Late Potty Training Pros and Cons

Potty training is one of the important milestones in a toddler's life and in ours as well. It takes a fair amount of time for a child to be well trained and requires a lot of patience and creativity from our side to help him be motivated to use the seat and stop wetting himself. The ideal age of starting the training is 2 years old, by then the child's bladder and bowel movement are well developed, his motor skills are improved and his cognitive skills are well established (When are most children potty trained?). But some parents choose to start early training (The early potty training pros and cons) and others decide to go by the late training which is usually discouraged and linked to many health side effects.
In order to give you a reliable article, I went through a number of books, studies, and interviews made with doctors in this field.
All of you must be wondering when is it considered a late potty training?
A late potty training is from 3 years old and up, since most pediatricians and specialists consider that the perfect age is at 2 years old. But as in every subject we find  people that encourage late training and others who assure that it has considerable side effects on a child's mental and physical health.
Dr. Baruch Kushnir, creator of the children DVD "The Magic Bowl: Potty Training Made Easy"  considers that potty training symbolizes progress in the acquisition of independence and control. He warns in an interview on www.sheknows.com that: "When a child is not completely potty trained by the age of four, he becomes an 'exception' and may suffer personal and social embarrassment and disappointments. He may also be exposed to unpleasant reactions from the social environment … and they may damage the child's self-image and self-confidence and interfere with his developing personality.


I- Pros:

• Fully developed bladder and bowel movement.
• The child will have achieved his verbal and communication skills.
• A child after 3 can understand better the concept of rewards.
• He can master his motor skills - therefor pulling up/down his pants and climbing to the seat sounds very easy to him.
• He's emotionally ready.

II- Cons:

• Our child will be ashamed of being one of few untrained kids which will effect his mental health.
• Physical consequences: When young children become dependent on diapers or pull-ups, they don't learn how to recognize the need to go to the bathroom. Their inability to control their bladder and bowels at an early age can actually affect their bladder and bowel control as they grow older.
• Late training could lead to bladder control problems and urinary tract infection.

Most of the pediatricians and child care specialists have agreed that the best age to start toilet training is between 1 1/2 and 3. As for the methods to follow, there isn't one golden rule, methods change depending on the child we are dealing with and the degree of development he has reached in all the important skills he will be needing for his training progress.

Reference:

Weltford, Heather. Successful Potty Training
Dr.-Kushnir.com
www.sheknows.com 

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