Mumsnet Moonwatch

Mumsnet Talk

"The country's most popular meeting point for parents" The Times
  Topics | Active | Search  
discountpartnersnew MEMBER DISCOUNTS Get a 10% discount from Boden (inc free delivery and returns). To see all member discounts, click here. Not a member yet? Join Mumsnet for free here. discountpartnersnew

Mumsnet TV

Tip of the day

Never ask a child IF they need the loo... moodlum

Quote of the week

CaptainNancy's (admirably succinct) family rules: "Don't be a dingbat/duffer. Keep calm and carry on. Dream big. Shut up and get on with it."

Recipe of the week

Carmenere's cinder toffee: sweet, sticky, made-in-five-minutes toffee squares that'll spark off a few 'yums' among the 'oohs' and 'aahs' of your little fireworks-watchers.

Follow mumsnet on...

TwitterFacebookYoutube

Mumsnet Talk


Start new thread within this topic | Watch this thread | Flip this thread |
Add a message

At what age do kids wipe their own bum?

(30 Posts)
Like Littlefish, my ds, never seems to need to wipe. I mean , he is clean naturally. When I do, wipe him, as a check, there is nothing there. Like hardly ever.
I think that some people just have muscles, that makes them clean and not really need to wipe. He never has a sore botty.

But, what will happen when he gets to school ? We have andrex moist wipes. What happens when you need to do it with TRACING PAPER ? hmm
Spinsugar - NICE !!
DS (4.8) has been doing it for a few months - although there were some carroty bits floating around in the bath tonight hmm.
Ds (4.7) has been doing it for a hile. Maybe a year. The nursery encouraged the children. I still check.
He starts school in Sept and they requested that children be able to 'toilet themselves'.
Add message | Report | Contact poster By Mon 18-Aug-08 10:33:27
Ds1 managed from age 4.

Ds2 refuses to even try. When asked what he would do at school, he said that he would only do poos at home...(and knowing him, he will)
Add message | Report | Contact poster By Mon 18-Aug-08 10:30:46
After leaving dd for half an hour she has finally had a go at wiping (used the how many wipes game).

Small victory for today grin
DD has been doing it alone since she was about 2.10
i alwyas make sure she has bottom wipes though as she doesn't seem to properly clean herslef with dry toilet tissue.
dd1 is 4.5, and wants to do hers all the time - but I do check when its a poo, if I get the chance, because she's not great at it and ends up with sore bits.

That said, when she's at nursery or friends' houses, she does it herself always - even if she sometimes forgets to pull the chain hmm
I have just started teaching dd1 2.6yrs to do it. 1st attempt resulted in poo all over the toilet seat and still all over her bum LOL smile But at least she wants to do it grin
Add message | Report | Contact poster By Thu 14-Aug-08 20:53:45
DS1 - 4, DS2, 6 (despite my best efforts)
DD can do it at aged 3 but sometimes asks me to check.
Add message | Report | Contact poster By Thu 14-Aug-08 20:51:16
My DD has been doing so since 2.6, but not always amazing at it. She does her best.
Add message | Report | Contact poster By Thu 14-Aug-08 20:32:09
FWIW I know I was 6 or 7 blush
it took sleeping over at friends for first time to get me to do it....(now I have kids of my own I wonder if my mum encouraged a sleepover for precisely that reason wink)
never pooed at school ever
still rarely do between 8 & 4
Freud would have a field day I'm sure....hmm
Add message | Report | Contact poster By Thu 14-Aug-08 20:26:00
My DD is 2.9 and just been potty trained. She regularly returns from nursery with soiled pants. Apparently nobody allowed to help her wipe herself after toilet in case they are accused of abuse!!!
Add message | Report | Contact poster By Thu 14-Aug-08 20:22:52
mine too popsycal
Add message | Report | Contact poster By Thu 14-Aug-08 20:13:44
can your children please tell my ds1 this
he is just turned 6 and rubbish at it
Add message | Report | Contact poster By Thu 14-Aug-08 20:12:51
Frankly, I think it depends on what their poo's like as well as their physical ability. My 2 year old ds2 can wipe his own bum (but only needs one wipe as there's hardly anything to wipe off). My 4-year old ds1 wipes with supervision and there's always masses of the stuff to get off - even I need to do 3 or 4 wipes to get it clean. Seems to me unfair to say my 2-year old is better at it - he just has an easier job in the first place.
Add message | Report | Contact poster By Thu 14-Aug-08 09:23:33
Girls - age 3 or 4

