Tell us what is new or I should say, perhaps, old in this toilet training practice.

NPR: Slate's Medical Examiner: Earlier Toilet Training

Global Handwashing Day: UnileverCan you remember toilet training your two-year-old?

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Well, it turns out that's pretty common in many parts of the world now, and to get to the bottom of the great toilet training debate, I spoke with Dr. Sydney Spiesel.

NPR: Slate's Medical Examiner: Earlier Toilet Training

Dr. SPIESEL: Yes, my third law of pediatrics, which I hope will someday make me famous, is this: the average age of toilet training around the world is directly proportional to the latitude.

NPR: Slate's Medical Examiner: Earlier Toilet Training

Other critics of the iPotty have argued that toilet training is an important bonding moment between a parent and his or her child -- that introducing games and movies diminishes the experience.

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They ensure that each home has access to a bed net to protect the family from malaria, a pit toilet, first-aid training and other basic health and safety practices.

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It's really very consonant with what used to be done in sort of Victorian and post-Victorian England and Germany and in the United States, which was the idea that children have to be sort of trained to go to the toilet, and the sooner it's done, the better the training and the more efficient it will be, and that was kind of the practice.

NPR: Slate's Medical Examiner: Earlier Toilet Training