More parents are turning their noses up at toilet training their children - instead leaving it to schools and teachers to handle the mishaps.
Rising numbers of children are starting school without being toilet trained, a survey of teachers published on Monday suggests.
Almost two-thirds of primary school staff say they have seen an increase in youngsters having accidents during the school day over the past five years, the poll found. This rose to 71% among teachers working with three to five-year-olds.
Dr Mary Bousted, general secretary of the Association of Teachers and Lecturers (ATL) which conducted the poll, said the increase in pupils without toilet training is putting extra pressure on school staff.
ATL's survey of 848 primary school staff in the UK, carried out in partnership with the Education and Resources for Improving Childhood Continence (ERIC), found that 62% say they have seen a rise in the numbers of youngsters wetting or soiling themselves during the school day.
Those questioned suggested that the main reason for the rise was parents failing to toilet train their children before they start school.
ATL and ERIC also said that disability laws such as the SEN Disability Act in 2011 and the Equalities Act 2010 could have led some schools to believe that they cannot refuse to take children who are not toilet trained.
One foundation stage teacher, and a senior manager said: "Parents do not spend the time training their children - they feel it is the school's job.
"Changes in legislation meant that we could no longer say to parents that their child could not start nursery if they were still in nappies."
Another added: "There is less independence generally; more children need help putting on coats, changing for PE, etc."
Just a third of the teachers surveyed (36.2%) said that their school provides written information to parents about ensuring their child starts school toilet trained, with the rest saying none was provided, or they did not know if it was.
A similar proportion (35.6%) said that their school has a written policy for dealing with toileting accidents during the school day.
Bousted said: "Having to deal with increased numbers of pupils who have not yet been toilet trained puts extra pressure on education staff when they already have enough pressure on them.
"Schools need to give staff clear guidance on how to deal with toileting accidents so that they know what they are allowed to do and who should be dealing with an incident."
Jenny Perez, director of ERIC, said: "Schools should be clear about their expectation that children should be using the toilet independently when they start school.
"They can support parents to achieve this by providing resources and information at the time the child's school place is confirmed."