Toilet Training - History in The United States

History in The United States

Until the mid-1900s, the vast majority of babies finished toilet training by 2 years, and achieved nighttime dryness by 3 years. Since then, the age for toilet training has increased dramatically. The US Department of Labor Children’s Bureau put out a series of publications called Infant Care starting in 1914, and recommended toilet training to be started in the first year until the 1951 edition. In 1914, parents were advised to start toilet training by the third month "with the utmost gentleness". A somewhat harsh method that used suppositories to put the baby on a strict schedule of bowel movements was advocated in 1929 and 1935. In 1938, parents were advised to start bowel training "as early as the sixth month". By 1951, fears of psychological ramifications of early training surfaced and parents were advised to wait "between one and a half to two years" to commence training. However, in 1957, the average age of starting toilet training was still under one year, at 11 months, and 90% of children were dry during the day by 2 years. In 2002, the average age that parents recognized their child "showing an interest in using the potty" was 24–25 months, and daytime dryness was achieved on average at almost 3 years of age. Nighttime accidents are now considered normal until 5 or 6 years of age.

Read more about this topic:  Toilet Training

Famous quotes containing the words united states, history, united and/or states:

    In the larger view the major forces of the depression now lie outside of the United States, and our recuperation has been retarded by the unwarranted degree of fear and apprehension created by these outside forces.
    Herbert Hoover (1874–1964)

    A man acquainted with history may, in some respect, be said to have lived from the beginning of the world, and to have been making continual additions to his stock of knowledge in every century.
    David Hume (1711–1776)

    The real charm of the United States is that it is the only comic country ever heard of.
    —H.L. (Henry Lewis)

    During the first World War women in the United States had a chance to try their capacities in wider fields of executive leadership in industry. Must we always wait for war to give us opportunity? And must the pendulum always swing back in the busy world of work and workers during times of peace?
    Mary Barnett Gilson (1877–?)