Kindergarteners coming to school not potty trained
Kindergarten teachers are increasingly expected to handle bathroom accidents and cleanup for students who are not yet potty trained. This shifts basic parenting responsibilities onto educators and creates uncomfortable situations for teachers who feel toileting children outside their role.
What the numbers show
Counted from the threads quoted below. How we count
- This comes up 15.6× more often in r/Teachers than across the site as a whole.
What people tried
Every workaround mentioned in the threads below. We haven’t tested any of them — and nobody here is claiming they worked.
Found another way around this?
Share your steps and trade-offs so fellow engineers don't have to reinvent the wheel. No account required.
- 1Standing outside the door and verbally walking the child through it step by step without handling their clothesDid this help you?
- 2Refusing to change diapersDid this help you?
- 3Having paras do the changing instead of teachersDid this help you?
- 4Telling parents to send in extra clothes and having kids change themselvesDid this help you?
In their words
Unedited, grouped by where they were said, most upvoted first within each place, each linked to the thread it came from.
“This is the only school I've been at that allows kids who aren't potty trained in reg ed classes. Or principal says we have to change them and put them on the toilet. I refused, and said no.”source ↗
“We now have no less than six kindergarten students who are not potty trained.”source ↗
“when did it become the school’s responsibility to potty train children?”source ↗
“as a man I am not in the slightest interested in toileting a child that isn’t mine.”source ↗
“Meanwhile, in my more metropolitan district, my elementary counterparts are dealing with this alarming trend.”source ↗
“My 6 year old has accidents often, usually related to him not telling us he needs to go potty (like at a park or with friends), and often has poop accidents when in our own backyard just hanging out. He says he just doesn’t feel it??”source ↗
Where this came up
People with this problem also raised
- 16How do I start potty training when I don't have a yard?
- 9Toddler refuses to use the potty and waits for a diaper
- 6Why does my potty trained child have accidents only at home?
- 20How to handle an out of control kindergarten class
- 9How to handle too many bathroom breaks during class
- 3How to handle potty training while out and about