The dangers of early potty training

It’s a milestone that many parents dread.

Sure, reading how the Vietnamese toilet-train babies by the time they are 9-months-old might leave some parents asking: Why can't that be my child?

But according to one doctor, the earlier your child is potty trained, the more chance they have of developing problems later in life.

"Children under age 3 should not manage their own toileting habits any more than they should manage their college funds," wrote Dr. Steve Hodges, a pediatric urologist at Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center, in an article on the parenting website Babble.com.

“Babies need to experience uninhibited voiding, or elimination, without the expectation of using the toilet at such an early age.”

Just because your child can go to the toilet on their own, doesn’t mean they will.

“Children – and I mean all children – don’t like to interrupt their lives to use the bathroom,” he writes.

“Holding on” at a young age can affect how a child’s bladder develops.

“A child's bladder, which continues growing to its standard size until age three, grows stronger and faster when it's filling and emptying uninhibited,” said Hodges.

“Training a child too early can lead to toilet accidents because the bladder may not be strong enough.

“It may also lead to constipation, kidney damage and even urinary tract infections.”