a thread about a non-disabled child in their school wearing nappies or spreading infection because of it? Not to my knowledge, and this is the busiest exchange of unfo about children in the universe! (give or take a Daily Mail leeway with strict fact ).

AFAIK the most usual talk on MN is of toilet training from about 2.3 to 3 - so BY three. Many talk of ealier times.

I have no doubt that we are more relaxed about it than our grandparents or parents generation due to the practicalities of terries etc, and also the message from the nappy companies. Also because we are less hung up on routine and milestones etc. This IMO is a GOOD thing.

SouthernBelle - DS was thoroughly reliable day and night long long before school age (2.9 ish) but had a spate of accidents in reception and even one or two in Yr1. School can have an effect - as can the testosteone surge boys have at 5 which seems to affect their reliability sometimes - so don't be so surprised at those questions.

I wonder whether leaving training too late means that the child gets the message that using nappies is approved of, so why would they want to use potties and toilets instead?
Isn't this a risk if you leave children to decide for themselves that they are ready to start training?

Surely it depends how you train. If you keep a child in disposable pull ups but expect them to use the toilet, they're not going to get the hang of it any time quick. But if you put them in pants, the consequences of an accident are very real to them so no confusion. It's not disposables themselves that are a problem, but how they are used during training.

I don't know of ANY child beyond 3 who is still in nappies. DD1 was 2.1 when she was dry and 2.3 when she was dry at night too. We used disposables but when we decided to train, we went cold turkey. When she was consistently dry at night, we took them away at night too. DD2 is 22 months and showing some signs of being ready.

Night-time nappies - there are children who are late to become dry at night. My nephew was about 8ish. It can be hereditary apparently.

nettee - my friend was tied to her potty after every meal as soon as she could sit up . She had lots of issues with food as a teenager and is still incredibly skinny.

Wishingchair. How long did you go cold turkey before your children used the potty?

I originally started training DD at 2.2 with no success whatsoever..she became very stressed an upset with the wee running down her legs. At 3 I tried again - she was in pants for 5 days and wet herself every time..never used the potty..she would sit in wet clothes having lunch and not say anything..after 5 days with no success we had to put her back in nappies as the hols were over and would have been impossible to do 2 school runs and send her to nursery in this state.

Finally at 3.3 she said she wanted to wear pants, and has been dry since (only 10 days but no accidents at all)

I cannot see how she could have been trained earlier...she is now really happy using the potty and so proud of herself.

Basically if your child is able to wee in the potty at 18 mths or 2 1/2 you are lucky. It is not always a question of how you train. It is to do with your childs development.

I get fed up of people implying that one is a bad or lazy parent if ones children aren't out of nappies by 3.

I expect you do know people whose children are still in nappies at three..they probably don't broadcast the fact as they know that it will be frowned on..

My autistic son ( different issue I know) was not toilet trained until 4 years 3 months. I was very conscious of him being much older than anyone else's child in nappies.

Agree with Blu.

DD2 wet her pants the other day. So did her reception friend X. Neither of them have worn nappies for ages, they were just a bit confused about getting to the loo in time.

Obviously this is also the fault of Working Mothers in some way, I assume, can't be bothered to use real nappies, so-called 'convenience', just like food, loss of cooking skills, obesity crisis, all fault of given them demn fillies the vote, yada yada yada?

It's possible that there are more children (NT) starting school without having been potty trained. Anecdotally there are also more children starting who are unable to use a knife and fork, dress themselves to a basic standard, etc. I have no idea why this might be. But otherwise it is just the usual DM drivel.

early "potting" is actually called "infant potty training" or "elimination communication" here

We read about this with DS1 and although didn't do it full-time, we certainly put him on the potty a lot from early on and have done with DS2 who definitely knows what his potty is for. (about to go nappy-free this summer - 18tmhs)

My dd is nearly 6 and still wears a nappy at night
If she doesn't we get a wet bed

So what?

I think it depends on when the child is ready. I've had children in cloth nappies and others in disposables. It didn't seem to have any affect on when they became dry.
With my eldest child I was told by hv to leave his nappy off at 2y+ as he wouldn't like feeling wet so would train very quickly. It didn't work, he wasn't bothered at all and just wet wherever and whenever. So I didn't try him again until he was 2y6m and he was reliably dry within 2w.
2 of my children were daytime dry at just 2y. 1 dry at night at 2y. Another was 3y4m and decided to go to the toilet, reliably clean after 2/3 days. Another took until 9+ before dry at night.
Apart from reminding them of the potty/toilet option and encouraging them to use them and ditch the nappies, I think there's not much more you can do until they are ready.

My 1st,2nd and 4 th children were trained night and day by 2.5, one wasn't before starting school. Just weren't ready nothing to do with laziness.

OK no idea why that very zombie thread popped up on my feed!

Edited as LOL I did not realise this was from 2008!! I thought this was a new obsession. It's almost like every generation is like "parents these days".Would not have posted if I had realised it was a zombie thread but how funny it's clearly not a new (made up) problem!

There is a thread about this every week (in 2025) it's a real moral panic. I think in reality its due to more SEN. I don't know of any children without SEN who aren't toilet trained by school and I teach/ know a lot of teachers.

DS was three and a half and will be fine for school in September. I could have maybe done it earlier but he didn't seem ready. The only thing I feel guilty about is the environmental impact. We tried reusable nappies but didn't get on with them.

DD is in cloth and I’m hoping this helps with potty training!

I was pretty surprised how much later potty training is these days. I’m guessing there are lots of factors like more working parents and different social expectations, not just the nappies.

Mine were both in cloth and I think it may have helped a bit but it is not the entire reason for potty training to be happening much later. Mine were trained at just turned 2 one with quite a lot of effort one very easy. I think we weren't bought into the "wait till they're ready" message that gets Pampers 50% more revenue and were keen to not have to do a nappy wash everyday. They were also both off to school pre-schools at 3 so we wanted them to be way past potty training at that point. My sister used disposables and her kids were all trained by two.