Out of diapers: Do Swiss children dry too late?

There are no figures to prove this for Switzerland. already marks. In mid-June, “SonntagsZeitung” reported an information incident in Aargau. As part of this, parents of prospective primary school students are advised to be sober when their children start school, which of course is not a natural issue. This situation worries not only teachers but also affected families.

The increasingly comfortable and larger models of diapers may also play a role. The first size 6 Pampers hit the market in 1998 – the largest disposable diapers on the market at the time. The scale now goes up to 8. But in the eyes of many experts, the main culprit for late drying of children is parents who do not encourage their daughters and sons to go to the potty at an early age. Pediatrician Oskar Jenni (56) views this critically. “Children usually signal that they’re potty ready at the age of 2 or 3,” says the head of developmental pediatrics at the Children’s Hospital in Zurich.

Most experts assume that drying can only accelerate once children become interested in the toilet and want to potty. According to Zurich longitudinal studies (longitudinal studies) conducted by pediatrician and author Remo Largo (1943 – 2020) between 1954 and 2002, this happens as early as 12 months of age. Around the stage where children first show their own initiative, the stage begins when children are able to control their bowels and bladders. For this, their nervous system must be sufficiently developed and their other physical needs must be met. This usually happens in the following order:

1. Children can wait until they sit on the potty or toilet to pee during the day.
2. Children can withstand the urge to defecate.
3. Children can check their bladder at night. Urine only flows when they sit on the potty or on the toilet after waking up.

According to Zurich Longitudinal Studies, most children become dry and clean by the time they are three and four years old. From the age of five, 3 to 5 percent are still wet for days and 20 percent are not yet dry at night when kindergarten starts.

Jenni says that as soon as the child shows initiative, parents should support him in this maturation process. “I can guess that parents today miss this more often than in the past, and therefore their children are still addicted to diapers.” Children can be supported by praising them when they go to the potty or – if the child is older – by purchasing an attachment for the adult toilet and placing a stool in front of the child so that they can climb onto the toilet. Or you can set a good example and let your daughter or son follow when necessary. Another possibility is the so-called potty training – here the method is mainly propagated by people who believe that the initiative does not come spontaneously, but must be provoked as early as possible.

A common variation is for the child to wear panties instead of diapers for a few hours at home. During this time, you’ll potty put it at 20-minute intervals – he might look at a picture book, for example – whether or not something comes off. The goal is for the panties to stay dry within twenty minutes.

As part of the longitudinal studies, Remo Largo compared families who started potty training early with those who started potty training late or not at all. He found that kids who train early don’t dry out faster than those who train late or don’t train at all. At best, potty training can teach the child to sit up until something comes up. If there is more than one child – for example, in a day care center – the imitation effect can work. Jenni rules out the possibility that potty training has an effect on bladder and bowel control. Education is a remnant of an era when education consisted largely of adapting children to the rules of the adult world as quickly as possible. “This no longer corresponds to the way many parents want to raise their children today.”