Teach your kid to potty! Teachers are not responsible for your child’s hygiene!

Is this in reference to something specific or personal experience? Every school I know of, kids that age have to be potty trained to enroll. Teachers aren't even allowed to help wipe.

@Rachel in the uk there’s been an increase of school aged kids still going in with diapers. Even up to the ages of 11! This is kids without a condition preventing them just parents neglect .

I see. I'm in the US and I don't think that's generally accepted here.

yeah what rachel said. that’s not really a thing here i don’t think. i work in sped so its different in terms of bathrooming but in public schools im pretty sure the kiddos need to be potty trained & you can’t even help them in the bathroom bc the rules are so strict

@Rachel wish parents in the uk had the same attitude but they don’t and teachers are having to stop teaching to help with kids hygiene. It sad

@Rachel it’s not but parents will lie then send kindergartners to school never have tried potty training because they were told kids will just naturally start when they’re ready

I see this in the news but must admit it's not been my experience at all. My eldest was born at the start of the first lockdown and started school last September at 4 years old. He's been potty trained since he was 2.5/3. I don't even know a child his age who isn't going to the toilet alone unless they've got additional needs. Obviously my experience isn't everyones but I really don't relate at all. I'd love to see the numbers behind it! I wonder if it's related to the closing of special educational needs centres.

@Daija I suppose I really shouldn't be surprised by that. Some people are so entitled.

@Caroline in my experience I think getting accurate numbers on this will be hard since in the instances I mentioned to Rachel the school had to decide to put the child in special ed until they got potty trained because they couldn’t just kick them out but it also wasn’t on the gen ed teacher to teach them

When my daughter started Pre-K (US) at 3, there were 5 kids in her class that weren’t potty trained. I thought that being fully potty trained was the expectation. I asked her teacher about it once because the kids were so late getting dismissed everyday. She said it was diaper changes. I was surprised. I don’t know if any of the kids have special needs. So, that may be part of it. But, the class is 16 kids. So, that is like a third that weren’t trained when they started school.

All of the pre-k programs we toured here, US, the children must be potty trained to attend. And even now at my son’s school, he’s in kindergarten, the kids go to the bathroom by themselves. The teachers can’t go in the bathroom with them.

@Rachel yea it was nuts. It wasn’t super common but I’ve had a few and they would end up with a developmental delay diagnosis until potty trained. I’ve also had parents pull kids from school because we wouldn’t wipe them

Agreed. Cannot stand it 🙃 95% of the time it goes back onto how lazy parents are with the convenience of disposable diapers

What kids are wearing diapers to school that old? I have never heard of this or experienced it. This is just a rage bait post.

My daughters preschool definitely stated they needed all kids potty trained in order to attend but I did notice a few kids who were always wearing pull ups but idk what the deal was, if they had talked to the school or had some other factors at play who knows I just mind my business but if I were a teacher it would definitely annoy me 😅

@Olivia It’s not a rage bait. Kids in uk have been going to school in diapers at a high number. You’re American so you’re not facing this issue.

Well that is seriously insane 😅

I worked in primary schools for many years I have never encountered children ages 4-5 and up in nappies that didn’t have an additional need. However, I did experience an increase number of accidents around 4-7 years old. The frustrating thing wasn’t the children having accidents but parents of children who often had accidents not bringing spare clothes expecting school to provide spares taking the spares home and not bringing the spares back!

Every school I’ve ever thought of enrolling my kids in they had to be potty trained unless they have a medical condition that prevents them from potty training “on time” Edit to add: I’ve never had to experience this but I’m curious how or what they can do or do, do when school is mandatory and the child isn’t potty trained.

This is the sort of news article she's referencing. I've heard numbers as high as one in four kids starting reception in nappies but that hasn't matched my experience (not that it should neccesarily be expected to). https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cvglrmg08kgo.amp

Can someone give me tips on how to potty train a 2.5 year old girl ? She tells us she is going to do something and brings nappies and wipes We have tried potty and toilet Rewards Schedule Taking her in with me Books Doll on the potty Thanks ❤️

I heard about this and am I right in saying now teachers are calling the parents at home or work to come in to change their own child if they aren’t potty trained?

I taught kindergarten for several years and there was always a few kids that did not have disabilities that were not potty trained. The last year I taught, we had probably 10/200

@Fay Get rid of all the diapers everything. Bring her to the girls Ile have her pick out underwear she likes. And put her in the underwear, only no pants. Bring her to the potty every 2 hours. She will have accidents just remind her every accident you must use the potty. Even at night, no nappies use waterproof cover to make it easier to clean. And be on her like white on rice. When she seems like she needs to pee showing signs like hiding, etc. Bring her to the bathroom. You can reward her with stickers she likes or treats. Potty training takes weeks, not days. So be patient, be kind, and make it as fun and enjoyable as possible. You can try the 3 day bootcamp method, which is no pants, no underwear for 3 days. It's a lot more intense, and they become hyper aware that they are peeing or pooping. But with any method, it's consistency.

@Fay I’ve heard putting underwear on underneath the diaper makes it uncomfortable and hyper aware but helps with messes

A high number sounds a stretch. Do you have any statistics

@Danni ❤️😝 thank you I’ll screenshot this x

@Meghan thank you x

@Fay have you tried putting her in regular underwear?

