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LETTER: Bad advice

Posted on September 15, 2011September 22, 2011 by Staff

I just read the Sept. 8 House Calls column suggesting to the parent of a 3-year old that toilet training should be “all positive,” and that “eventually” this child will naturally become toilet trained. What hogwash! In most of Latin America, toilet training IS positive and is accomplished by the time kids are 30 months (that’s 2 1/2). How? Using simple techniques passed down by generations. Why are children in Carrboro not toilet trained by age 3? Because parents are not taught HOW to potty train and therefore do not invest the time and energy to get it done. Between the diaper makers, who I’m sure are planning to introduce the “kindergarten pull-ups” sometime soon, and uninformed doctors, we are extending diaper training to ridiculous lengths. Why on earth would we wait until a three-year-old is “interested” to teach him what he needs to learn? Back when I was running a Spanish-immersion preschool with other Latina mothers, our policy was to partner with parents as soon as their children entered the 2-year-old class to potty-train them. EVERY child in our program succeeded in a few weeks. No tears or battles – just a great sense of accomplishment. All it takes is some enthusiasm and practice to get a toddler potty-trained. Your readers deserve better advice.

Maria T. Unger Palmer
Chapel Hill

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