Where do you see that it is normal for a boy to not be potty trained at 43 months? Everywhere I have read says about 31 months is the average for boys. Every other boy in the class is potty trained, and they are all much younger than him, so I have a hard time believing that the average age to be potty trained is at almost 4 years old. Regardless, he is nowhere NEAR being potty trained at 43 months, which means he is still behind the curve regardless. I also worry that this child is actually not cognitively ahead at all. He gets words mixed up and can't remember things that have been told to him many times. I wouldn't categorize this child as "cognitively advanced" at all, which is what is so strange. The only thing that is advanced about this child is his ability to read, otherwise it actually takes him quite a while to catch on to things or show basic cognitive skills for his age.
Originally Posted by Leigh:
Many kids who are "gifted" have asynchronous development.
3 years, 7 months isn't "too old" to not be potty trained. It is the AVERAGE age for boys to potty train. This child's brain is obviously more focused on learning to read and explore with his brain than it is with sending signals to his body that he needs to eliminate. So, for a kid who is NOT gifted, at this age, it is not uncommon to be using diapers. For a kid who IS gifted, it is even less uncommon.
A child's brain will often focus on one part of development at a time. A child who doesn't walk, but maybe talks a little will sometimes stop talking altogether when they are learning to walk because of the shift of focus. Once walking is achieved, the child's language skills will explode.
I would not push the potty training, but rather offer the potty frequently, encourage him to try, but don't push or bully the child-that makes it take even longer, and is exhausting for you and the child.
https://www.nagc.org/resources-publi...us-development