Infant Toilet Training in Thailand: Starting and Completion Age and Factors Determining Them

Abstract

Objective: To study the age at which Thai infants start and achieve toilet training and its associated factors. Material and Method: The parents of fifty infants in a research entitled "Bowel movements of normal Thai infants" were interviewed about age at which toilet training started, the process of toilet training and age at which infant successfully completed toilet training. Results: Forty-seven infants from the 50 infants registered had data of the date of beginning toilet training. Five of them (10.6%) started toilet training at 4 months and 38 (80.9%) by 12 months. Most of the infants (73.7%) were initially trained when they showed urging signs. Only 45 infants had complete data of successful toilet training. Twenty-two cases (48.9%) were trained successfully by 12 months and most of them (16/22) succeeded within one month. The infants, who were not the first child and were taken care of by a well-educated mother, were found to start toilet training late. Conclusion: The youngest age at which normal Thai infants start to be toilet trained was 4 months. About 50% of the infants aged 12 months had successful toilet training. Being raised by a well-educated mother and a having a later birth order in a family were factors associated with late toilet training.