Oh no just realised DS starts school in less than 2 weeks and he erm can't wipe himself yet

[wangle99]

DS starts reception on 4th September and he still hasn't mastered wiping his bottom yet and I am dreading the thought of him struggling at school

He is nearly 5 but just really not that good in that area! Has only just managed to start dressing himself.

Sounds like my DS4 who is now 11.

He used to wait till he came home for a poo!!

He will be just fine, try not to worry. Within the first term he will get the hang of everything you are worrying about. They all watch each other and go with 'the flow.'

You will notice loads and loads of changes in him - just enjoy and be as supportive as possible.

Good luck xx

My dd starts on 2nd Sept and she is a bit rubbish at it too. The thing is I was a reception teacher for many years and always expected children to wipe their own bottoms, and I am mortified that my own dd can't! I would just have a quiet word with the teacher - she will either be happy to help him or she will do what I used to do and stand over him while he does it! It really changes your attitude when you have your own children and if I ever teach reception again I will do things very differently!

Oh they will have to get on with it at school, don't worry. It's not like they can below the teachers name and she will come to assist!

Expect severe skid marks for a while!

my ds always asks us to wipe him too
he starts in 2 weeks as well
but yesterday when we were out he was in one cubilce and I was in another indisposed (!) so couldn't help him, and guess what? he did it all by himself

my son who was only just 4 when he started last year couldnt either - and still cant. I have "trained" him to go each night as part of his night time routine so that he doesnt need to go during the day. He just hasnt got the co-ordination to do it yet.

DS (who was 4 in July) shows no sign of wanting or being able to wipe himself. It's not an issue for us as we home educate...but if he were going to school I would probably have a word with the teacher & see what they say. Might just be that you will have to put up with skids for a while until he gains the necessary co-ordination to be able to do it himself.

I'm used to the smudgey smears up the back of my DS aged 5. So will you be! Can you really imagine your DS calling out "FINISHED"!!!! in front of his new class mates??!

my ds is going into yr 1 and still needs me to wipe it clean

he never poos at school

don't worry

My DD is exactly the same..bless her she hangs on till she gets home, although i can always tell if she has had to go at school iyswim!!! I think it actually helps them with things like that because if they need to go they need to 'sort themselves' after, whereas at home if they are anything like my DD, she's a wee bit lazy and much prefers me to do the job for her!!

Over the next 2 weeks get him to have a go at home if he will. Lots of praise and encouragement for any attempts, and make sure he washes his hands afterwards!

Tell him it's ok to have a poo at school if he needs to and to just have a go at wiping his bottom when there.

Then make sure you give him a good wash in the bath at night!

And, don't worry. As everyone else says. He'll soon work it out.

Thank you for reassurance, at the moment I can ever imagine him doing it himself!

We have had a lot of poo issues over the years (DS had undiagnosed wheat allergy for long time causing diarrhoea) and he is so blase over it can imagine he trotting back to classroom from loo with trousers and pants round ankles trying to find someone to help him

I'm sure you are right and he'll pick it up soon enough - good luck everyone else!

Don't worry, my son goes into Y1 next week and he still doesn't. He tends to only go at home when Mummy or Daddy are there! He can do it but tends to leave it to us because we're soft. And he's 6 in November, so no August birthday excuse....and he has two friends who don't either, with November and March birthdays.....

The headteacher told us all before school started that it was OUR FAULT if they couldn't wipe their own bottoms. Possibly, but children develop at different rates as they say....

The good thing is that at this age they tend to do very neat and tidy poos so you don't get much in the way of skidmarks anyway.

As with hellywobs, my ds goes into year 1 and is still very reluctant, wont do it without making a fuss, so it is a very common situation. Worst that will happen is a few slightly dodgy undies.

OH crikey, this thread hasn't reassured me much! DS is also just 4, and although he can often has successfully managed, today I found him standing in front of loo, long dirty tissue in hand, muck on much of seat, and on his hands, and on his clothes, I had to shower him off to get him clean...

Oh dear.... I guess I'll have to get an extra nice pressie for his TA at Christmas time. .

My DD has had constipation issues and is just about to start year 3. I would say she has only been wiping her bottom properly for about 6-8 months now. On the other hand her brother who is about to start Recpetion next week has been siping his bottom since the beginning. In fact he is very reluctant to let me do it even if he misses a bit!

That reminds me. When DD was in reception she started using Movicol for her contipation. Initially she lost control of her bowels as the impacted faeces were cleared out. That TA deserved a medal

Oi you lot - you're putting me off going back tomorrow!!

My first day in Reception (as TA) I don't want to spend it up to my elbows in shit!!

My lovely yr1s never gave me any toilet problems apart from a couple of wee accidents. Not looking forward to this....!