So what do you mean with a high number? What is the percentage ?

1 in 4 school aged children are not potty trained in the UK. It was on multiple news outlets such as BBC, it was apart of a school readiness survey

Nearly half (46%) of pupils are unable to sit still, 38% struggle to play or share with others, more than a third (37%) cannot dress themselves, 29% cannot eat or drink independently and more than a quarter (28%) are using books incorrectly, swiping or tapping as though they were using a tablet, according to the survey.

If you think about it, there must be reasons behind it if it is becoming a trend. If parents are working, who is going to potty train them? The nursery should be playing an active role on this. That is if they go with a qualified care giver. With the current childcare fees, I would suspect people turn to any source of "childcare". You say your criticism is not directed towards neurodivergent kids. Considering the lenght on the waiting lists in the UK to get a diagnosis, unless the case is severe, children are not formally labeled as neurodivergent before they start school. So the expectations on them would be the same as a neurotypical. And that is if parents picked up the red flags. Myslef and other people I know followed a gentle approach letting the child lead and things got sorted. I would try to find out more about why this is happening before calling people names.

@Brittany yes and I have let her pick them 🙂

@Fay the big little feelings course helped us potty train in 3 days x

@Liv where can I find this ? X

@Fay https://biglittlefeelings.com/products/potty-training-made-simple?gad_source=1&gbraid=0AAAAABY49okXUkqI19pEdjvJyCexD87YQ&gclid=CjwKCAjwnPS-BhBxEiwAZjMF0rITfq6bXPZooNNI2xQ0ztPeNBveOs4IW8ixBq3bDE0rhA8n-7HrYBoCD_cQAvD_BwE&variant=46170968195328

@Liv thank you x

My child is 4 and still in the process of toilet learning. Her kinder is extremely supportive and aids in her learning and toilet competency. Kids here just need to be toilet competent before prep, which is age 5/6. We're doing everything we can to support her toilet competency,.however, it's just taking her a little longer. It just does for some kids, both NT and ND.

Over the time I've been teaching, I've seen a huge deterioration in the children starting school. They used to come in ready, toilet trained, basic personal care skills secured and an adequate attention span. Parents read with their child regularly and moaned if their book was not changed. 27 years later, the children's skills are less developed and very few actually read with their children. However, when the class screen/ tablet goes wrong, they all know how to fix it!

My fiancé side of family he has a cousin who is 11 and still wets himself because they never potty trained him so he thinks it’s normal. He’s a “tough” child and the family doesn’t want to. It’s neglect in my opinion 🤷‍♀️ under the age of 4 okay sure but 5 and up mainly just being in kindergarten. Uh no..?

I don’t necessarily think it’s lazy. All children learn at different times and I think it’s very judgmental to assume children can be potty trained by a certain age. I have 3 children, each potty trained at different ages. 1 by 2, 1 was 3 and 1 was 4 and a half and it wasn’t from lack of trying. I would rather my child learned something in their own time not because they were forced because it was more convenient for others, but because they were ready to do so.

You have absolutely no idea about individual circumstances so stop passing judgement. You have no clue about the angst that some parents face because their child won’t potty train, despite having tried everything. You physically cannot control your child’s bladder so have a bit of compassion and be grateful that you’re not in that position because it is hard and parents can feel like a failure enough without unhelpful, judgemental comments like this.

I know parents who didn't toilet train their eldest son until right before his 5th birthday because they "don't have time." He was toilet training at daycare due to the teachers encouraging it, but they refused to do it at home until someone mentioned to mum that it was effecting him mentally as all his friends were trained and he was getting upset and embarrassed that he was still in a nappy. The whole situation was awful. I hope they did better by their younger son.

I definitely think at the ages of 4/5 your child should already know how to use the toilet unless they have a medical reason on why they cannot do so. If there is a reason why they can't use the toilet then they should feel free to wear what's comfortable and fit their needs.

@Anna, you do realise that teachers can't leave a room full of kids alone to go and take a child to the toilet? Do you realise that also sets them up for abuse allegations? There is a reason they are required to toilet train by the time they start school, and if your child isn't toilet trained by 5 or 6 years old, from experience that is either neglect or a diagnosis.

Unless you’re in the family’s household and know exactly why the child is or isn’t potty trained, or are a professional directly involved with said family, you should mind your own business. Calling people lazy and accusing them of not parenting is pretty disgusting when you have no idea what has led them to be in that position.

@Aggs sorry but there’s no excuse for a child to go school with nappies on unless it’s a medical condition or SEN. I’m on about parents with children with no conditions and still unable to go toilet. It’s neglect. So let’s stop giving excuses to not be parents . Teachers are there to teach not to be a parent .

I didn’t say teachers need to be responsible for potty training. They don’t. I said you should stop judging other parents unless you know their full familial experience. There are many factors beyond medical needs which could contribute to this. I guess ignorance and incognito posting is bliss tho.

@Aggs you are right. There are such things as trauma or regression. There are other things that can contribute to this issue other than neglect and bad parenting or even trauma causes crazy things to happen physically and emotionally in people