potty training

[nuttysquirrell]

hi there im new to mumsnet i am mummy to a three year old beautiful little angel with down syndrome and hirschsprungs disease im trying to find anyone in a similar posistion who has suceeded in potty training
if you have not heard of hd im not surprised as we had not until tree years ago when our daughter was born i will briefly tell you what it is, she was born with no ganglion cells in her bowel these are what tell us we need to go to the toilet she has had two lots of surgery but she never has a proper bowel movement its either diarroeah or constipation the other problem she has she is not aware of when she has soiled herself so this is an added complication as she is going to start nursery school in october i wanted to try her with the potty any advice

Hello nuttysquirrell. Sorry I have no relevant experience to offer but just wanted to say welcome.

I've bought DD a potty and she's just at the stage of getting used to the sight of it ........doesn't take to new things quickly! We've had the odd success but it was more down to good luck on timing.

I've not started to potty train my ds yet, but I'm in a similar position. My ds has spina bifida, so doesn't have any nerve endings to tell him when he needs to go to the loo. He isn't constipated, though, he just seems to go all the time! If he laughs, shouts, screams or cries, he may well end up with a dirty nappy. I was really worried about the prospect of toilet training, but we've been told to do all the usual things of having him in the loo with you when you use the loo, and show him what's down the loo when you've finished (lovely, I know!). Then we're supposed to put him on the loo at specific times through the day, ie, after mealtimes, because warm food/ food in general can set things off! It's more about setting a habit, apparently! We can't really use a potty with ds, though, because we've got to get him used to doing his catheters on the loo, and the bit that comes up at the front of a potty will get in the way! Ds is 26 months, btw, so we're starting the fun and games after Christmas. We've been told he'll get 1 to 1 care at pre-school when he starts for his nappies and mobility issues, but I want to give it a go, anyway. Good luck with your lo!

Hi nuttysquirrell

My 4.5 yr old daughter has Down's syndrome. She doesn't have your DD's added complication but she is forever constipated. She goes once a week if we are lucky and it's always been that way. They are large and painful, most of the time, or have ben in the past but she is still scared of going which doesn't help. She also has started walking yet so again this doesn't help on a number of different levels.

We started trying last summer but it was far too early for her.
We tried again a bit this summer but again, I don't think she's ready. it's so hard. I'm thinking I might leave it again until I start potty training her younger sister who is 8 months old.

Wish you luck and hope to chat to you more on mumsnet.

Hi

I am in the process of trying to train Ds2 who is just 5. He has no diagnosis but has some autistic traits and also a lot of dyspraxic type symptons. He has a lot of trouble with body position, actually getting his body to do what he wants it to and I suspect he has trouble in recognising the sensation of weeing and pooing. The advice I was given was to get him into training pants so he could feel when he was wet or soiled. I have had in training pants for the last couple of weeks at home, but even if they are soaking wet he doesn't seem to care. He will sit on the potty but doesn't like it much partly because he is too big for it now but he feels unstable on the toilet as he has problems with balance etc. Sorry I don't have any useful advice but wanted to say hello - I'm in a sort of similar position and despairing a bit if we will ever get Ds2 potty trained. Good luck!

nuttysquirrel - my dd1 also has down syndrome but not hirschsprungs. She does get constipated sometimes. I give her lots of watered down apple and pear juice which seems to help her.

SHe has just turned 4 and we are slowly getting her toilet timed rather than toilet trained. If you ask her if she needs to go to the toilet she will always say no. So at home dh and I just put her on the toilet at regualr intervals. At kindy and her sn kindy - they also have set toileting times. She will wee on the toilet but no poos - not holding my breath for that one - she poos so irregularly that I cannot work out when would be best go put her on the toilet.

We put her on the toilet first thing in the morning, about 1/3 - 1hour after breakfast, again around morning tea, just after lunch, then when she wakes up from her nap, again mid afternoon and then just before bed time.

I have not been brave enough to put her in towelling training pants - we use the disposable ones.

Hoping to try it with a vengeance in our summer - later in the year.

I also found she did not like the potty and preferred going on the toilet. So bought her a toilet step/seat from litaf and are in the process of getting her a wooden one made - more sturdy and stable.

sorry for the long reply. Hope this helps.

toilet step/potty that we use with dd1