At the age of 33 I am mortified to be asking this but

[ItsAllGoingToBeFine]

I am starting to think about toilet training DD (who is 2)

As part of this she needs to learn to wipe.

I know the mantra of wipe front to back.

I'm just not sure how to apply in RL.

If I do a wee I put my hand in from the front and wipe from perineum(ish) forwards. Repeat until dry.

If I do a poo I put my hand in from the back and wipe from perineum backwards until toilet paper stays clean. I then put hand in from front and wipe from perineum forwards until dry (often get a couple of poo smears too).

I figure this is probably wrong, so I tried putting hand in from back and wiping all the way from front to back. Seemed incredibly awkward and nearly rammed wodge of toilet paper into vagina (painful).

So how should I do it/teach DD to do it?

I have googled but all the sites say wipe front to back, they don't specify how.

I would do as you said putting hand in from the back and wiping back to front. Probably the reason you had a bit of trouble is lack of practice. I can't remember when I didn't do this so must be possible for little ones.

I must say I would be interested in how to teach DD to do the same as she (being 4) finds it really awkward and generally tends to do as you do. I do remind her every time I see her do it that she needs to wipe from front to back so she is aware of it and hopefully will get better over time.

Guess I need to practice then bloody mother not teaching me properly

I always wipe how you described too. Never even thought about teaching dd to wipe 'properly'. Hmm hopefully someone will have a good idea.

You should always wipe front to back, because otherwise you risk transferring fecal matter into your urethra area = infections.

narmada I undertstand the reasoning behind front to back, it's just the mechanics of it defeat me and dd has no chance with her short arms

For wees, put hand in from front but don't wipe from perineum forward, just 'dab' from front to perineum. I just teach dd to dab after a wee
After poo, put hand from behind and wipe from perineum to bum, and repeat (that's the part dd struggles with - bleurgh)

For wees, put hand in from front but don't wipe from perineum forward, just 'dab' from front to perineum. I just teach dd to dab after a wee
After poo, put hand from behind and wipe from perineum to bum, and repeat (that's the part dd struggles with - bleurgh)

not sure if you've tried this, but dd1 has always found front-to-back wiping much easier when she gets off the toilet and stands on the bathroom floor. it is a tricky manouvre whev you've only got little arms, and she finds it easier when she doesn't have to worry about balancing on the loo as well.

If only wee i 'blot' from the front, no wiping involved. With poo i wipe the back first (front to back motion) then also blot the front at the end to get all the wet.

Have encouraged 5yo DD to do the same, but her bum wiping is shoddy, and she mostly gets me to do it

ItsAll I too do exactly as you describe, despite knowing all about front2back and the reasons behind it, I can never remember doing anything different and when I try it I find it v awkward. DD has been potty training since Jan but I have only recently introduced the concept of which direction to wipe as didn't want to confuse her in the early days! Despite me telling her f2b and always doing it that way if I assist her, she will always do b2f when she does it herself.