The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 5 plus 7 letter word POTTY TRAINED
I've seen this crossword clue in The Times
P
O
T
T
Y
T
R
A
I
N
E
D
More clues leading to the result POTTY TRAINED
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "At an early stage, continent" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case at an early stage, continent = potty trained.The cryptic/wordplay part
In cryptic crossword there's often an wordplay/cryptic part as well.This part involves a more complex hint, such as an anagram, homophone, hidden word, etc.
Sadly, We don't have an explanation for this specific crossword clue yet.
What does POTTY TRAINED mean?
POTTY TRAINED adjective- Synonym of toilet-trained