The day-to-day work of parenting isn't exactly easy, but what makes the whole thing stressful is the series of really consequential decisions we need to make on behalf of our kids.

What to feed them, where to send them to school,

how to get discipline right at every stage of their development.

One choice that seems monumental in the moment and later seems like a minor detail,

potty training.

From KERA in Dallas, this is Think.

I'm Chris Boyd.

Nobody goes to prom and a pull-up, right? Developmentally

typical children all eventually figure out how to use the bathroom. Maybe that is why we rarely

ask whether parents are getting appropriate guidance on all this. As my guest has discovered, the advice

is very different depending on when and where someone is training a child.

And what parents in Western countries are doing now may not be ideal for families or for the planet.

Sabra Chowdhury is a journalist and author.

Her article for Bloomberg is titled The Wait Until Ready Approach to Potty Training is Under Fire.

She's also written a book called Consumed,

How Big Brands Got Us Hooked on Plastic.

Sabra, welcome to think.

Thanks for having me.

So this really might blow parents' minds today.

Tell us about the research you found about

potty training in the UK in the 1950s?

Sure.

...