Age to leave babyhood behind?

Age to leave babyhood behind?

Not really sure there is an "age"

NotSpaghetti

^Age to leave babyhood behind?^

Not really sure there is an "age"

How long is a piece of string?

I thought one of mine would never stop thumb-sucking!

Exactly Callistemon21 I was just going back to the title of the thread and thinking about it...

I do still have my baby Teddy from my babyhood. Maybe I haven't "left babyhood behind"

NotSpaghetti

Exactly Callistemon21 I was just going back to the title of the thread and thinking about it...

He was the speediest to be potty-trained though!
So much for the theory that boys are slower than girls. 😁

They do vary in their response to potty training. I wouldn't have dreamt of sending my boys to playgroup or nursery in nappies. My DGD potty trained herself at the age of 2 and her younger brother wasn't far behind. DGGD, almost 2, has started to use her potty and wouldn't thank you for a feeding bottle.

I remember when I was worrying about my small son and potty training my mother just quietly reminded me that not many eighteen year olds were still in nappies!

My DD who teaches 6 year olds says ‘accidents’ are much more common than a few years ago and can take up teaching time. The nursery teacher in our village had no problem giving the mothers a good talking to in the 1970s if an accident occurred. We all crossed our fingers when we left the children.

My son wouldn’t have been allowed to attend nursery school in the late 80s if he wasn’t potty trained. That was the rule in that little school. Why not now?

Back in my DC day 1970s and 80s there were always the proud mums SAHMs who potted their babies after every feed and "caught" the inevitable poo or pee.

I was not sure that was a good idea as
I had read about later problems with constipation and retention so thought it better to wait until they were 18months and it was summer when you could let then run around bare bottomed.
It must have worked but it was a fairly stressful process apart from DS2 who trained himself. He was so eager to watch his big brother he was out of nappies night and day by 18 months. He sucked his thumb though until he was a teenager and then took up smoking.

If we breastfed until aged 2 we didn't boast about it as some older women could be disapproving.

I did that with my son at around 18months. Let him run around with a bare bottom, he soon got the hang of the potty. It's easier to do that with an 18 month old than a 4 year old though.

Why the rush to leave babyhood behind. Is there the same rush to leave childhood behind? If not, why not?

Have you spoken to the parents about your concern? It’s best to get some insight before we start questioning their parenting. Every child is different and everyone parents differently.

Ilovecheese

Why the rush to leave babyhood behind. Is there the same rush to leave childhood behind? If not, why not?

As an aside, I still feel sad many years later about my darling little chubby faced boy. Just turned 4 , he couldn't understand why he couldn't be with his friends all day long. The whole idea of groups and activities and lining up for things was way too much too soon.

Weaning infants seems very peculiar in the UK too Grammaretto - a mad rush into solids and off the breast (if ever they were on it).

NotSpaghetti

Weaning infants seems very peculiar in the UK too Grammaretto - a mad rush into solids and off the breast (if ever they were on it).

The rules keep changing!

Even between my oldest and youngest the rules changed and woe betide you if the Health Visitor thought you were ignoring them.
Of course, the Grannies had other ideas too.

My oldest son was born in 1991 and was very difficult to potty train - he was dry day and night all of a sudden around his third birthday. I was horrified, but I didn’t know at the time that he was autistic. In the nineties, the general consensus was that girls were clean and dry in the day somewhere near their second birthday and boys around 2 1/2. My younger son and daughter conformed to this although my son was not reliably dry at night until he was five. My daughter was dry at night before she was 2 1/2. I couldn’t breastfeed my oldest child, despite Herculean efforts but he was off the bottle completely by around a year. The younger two were breastfed and went straight onto a cup. I agree with the majority here that the modern trend for such late potty training for children without additional needs is deplorable and lazy. Also, older children become quite stubborn and it can, ironically, make it harder. As for the bottle, this is a health hazard as it can cause serious harm to the teeth. It really needs to go.

Yes NotSpaghetti peculiar to us and USA probably.

Did you see that beautiful French documentary Babies?
It ought to be compulsory viewing. IMO
www.youtube.com/watch?v=vB36k0hGxDM

I guess what he’s having in his bottle is also an issue? I’m sure there’s evidence that constantly using a bottle isn’t good for teeth.

In my daughters reception class it’s only the addition needs children still wearing nappies, but many many of the others need lots of help on the loo still at 4 & 5.

I don't like to see big children treated like babies.

I can't remember how old mine were when they dropped the bottle.

However, my husband's nephew was still running around with his bottle hanging out of his mouth when he was about 5.

No harm done , he's a barrister now.

Louella12

I can't remember how old mine were when they dropped the bottle.

However, my husband's nephew was still running around with his bottle hanging out of his mouth when he was about 5.

No harm done , he's a barrister now.

I hope he doesn't take his bottle to the Bar! 🤣😂

NotSpaghetti

I do still have my baby Teddy from my babyhood. Maybe I haven't "left babyhood behind"

I went to a wonderful exhibition at a local art gallery today. Transitional objects, rabbits, teddies and other soft toys featured large. It reminded me of the importance to infants/children of soft toys, especially the favourite attachment soft toy we sleep with.
We do children no good if we deny key stages, or tell them - you’re too old for rabbit/Teddy now

As for toilet training - I was a mid 80’s mum, our advice was leave them to 2 1/2years, be consistent, Pants not nappies and they’ll be dry in a week or so. They were

Oh pour wee things, You're too old for teddy. Pick up a pencil and write an essay.

Actually there's a lot of extended breastfeeding in America (used to be anywsy). It was common even in the early 80s to find women breastfeeding in the shopping malls in small groups.

We lived there at the time and found the openness to breastfeeding refreshing.
Maybe things have changed though since then? It was a shock to come back to the UK and find women having to fight to breastfeed in public and being sent to the toilets in cafés!