How Old is Too Old for Nappies?

There are numerous theories on how old a child should be potty trained, or have given up their dummy, but as parents, we tend to do what feels right for our child. But is there a point we shouldn’t cross?

A poll by the UK’s leading discount and voucher code website has revealed that 1 in 5 parents kept their child in nappies until they were 3 and a half. A further 17% give their 4 year olds dummies at bed time and 14% allowed their children to use bottles until they were 3 years old.

New research by the UK’s leading discount and voucher code website has revealed that 1 in 5 parents allow their children to wear nappies up until they were 3 years and 6 months old. A further 17% still give their 4 year old children dummies at bed time.

The poll by My Voucher Codes asked 1,196 parents of 3 to 10 year olds across the UK a variety of questions relating to different stages of their child’s lives and their transitional phases.
According to the results, 14% of the parents polled allowed their child to drink from a bottle until they were three years old.

The parents were asked why they held off teaching their child certain development skills until a later age, the majority, 53%, said it was because of the ‘stress’ caused when trying to wean their child out of their habits, a further 1 in 10, 9%, admitted to simply being ‘lazy’.

27% of those asked admitted that they would like to keep their child’s ‘baby qualities’ for as long as possible. Just 31% said that they encouraged their child to progress at the earliest opportunity.
The study found that 12% of the parents asked had their child sleeping in their bedroom until they were 2. A further 1 in 3 of the respondents, 32%, admitted to still allowing their child to sleep in the same bed as them when they had a ‘bad dream’.

What do you think? Do you think we should encourage our children to progress their development at the earliest opportunity or do you think we should allow our children to develop in their own time? Tell us your views by leaving a comment in the box below…
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