Would you pay someone to potty train your child?

A childcare expert has sparked a parenting debate after revealing she charges mums and dads up to £500-a-day to potty train their children.

Amanda Jenner appeared on ‘This Morning’ to discuss the issue of potty training and whether parents should enlist the help of a professional to help toilet train their little ones.

Amanda believes that potty training can be a real issue for time-pushed parents, but mum-of-one Nilufer Atik, who also appeared on the show believes that paying someone else to train your child how to use the potty is ‘neglectful’ parenting.

The TV debate followed an advert posted online by a mum looking for a professional potty trainer to get their child using the loo before Christmas which quickly went viral.

Posting on childcare.co.uk, the mum said that they have found it hard to train their three-year-old daughter to use to the toilet due to their “busy careers”, but will pay £50 an hour for help.

“We’re very conscious that our daughter should be using a toilet by now, and with the in laws coming over for Christmas, I am desperate to get her fully using the toilet by December 23,” the advert states.

“Both of us work in full-time, demanding jobs, and we have previously tried to toilet train her, but due to our busy careers we’ve both realised we have not got time to do so.”

“We’d also like a professional to coach us on how to teach our daughter to use the toilet, so we can continue to teach her when we’re not around,” the advert continues.

According to recent statistics the family aren’t the only ones struggling to get their little one using the toilet.

A survey from the Lecturers and Teachers Association of 700 teachers revealed 70% of primary schools are reporting an increase in the number of five-year-olds starting school wearing nappies.

But Jenner argued that potty training a child too late can have serious consequences and that it is an issue many parents are struggling with.

The parenting expert went on to explain that parents often phone her ‘in tears’ because they are so desperate for help.

“They’re not being lazy, they’ve tried everything and they don’t want their child to go to school in a nappy,’” she said.

While Nilufer agreed that some parents do need help, she argued that the parents who posted the online advert were actually neglecting their parental responsibilities.

“It is the parents’ responsibility and job to potty train their child,” she said.

“Basically, what this couple is asking for comes across to me as neglectful and quite frankly it’s disgusting… I work, I would never be too busy to teach my child a fundamental life skill.”

“Being a good parent is not just loving your child, and providing for them financially, being a good parent is about teaching that child fundamental life skills like going to a toilet.”

But the thorny issue kickstarted a debate online with some arguing that paying someone to toilet train was the ultimate in lazy parenting.

“If you dont have time to potty train your child what else havent you got time for?,” one Twitter user commented. “DONT HAVE CHILDREN IF YOU DONT HAVE TIME FOR THEM!! Jesus wept.”

“When you have a child you make a commitment to teach your child, don’t be lazy, spend time potty training your own children,” tweeted another.

But other parents couldn’t see what the problem was.

“If I could afford to pay someone to potty train my little one I would,” one parent wrote.

“Why does anybody care if somebody pays somebody to potty train their child?” one user tweeted. “Their money, their child. It’s training your kid to crap in a toilet, not locking them in a cupboard & beating them. Get a grip.”

It isn’t the first time the subject of potty training has got parents fired up. Earlier this year a mum kickstarted a debate online about the rights and wrongs of potty training in public after allowing her child to use the potty in a crowded pub.

And back in March we learnt that some parents are actually potty training their children from birth. Apparently, the process of Elimination Communication (EC), where parents use timing, signals, cues and intuition to judge when their baby needs to go to the toilet is becoming more popular.

Then there was the hilarious tale of the mum who tried to track down the innocent victim of her daughter’s errant rolling poo during a potty training accident.

Maybe that professional potty trainer is not such a bad idea afterall?

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