Cause for Celebration

[Bumblelion]

Sasha is 4 years and 6.5 months. She wears nappies at night and pull-ups during the day. She goes to mainstream nursery and her assistant helps her with toileting needs, takes her to the toilet, Sasha pulls down her pull-ups and even managed a "wee" on the toilet.

On Saturday afternoons Sasha has swimming lessons. Because she is not toilet trained, she wears a swimming nappy in the swimming pool just in case of accidents.

About two weeks ago I forgot to take a pull-up with me for her to put on afterwards. I asked if she wanted to go the toilet and she did and did a wee (the first time with me - I was so proud of her and showed it). Her dad was meeting me at the swimming pool (we are not together any more, although not divorced yet) as he was having all 3 children overnight on Saturday (normally it is a Friday). I had to tell him that she had nothing on as I had accidentally forgot to take a pull-up with me (I normally never forget).

Sasha had a 40 minute drive to his house and did not wet herself in the car.

All that evening (from about 5:30 until her bed time) she did not wet herself. He had some knickers at his house and on Sunday put knickers on her. She went to toilet at his house Sunday morning and kept knickers on until she came home to me at 4 pm.

I have currently got 675 nappies and about 380 pull-ups - I get them free through my health visitor. My loft is piled high with them.

About 10 days ago she started wearing pull-ups at night as (in her words) "nappies are for babies".

My portage worker (PW) (who I no longer see) came and did a visit last Thursday to help me fill in my re-application form for Disability Living Allowance as it is due to stop the day before she turns 5. I spoke to my PW about toileting and she said a good place to start would be school. Because she has to wear a school uniform to nursery, she could start associating wearing knickers with wearing her school uniform.

All this week she has been very negative about wearing knickers to school so the school and I decided that she would wear pull-ups to school but when all the children went to toilet and Sasha would normally put on a new clean pull-up, the assistant would put knickers on instead. We were going to start this on Monday.

Anyway, yesterday morning, again when I asked Sasha to wear knickers to school she agreed. Off she went to school and I wrote in her home/school book that she was wearing knickers and would need continuous reminding of that. When I picked her up at 11:30 she was dry, had been to toilet twice (once produced a wee, once produced nothing).

I then spent all yesterday from 11:30 to 3:00 shopping. I had to leave my mum in her wheelchair in Woolworths while I ran around the shopping centre to find a toilet. Eventually found one, but Sasha's wee had "gone away". Retrieved my mum from the middle of Woolworths (it looked as though she had been abandoned) and carried on shopping. About 10 minutes later, Sasha said she needed to go to wee again. We were near McDonalds by then so left my mum outside and took Sasha in. Again, no wee. Again, about 10 minutes after that, she needed to go again, went back into McDonalds and did a wee. I was taking my mum to the cemetery in the afternoon to take some flowers for my dad (which Sasha loves doing - she has never met her granddad, he died before she was born - but she loves choosing flowers for him, getting new water and arranging the flowers). We were in Sainsbury's buying flowers, when, once again, she needed a wee. Took her, no joy. Went to the cemetery and she started getting distressed as she needed to go again but there were no toilets. I tried lifting her up but she was not having that. She waited about another 15 minutes until I got to my mum's house, she went into the bathroom and, again, did a wee all by herself.

I am so proud.

She wore pull-ups in bed again last night (and they were very wet this morning so she is not ready to be toilet trained at night) but, again, this morning she has gone off to school wearing knickers.

Everyone is so proud of her and we are showing it.

Sorry for the long story - I just thought we would never reach this stage. I know it only early days but I am not going to put her in pull-ups during the day now. That would only be regression. Onwards and upwards.

[tobysmumkent]

That's fantastic!!

Understand how proud you must be, I've been working on this with my DS2 and have now got him as far as using the toilet and weeing before he gets in the bath (and once he got out of the bath to sit on the toilet and wee). It has taken months and months to get that far.......

[Bumblelion]

But what an accomplishment when they actually get there. For me, it is not about the age that they reach the milestones, but that she has reached the milestone at all. Lots of children with her condition don't normally get toilet trained until they are 7.

[2shoes]

oh how lovely. I read that with a big smile on my face. You deserve to feel proud. thank you for sharing it:o:o:o

[emmalou78]

Thats wonderful, I hope she carries on doing so very very well in the days, you sound so proud and thats just lovely

[coppertop]

What a fantastic achievement. Well done, Sasha! :):):)

[Bumblelion]

Thank you all for your kind words. Reinforces to me what all the professionals say - she may have a condition but she is still unique. She will get there in the end, but in her own good time.

She continually proves that to me, over and over again.

I just wish I could be so positive about the next step and know (deep down) that she will get there.

When everything takes her a bit longer to achieve, the achievement is so much greater in the end but I sometimes think (although I shouldn't) that she will never get there.

My biggest concern was her starting school (reception) in Septembe still in pull-ups. At the moment (or as it was) in the nursery environment it was not such an issue as the children are so young, but I always felt that if she started school in pull-ups, other childen might start picking on her/bullying her as I know what children can be like and they sometimes find it very hard to accept someone/something who is a little bit different.

At least it is one little worry off my mind and we still have 3.5 months to go until she is due to start school.

[reiver]

How great to read such an upbeat post. That's wonderful news and you must (all) be so proud. It sometimes feels that things take forever with our children but wow when they do it's magical isn't it?