Longitudinal study of bowel and bladder control by day and at night in the first six years of life. II: The rôle of potty training and the child's initiative.

The rôle of potty training and the child's own initiative to use the pot were evaluated in 320 Swiss children in the Zurich longitudinal study (1955--1976). Initiating potty training in the first months of life has a short-term effect on bowel control, but no effect on bladder control by day or at night. Frequent daily prompting to use the pot results in a higher percentage of completely bowel-trained children, and of children partially but not completely dry during the day. It has no influence on bladder control at night. Asking for the pot is part of the maturation process of bladder control. A child who does not ask for the pot may not soil himself but is unlikely to be dry by day nor, especially, by night. The child's asking for the pot cannot be induced by frequent prompting.