Putting off the diaper before starting school: do we respect the children's rhythm?

We always insist on the idea of how important it is, to understand their emotional, maturational and cognitive development and not to try to impose behaviors or behaviors just because other children of the same age do. Comparisons are hateful, but they can also be very damaging.

Education is an important step in the development of our children, and as such it is not always easy. One of the most frequent doubts among parents is knowing, however, the most logical answer to this question is that there is no specific fixed age or optimal time: not all children are prepared to do it at the same age and the natural is to respect your own pace. It must also be said that it is true that a high percentage of children tend to learn to control the toilet between the ages of 2 and 3 , being then prepared to abandon the diaper, but this maturation process is very personal. In addition, there are some clues that help us to know if the child, such as if he is already able to identify if he has pee or poop, if he can sit for a few minutes, if he hides to relieve himself, if he can sit on the potty, squatting or if you are already dry for several hours or have a more specific time to have a bowel movement. It must also be taken into account that, in many cases, the child does know when he is ready to do it. There comes a time when they find the diaper uncomfortable, it makes them hot, it bothers them or they simply want to imitate us and go to the bathroom , like adults. At that time the child is ready to remove the diaper.

However, many parents go through a truly stressful stage when they try to remove the child’s diaper out of necessity without obtaining good results with the following burden: our child starts school in September and the rules of the center are clear, the child must have abandoned the diaper before the start of the course , so a very widespread recommendation is to remove the little ones before the start of the children’s first year of school.

They don’t change diapers at school

Many schools have as a rule that children must control the toilet and go without a diaper to school. It must be taken into account that many children are not even 3 years old when they start school , in addition to what we have already commented: being prepared to put down the diaper is a maturation process, not an educational one, so a child is prepared for it not when the school, nor the parents say, only when his development allows it.

The reasons that are used in many schools to adhere to this rule is that they do not have changing tables or assistants who can help teachers in this matter. It is true that teachers cannot be changing the diaper of all children (which are not exactly few per class nor do we say that it is their task to do so) and stopping teaching to dedicate their school hours to, that is evident. However, in many centers the rule is that if children pee or poop on themselves, they call their parents to go change them . This measure is controversial since it supposes, firstly, a disorder for the child, who must remain that way until his parents arrive to change him and, secondly, a measure that does a disservice to the child, since parents have to leave work at that time to go change your children. In other centers, however, there are assistants who are in charge of changing children’s clothes if they have peed or pooped on themselves, it depends on each center and its internal organization. In addition, in some cases, it also depends on the teacher, since many of them do change children if they have relieved themselves.

What can we do?

First of all, try not to overwhelm ourselves, there is always a solution. Before that, we must find out what the rules are like in this regard at the center and we can, if it is within our possibilities, decide on those with less strict regulations.

Secondly, if the beginning of the course arrives and our little one has not been able to control the toilet, we should talk to the school to try to find a solution. In many centers there are assistants hired to change Infant children in these cases. Other Infant teachers report that in some schools it is the city council that hires a person for this task. Talking with the AMPA and trying to reach an agreement or common measure is also a good idea, since it will not be the case of an isolated child, but there will be several who are in the same situation, which makes that in some centers, the AMPA is responsible for the salary of a person hired for this purpose. There are many groups of parents and associations that fight in the administrations to ensure that support figures are placed in the cabbages and knowing these initiatives is also of great help.

The important thing is to try to find the way in which the child feels better and ensures their well-being, trying to find options, solutions and alternatives.

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