Are preemies harder to potty train??

Question

My best friend had twins about 5 weeks early. They are now 3, but still not potty trained. She says because they ARE preemies (yes she uses are).

I tell her twins are typically a month early. She says they were born 4 days before the planned c-section...

I want to tell her my cousin twice had preemies that were ALMOST 2 pounds when they were born and even with learning problems I could understand them better at 3 and both were potty trained.

Answer 1

no. they are out of the womb just as long and will show the same signs that they are ready as a full term baby. going a long time between going potty in diaper, wanting wet diaper off, interest in the toilet, able to say pee and poo and associate it with the action. she is using it as a crutch because potty training twins can be a daunting task.

Answer 2

Preemies that otherwise have no developmental problems are not harder to potty train. It's the disposable diapers.  LOTS of comparison studies have shown that kids in disposables, on average, train much later.  My cousin's twins were 6 weeks early and were trained by 20 months (cloth diapers).   The last average I saw was cloth diapered kids are trained at about 24 months old, while disposable diaper babies train at about 28 months old.

Answer 3

No. It depends all on how you go about it and how much effort you put to into it.

My uncle has twins. They were also 5 weeks early and are now 3. They are potty trained to pee in the toilet but not to p**p.

Answer 4

My last one was a preemie.  She was ahead with everything.  She was doing things at the age she was (not corrected age) and before.  Either she isn't spending much time with the children, or she isn't trying very hard.

Answer 5

mine wasn't potty trained about 2 1/2, wieghed <2lbs @ birth

Answer 6

Wow!  Lay off your friend.  I hope you are little more gentle when you voice, what I can only hope are, your concerns...?!  Hopefully your friend has a pediatrician that sees her children frequently who is trained and certified to pick up on these things.