Hyper mobility and potty training

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Hello and TIA for any advice / help!

My LG (“G”, age 3) was treated for hip dysplasia as a baby and through contact with the physio team we found out she was hyper mobile. More recently at a follow up appointment we found out she was more at the “severe” end. From what I can tell the HM doesn’t currently cause any pain etc, so aside from just being aware, I’m not overly worried at the moment.

Randomly through some googling I’ve found there could be a link between HM and potty training difficulties. Long story short we started PT August 24 and ever since it has always been quite hard work. On a good day G will say she needs a wee and go to the potty herself but will need a change of clothes as she has dribbled. On a bad day all wees are complete accidents and she appears to not realise what has happened. As a side note, poos on the potty have never really been a problem.

Has anyone had a similar experience?

For context, I have another LG (“C”, age 1) and I definitely think there are a lot of new sibling issues involved with this too. Now older, C is obviously awake a lot more, more mobile, and demands more of my attention. So I often wonder whether if thinking about going for a wee is harder work for G, because of her HM, then it makes sense that it goes a bit wrong when other things in life are going on. When C is annoying her more etc etc.

Thank you for reading!

My boy is hypermolbile and potty trained easier than his sister. His hypermolbility did make it harder for him to dress and undress himself and it takes longer to climb stairs so he needs to be more prepared. This could mean she is leaving it too late and therefore having accidents.

Thank you - that’s helpful to know!

Yes, I’ve read it’s worth checking anyway to make sure they can actually manage their own clothes. Especially when there are extra physical issues. Since PT I have kept G in either shorts or leggings as dresses just got in the way. I also imagine it’s easier if she just has to do the same motion each time, rather than having to do different actions depending on the outfit.

My eldest is hypermobile (4yrs 1month). She had accidents for a long time. In fact i had a thread about it at the time but i never connected it to the hypermobility. She's going to school in Sept and ive been very worried, but things seem to have settled a lot in the last 2months (originally potty trained at 2yrs 10months). We don't have a downstairs loo, so still have a potty downstairs now to avoid the stairs issue. Hoping to get rid of that after the summer. Our school allows joggers in the nursery and reception alongside skirts / trousers / pinafores. I think we are going to stick with those to start with at least so she has lots of chance to get to the loo quickly and not worrying about tights and things.

The physio should have advised some things to do to support the hypermobility? So for example ours said that things like swimming and ballet are better than gymnastics to build strength whilst protecting the joints.

We found similar with DC2. Except DC1 was a unicorn potty trainer so it wasn't quite as easy as with their older sibling, but still no real trouble. But even though they were trained 7 months older, they were not as physically able at that age in terms of manipulating clothing and managing stairs. We don't have a downstairs toilet so we kept a potty downstairs for about the first 3 or 4 months if I remember correctly.

That’s interesting - thank you for sharing!
Yes our only toilet is upstairs too, so I imagine the potty downstairs is going to be needed for a while.
G starts preschool in September so I am also hoping see others her age go to the toilets will help everything click for her. Hopefully the same for your LO too. Being flexible about clothing is so kind, they sound really understanding!

My ds2 is hypermobile and didn’t walk until he was 2. I potty trained him with no issues. I didn’t do it until he was 3 though.

They haven’t said anything like that so far. But that makes sense - thank you.

I think it’s probably because we are seeing physio for follow ups for the hip dysplasia, rather than hyper mobility. My next step is to speak to our health visitor again and see what they suggest.

Thank you for sharing! Yes, G was later to start walking too. Makes sense if the HM makes it harder to balance etc.

I do often wonder if it would have been better to wait to potty train, now I know it has proven harder than I expected.

Our HV suspected DD1 was hypermobile from birth - no hip dysplasia but she was very flexible, late to walk (19months), once the HV came round and she was sat on the sofa with a big toe in each ear 🙈 But she said the physios probably wouldn't see her until she was at least 3, so she did the referral for us after DD1 had turned 3. In the end we had our first appointment at 3y9m. Yours might go a bit quicker if you are already seeing them.

Thank you for sharing!

Yes I think the potty downstairs will be a thing for a while. Before long C will need it though too so even if I do manage to get rid of it soon, it won’t be for long!

What kind of potty does she have? My DD couldn't sit on a standard potty so we got one that looks like a mini toilet and is higher up. I think it was from Argos. It was easier to get on and off and more comfortable for her.

Thank you - that’s so useful to know!

Yes, I think I need to push for some physio support with the hyper mobility. Even if potty training continues to be a ‘thing’ for a while, it helps massively just to know there is possibly a reason it has been tricky. I haven’t been going mad!

Just the ikea one. Now you mention it, it is quite low and something else might be more suitable now she is bigger!

You might find a slightly higher potty may help. My DD was 3.5yo when we managed to potty train so was on the taller side. Always loose and easy clothing to remove too. Hypermobility is a daily battle.

We are struggling with my daughter too although she has hypotonia as well as hypermobility. She has just turned 3 but so far is unable to tell us when she needs to go until the wee has already started. I want to train her this summer before a new sibling arrives and to give her plenty of time before starting school at 4 but we haven’t had much success so far. She can’t manage her clothes or the stairs either but if we wait until she can I think she will be starting school in nappies which I’m obviously keen to avoid. We do see physio but they are no help with potty training and basically just tell us which things to work on which are mostly obvious like practising stairs.