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Toilet training what do I do now?

6 replies

messmonster · 22/02/2013 16:54

Hi All

Have posted on this topic previously here but would appreciate some more help please!

Apologies in advance for all the detail, but I would really like someone to help me understand what's going on and what I can try next.

Since last weekend have been trying again to toilet train my DD (5, rare chromo disorder, LDs, non-verbal). Have been feeling totally despondent because 6 days in (having not left the house with her in that time), we're still not close to cracking it but, having just read last November's thread, she has made lots of progress Smile. She's back to nursery next week after half-term and I just don't know what to do next for the best - would appreciate any suggestions and previous experiences.

So, this week we've been taking her to the toilet regularly and sometimes she's done a wee and sometimes she hasn't. This is progress Smile. On 2 of the days, we spent large chunks of the day playing with her in bathroom, putting her on every 10 minutes or so until she did a wee then making an enormous fuss, chocolate, sticker, wet wipe (she's obsessed with them) and hand-washing (again, she enjoys this). We make this fuss and give her the rewards every time.

All the successful wees on toilet have been when we've taken her and we've just got lucky with the timing. In between times, if she's needed to go, she's not indicated this and she's just gone on the floor. If we've been quick enough we've managed to carry her to the loo, sit her on and she's then finished on the toilet. She can stop an accident mid-flow it seems (sometimes).

One of the factors is that she's not emptying her bladder each time (same as in November) and so she's actually weeing a lot each day. I have no way of knowing whether this is her usual pattern when she's wearing a pull-up (which would suggest she's physically not ready) or whether this is a reaction to being in pants and having accidents, stopping herself before she's emptied her bladder, then needing to go again within 15 mins or so. I suspect it's the latter, because she can go about an hour and a half between wees sometimes.

So for example, yesterday the pattern was:
Took night nappy off at 9:20, nothing till 10:55 when she did wee on toilet
11:40 starting to wee on floor, finished in toilet
12:20 poo in pants, 1:20 wee on toilet
2:00 wee on floor, 2:10 wee on floor
3:30 started to wee, rushed to toilet and finished in toilet
4:10 accident, 4:40 accident, 5:05 accident
6:00 wee on toilet
7:25 wee on toilet

Today, between 9 and 4 we've had 3 wees on toilet and 7 accidents Sad

So, she's back to nursery next week. Last November, they said they couldn't cope with the number of accidents and asked me to put her back in pull-ups which I did with pants underneath so she'd still get the sensation of being wet. She's been in pull-ups/pants between November and now. Do I send her back in pants and give them all the data and ask them to try her hourly and see how it goes or do I accept she's not ready and go back to pull-ups and try again at Easter or in the Summer?

Ideally, I want her dry before she goes to school in September but if she's not ready then what's the point in pushing Sad

Btw, she's not showing any signs of being distressed at the process.

All ideas gratefully received. I'm so hacked off with it all right now Smile and am at Moondog's event tomorrow and don't have any faith that DH will take her to the toilet regularly tomorrow Hmm

OP posts:
PolterGoose · 22/02/2013 17:23

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

messmonster · 22/02/2013 17:39

Thanks Poltergoose it makes sense to base the schedule on when she's had a drink and plan toilet visits based on that.

I've been following the guidance in a book which said to keep data of when she went for a period of 2 weeks and from that, we identified her most likely times when she tended to go and were taking her at those times for the first 2 days. But then it became evident that she was changing the goal-posts every day Grin

We haven't scheduled drink times though so maybe doing it that way might make things a little more predictable.

Will try it tomorrow. Thanks!

OP posts:
messmonster · 22/02/2013 21:02

Any more pearly of wisdom

OP posts:
messmonster · 22/02/2013 21:21

Oops pearls

OP posts:
Dev9aug · 22/02/2013 22:20

I will bring along something for you to read tomorrow. It is a book about behaviour management and it contains a chapter on toilet training, which you might find useful.

messmonster · 22/02/2013 23:16

Hey Dev, didn't know you were coming tomorrow - really pleased you are - and thanks for bringing the book along tomorrow, will read with interest. See you in the morning Smile

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