Weirdly there are a lot of 8 year old boys I know whose mum still does this!!! shock
ds1 is 4, he will do it but 80% of the time he gets me to check....
he has actually done a good job but doesnt have the confidence yet
Dd is 3.9 and can make a pretty good go of it. Slightly odly however, she rarely needs to wipe (although we/she always does)! Almost always seems clean without wiping - how strange!)
DD is trying to now at 2, LOL, not very well mind you!
Add message | Report | Contact poster By Thu 14-Aug-08 09:17:50
age 5 here can do a good job
ds (who hates doing anything for himself if he can convince someone else to do it) does a great job wiping after reading advice (for someone else) on here. We make a game of how many wipes it will take, so I will say I think it is a 3 wipe poo and he will say nope it is 5 and promptly wipe and check, wipe and check and see who had the best guess before his bottom is clean! It is one of the few golden things in life that actually worked for ds (thank you to unknown mner who first suggested it) He is 3.11
DD has wiped her own bum since she was 3.5 and only really calls me in if she says she cant get it clean.
I do have a friend with a boy the same age though and she wipes his bum for him as he cant do it.

Just depends I guess, You could try getting him to do it and see what she says.
Add message | Report | Contact poster By Wed 13-Aug-08 17:53:25
dd - 5.2 also completely refuses to even have a go. Says she doesn't know where the poo is. I don't think she goes at school, prefers to save the pleasure for home and me!

DS1 - 3 would do it himself and not really care if he missed or not!

Other than 'get right in' what are the other top tips of wiping then?
i am just teachuing dd (just 3) in preparation for starting school nursery in September. DS has been confidently bum wiping since he was 3 - his cm told him to "get right in"! with the tissue. at home we use poo wipes, ds has just refused to use them as too babyish!
Add message | Report | Contact poster By Wed 13-Aug-08 17:28:05
DS 2 is 5 and can do it, but is azy and will sometimes sit on th stoilet for an hour until I give in ad do it for him.
But the kandoos are good - or even cheaper own brand oones.
My DS is 5.6, finished his first year at school, and refuses to even attempt to wipe his own bum <sob>, says he won;'t do it till he's a grown up and gets hysterical if I suggest he does it himself.

TBH it really grates at times, especially as he is so independant in other ways. He just holds it in at school or if he's away from me, and I absolutely hate it when I hear "mmmuuuuuuuuuuummm I'm finnnnnished" <wails>
Add message | Report | Contact poster By Wed 13-Aug-08 17:23:43
My DS1 has just turned 5 and is just about able to do it. He still gets me to check. He has been at school since January.
Think i got my ds to wipe themselves before they went to nursery, but with supervision. Those 'kando' wipes are great for them.
tho tbh, my younger ds is 6 and I still sometimes have to check he's done it properly.
Add message | Report | Contact poster By Wed 13-Aug-08 17:16:55
My DS was 3 in July. Has been potty trained for a year and has had no real issues.

He has just gone up to the last room in nursery and I suddenly wondered how many of his peers can wipe their own bums. I will ask but wondered what mumsnetters experience was?
Add your message here
Message
Nickname:
Password:
To post a message you need a valid mumsnet nickname and password. If you have forgotten your nickname, click here for a reminder. If you are not yet a member of mumsnet, you can join here.

Emphasis: To bold a word, surround it with asterisks, so *hello* will display hello. For underline use _ , so _hello_ gives hello. For italics use ^, so ^hello^ gives hello. To strike out a word, surround it with two hyphens either side, so --dog-- gives dog

Links and smileys: To insert a smiley face,  , type [smile] or :)
For a big grin,  , type [grin] or :o
For a wink,  , type [wink]
For a shocked face,  , type [shock]
For an angry face,  , type [angry]
For an embarrassed face,  , type [blush]
For a sad face,  , type [sad] or :(
For an envious face,  , type [envy]
For a sceptical face,  , type [hmm]
For a I have nothing to say on this matter face,  , type [biscuit]

Links The simplest way to insert a link is to enter the link itself, surrounded by [[ and ]]. So if you type [[www.mumsnet.com]], the link will display as http://www.mumsnet.com. If you want your link to display text other than the web address itself, leave a space after the address then add the text before the ]]. So "Look at [[www.mumsnet.com this page]]", would display "Look at this page".
Shortcuts