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Abstract Historical review : The present state of confusion on when and how to toilet train infants can be placed in perspective by examining the changes in attitudes towards toilet training over the last 80 years.^ ’ Stendler,*1 ’ Vincent^’ and Wo If ens t e in * ’ in their separate reviews of the professional and lay literature, outline all (5 ) these changes. Around the turn of the century, the prevailing attitude towards toileting was one of permissiveness. Leniency in training, however, changed to rigidity in the mid 1930’s. The use of very strict and structured schedules was the rule, and the techniques were fre-quently coercive in nature.^1 ’ United States Children’s Burean^ ’ in 1932, instructed mothers to begin toilet training immediately after confinement and finish at 6 to 8 months;. f ’ Such an early training was based on new concepts of infant trainability which proposed to free the mother from the burden of the infant’s soiling and wetting. Experts urged coercive methods such as using a ”soap stick” rectal conditioner and stimulating the buttocks with the ”cold rim of a soap dish while gently rubbing the abdomen”. Absolute regularity was also stressed, and advice to schedule bowel movements |