Children in nursery and even KS1 still in nappies!

GagaJo But my MiL's experience shows that this is nothing new.

Mine were born late 70s and 1980. At the time, they were generally considered physiologically ready by 2, or soon afterwards. Mine were both daytime trained not long after 2 - it took just a week both times, but then it I was at home with them, so that did make it easier.

My elder Gdcs were nearly 3 by the time it was attempted (or accomplished) but dd was working 4 days a week. General feeling among dd and friends was that they weren’t ready before then. A dd’s friend was still saying her son wasn’t ready - no SN - at 3 1/2.

Of course disposable nappies make it a much easier decision than it used to be. In the days of no disposables, no automatic washing machines, and certainly no tumble driers, the impetus was that much greater.

In the days before central heating was common, who else remembers terry nappies steaming on a clothes horse in front of the fire on wet winter days?

Harris27

Been in childcare for over twenty years and can see where this is coming from. I work in preschool and the rule used to be that they didn’t come into that room till they were toilet trained. Now it’s the norm we have at least three or four in nappies and no special needs. Just lazy parents. Our ratio is one to eight and when we’re in changing nappies we are leaving others to their own devices. So much so now we have to ask for extra staff to come in and cover. It’s a nightmare.

I couldn't agree more to this and other posts. When I started teaching in the '70s the rule was children could not enter nursery without being potty trained in my area.
Then I moved authorities and we were getting children into reception class who were untrained and still drinking from a bottle. It takes up a lot of staff time. We also had the dummy suckers who would be found around a corner.
I did find two children who wore nappies for medical reasons in K stage1 who wanted to keep it secret and had a teachers aide who they alerted and were taken to the medical room that had a toilet all done very discreetly.
I think from observing children and listening to younger relatives it is as others have said two parents working and also children in nurseries from being babies. Potty training is not at the top of the agenda just like using a knife and fork and sitting at a table.
'That's for someone else who I am paying to teach them".
We would have been mortified to send our children to school in nappies not so now. My mother wanted me to put ours on the potty after every feed when they could barely sit up.

All that potty training seemed interminable at the time, I started with mine, I think around 2 and a bit and they were finally there sometime around 2 and 3/4 if I remember rightly, but they were boys. My granddaughter was out of nappies around 2 a lot quicker than her brother. Mine hated to break off what they were doing, I remember the signs for both of them and also with my grandson, a sort of hopping about on one leg, with me saying "you need the toilet stop putting it off, go now!" and then they'd finally admit they did need to go and get there just before an accident! I sent mine to a kindergarten 2 mornings a week before they started in the school nursery at 3 and a quarter. The lady who ran the kindergarten would take them from around 2 and a half and was quite laid back about some of the children being in pull off nappies, merely insisting on trousers that pulled down easily, definitely no dungarees she took the view that they eventually got it by just copying the other children. She always emphasised that boys, in her experience, took longer. Mine had an accident or two there but I think we were through the worst of it by 3.

Don’t be judgemental. They may have unidentified SEN. Anxiety or physical problems can also be an issue

It’s about time we were judgemental. Yes some children may have problems but not that many. It’s laziness on the part of the parents.

the parents may have special needs.