"Methods of toilet training have fluctuated over the last 100 years from passive and lacking in structure, to coercive and regimented, to child- oriented and semistructured," writes Dr. Darcie A. Kiddoo in the Canadian Medical Association Journal.
Methods shifted between the 1960s and ’70s from a "child readiness" approach that had few rules to a parent-oriented approach that involved giving the child increased fluids, timed trips to the toilet, rewards for success and overcorrection for any accidents.
There is no single method that has been proven more effective than others, but late training – waiting until the child is two or three years of age – has been linked to some negative outcomes such as daytime wetting, refusal to void the bowel, and hiding while defecating.
Today, toilet training is widely varied but tends to take more of a middle ground. Toilet training should begin around 18 months, when the child shows an interest in the process, according to both the American Academy of Pediatrics and the Canadian Paediatric Society.
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