What age did your kids wipe their own bums?

[Luckymummy22]

DS is 3 3/4 and I still wipe his bum after a poo.
Actually I still often check my school age child too.
Should I be letting him do it himself?
He comes home from nursery regularly with dirty pants / bum and I wonder if I should be letting him do it himself at home so he will get better at it.

They are ‘preparing him for school’.

I will be having another moan but to me a 3 year old still needs help.

I stand to wipe, which I'm increasingly coming to realise is unusual

Could that be easier for some of these older children? Especially ones used to standing for a parent to wipe them.

I always stood to wipe as a child and sometimes do now. I assumed most children stood to wipe until they were co-ordinated enough to balance on the seat and wipe- why don't parents tell their kids to do this- especially when they are so small their feet don't touch the ground when sitting- must be so tricky for them to balance?

3, I think.

My son is 3.5 and can wipe his own bottom. We do often check but he's very good at it.

There's clearly a massive range in what people find acceptable here. DS is 4 and starts school next week. He's been in pre school for a year where they do not wipe bums. It only occurred to me recently (when I told him he had to wipe himself as part of the 'school prep' type changes I've been gradually making) that if he can do it at school he can bloody well do it here!

So I tell him that now, although I still get 'Mummmyyy! Time for your favourite job!' after every poo. I've mentally finished with it now though and just refuse. He did have an upset stomach last week so I gave in to his demand for a 'check wipe' but other than that he's on his own.

I did hear some mums saying at one of his friend's birthday parties this month that their children (same age) are still in pull ups overnight and not reliable during the day so they're worried about whether they will be ok at school ... I doubt those kids are wiping their own bums. So, like I said, a big spread of answers on when is the right age etc.

My daughter was in pull ups at night because she could not control her bladder whilst asleep until she was 5 and a half however she was reliable during the day from 2.5 and wiping herself from 3. I don't think night dryness and willingess/ability to toilet oneself in the day are related at all.

Super these mums specifically said that their children ‘weren’t reliable’ to be dry during the day, as well as in pull ups at night. I’m not making a judgment, just repeating their experiences