ABSTRACT
The toddler years are characterized by a huge shift in the child's relationship to his body, accompanied by much physical activity and exploration. Suddenly parents can find themselves feeling very controlled by this little creature, so recently a passive baby, now able to take the initiative over what he eats and does not eat. Parents can very quickly feel that their only-just-a-toddler has them over a barrel. He refuses to eat what is good for him. For many first-time parents, the prospect of their child learning to control his bladder and his bowels seems as remote as a miracle. Children develop physically at very different rates, and this is reflected in the variety of ages when ordinary healthy children learn, for example, to crawl or to walk. In the same way, it is important to recognize that individual toddlers develop the physical control over their anal and urethral sphincter muscles at very different ages.
