Busy mum who’s seeking an expert to potty train girl, 3
AS any parent will testify, potty training is far from painless.
The rewards of success, however, are monumental.
So perhaps that’s why in the 21st century some middle-class parents seem willing to contract out the responsibility.
An unnamed 36-year- old mother from Surrey has placed an advert offering £50 an hour for a professional potty trainer to get her three-year- old daughter out of nappies in time for Christmas.
She said she and her partner work full time in demanding jobs, before adding: ‘We have previously tried to toilet train her, but unfortunately due to our busy careers we’ve realised we simply do not have the time to do so.
‘We are 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.’
She says that whoever takes the job must have at least ten years’ experience as her daughter is ‘somewhat difficult and does not respond well to authority’.
However, a ‘handsome bonus’ is promised if her daughter is using the toilet before the deadline.
The advert was placed on the website childcare.co.uk, whose founder Richard Conway said: ‘Toilet training can be a real battle. I think it’s just assumed that it will be a case of showing kids how to use one and after a few weeks they’ll be good to go, which couldn’t be more untrue.
‘It can be time-consuming and some parents, for whatever reason, just can’t do it alone. I don’t think it’s anything to be ashamed of to admit that you need some professional help.’
It certainly seems the family are not alone – with around seven out of ten mothers now having paid employment, many primary schools have reported an increase in children turning up for their first day in nappies.
The growing demand means it is now possible to pay an expert to step in – one professional potty trainer charges £500 a day, and she has a waiting list of a year.
Amanda Jenner, founder of Potty Training Academy, said: ‘There has been a lot of reaction to this and most of the time, people will blame it on bad parenting.’
But she told The Times: ‘ The parents are not to blame. Society has changed and there are not so many stay-at-home mums who can do this all the time.’
Another parental chore that can now be outsourced is removing lice from children’s hair.
One specialist, The Hairforce in Primrose Hill, North London, offers home visits from £32, saying the ‘lice assassin’ will turn up in an unliveried vehicle, saving parents the shame of the neighbours noticing what is going on.
Other experts available for hire include childminders with training in nutrition to encourage children to eat vegetables.
Justine Roberts, founder of the parenting website Mumsnet, said: ‘Parents in paid work don’t get a lot of unpressured downtime with their kids, so why not prioritise the really important stuff, like reading, chatting and larking about?’