How did you get your child to start wiping their backside after using the potty? How old were they? My son just turned four and is still refusing to even try to wipe himself. We have run out of ideas to try and get him to do this. Do you have any suggestions?
My son had a big "Independence Day" at 5.
They really still need to be helped and "checked" (for lack of a better term!)
The flushable wipes do help, but it is not abnormal for a 3, 4 or 5 yo to need someone to bat "clean-up"!
We have this issue with my daughter who is 4 1/2 - she still calls for us when she is done but about 4 months ago we started to refuse to help until she had at least made an attempt herself. Sometimes she will sit there for quite some time and she has also tried to fib and say that she has tried but there will not even be paper in the potty. She often asks me "how will I know if it's clean" and I tell her she'll know when the paper is clean. So she is unsure that she is able to get herself clean since she can't "look" to check.
My son is almost five & still has a hard time if he only has paper. He just makes a huge mess of it all. I have wipes at home and he uses though so much easier. I explained to him why we can't just pull up our under wear. If poo is left on our skin, the bacteria in the poo makes our skin mad and it gets irritated and starts to itch and get red and then starts to hurt. That is why babies have to have cream put on their bottoms to protect the skin. After his bath, I have put on a little bit of vaselline. this helps him to clean himself especially if your son is prone to sticky poos and it does keep his little bottom from getting really irritated until he learns to clean it all well. My son thought he just had to wipe once or twice. Took me forever to get him to reallize he had to keep wiping until the paper or wipe came back clean. He is doing better but we still have our moments. if he is rushing to get back to playing, he for obvious reasons just doesn't do it properly. I for a long time supervised, but had him do it. I will every now and again, "inspect" just out of the blue by having him drop trowel and wiping for him just after he has pooed just to test and he passes 3/4th of the time. My daughter has always been more on the constipated side and she has no problems cleaning herself as it is rarely messy. Funny how each child poses different challenges. Best of luck. don't know how you get him to try though......I would probably remove all non nessecity things and let him know that until he at least attempts to learn, then he won't get those things back. I mean I do let my kids know that everyone has a job. Daddy goes out to work, Mommy takes care of them, the house, and works at home. Their job is to clean up after themselves and when old enough learn their work at school. So let him know he isn't ding his job and it just isn't acceptable any longer. Transitions are just so hard for some....
Make sure to have the flushable wipes on hand for him to use. You can flush two at a time. I would encourage him to try. I am afraid that you need to go cold turkey and tell him he is on his own. At 4 he should be able to do this on his own. They do not help with wiping in preschool. :)
I asked my friends about this, when my son turned 4, and they said around 5 years old. My son wants to try, but he is not successful at it. I'd actually rather have him clean and help him than the results I get when he does it himself. lol
buy some nitrile/latex gloves and give him one to put on-then have him try--after a few times "forget' to put the glove on and voila'! He will master it! Sometimes they just have to get over the feel of trying it and realize its not so bad and they don't get their hand messy---which is usually the fear behind it. Good luck!
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