The potties-without-pressure method communicates a deep, abiding respect for children's bodies and honors each youngster's need to develop at his or her own rate. Parents do not introduce the potty until age two and one-half or three or even later, and must trust that their child possesses an inborn urge to grow up. They must have faith that their child's internal growth is continuing even when they cannot discern signs of progress. Parents confine themselves to teaching the readiness skills, letting their child watch them use the bathroom, and treating accidents with compassion, sympathy, and understanding. They never apply pressure.

As more and more parents use the potties-without-pressure method, the average age for potty training has increased dramatically. In the 1930s, parents started training infants around three months of age. In 1946, Dr. Spock suggested waiting until the baby was seven to nine months old. By the 1960s, 90 percent of children were not potty trained by age two.

In the early 1960s, author and pediatrician T. Berry Brazelton told parents to wait until their child was twenty-four to thirty months old before they started potty training. A study reported in the December 1989 issue of the Journal of Family Practices indicated that almost half of parents did not start potty training until after their child's second birthday. In 1999, Brazelton increased the age still further, suggesting that children would not be ready for training until after age three. His recommendations were officially adopted by the American Academy of Pediatrics. (“Toilet Training Methods, Clinical Interventions, and Recommendations” by T. Berry Brazelton, Ann C. Stadtler, and Peter A. Gorski in Pediatrics, June 1999, volume 103, issue 6, p. 1359). Now, one-third of tots are still in diapers after their third birthday.

In just two generations, the knowledge that it is even possible to potty train younger children has been all but lost. Jan Faull, author of Mommy I Have to Go Potty: A Parent's Guide to Toilet Training, says, “pee and poop simply come out when the bladder is full” for younger children. She goes on to say, “How Grandma claims her children were completely trained at eighteen months or sooner is a mystery today.” The answers can be found in the baby-track method! (See Chapter 4.)