Toilets and aim...

[SupportHuman]

Advice please... My 9 year old son (diagnosis of autism, possible PDA) wees all over the floor round the toilet almost every time he goes. He hates toilets (ironically because he worries about how they might smell!) so he only ever uses the toilet when absolutely bursting which definitely doesn't help - by the time he gets there he is beyond controlling where it goes. But it's driving me mad, the toilet stinks no matter how much I try to clean it and I'm just fed up of mopping wee up multiple times a day. I've tried getting him to clean it up himself but he goes into total meltdown over the idea of having to touch a toilet (even gloves don't help). We've discussed how it's better to go before you're desperate (I'm not sure how well he actually recognises the sensation of being anything less than desperate though?), we've talked about toilets smelling better if they are kept clean. I've tried reminding him to go every hour or so but that just makes him refuse to go at all. I've tried toilet target stickers inside the bowl, ping pong balls to aim at, the lot. Has anyone got any suggestions? Or is it just a case of living with a stinky toilet forever...?

He could sit, if it works for both of you.

Otherwise try a ping-pong ball in the water in the toilet, it won't flush away and it will give him something to aim at.

OOps, sorry, see you've tried ping pong balls to no avail.

Thank you for replying!

I've suggested he sits instead but that was met with scorn ("I'm not a toddler " )

I might try the ping pong ball again though, maybe I can draw a target on it. It's been a while since I tried it so you never know.

It doesn't help that I also have a very fastidious teenage DD who throws a total strop every time she is confronted with a pissy floor!! 😣

Please ignore my username

However I find urine neutraliser (sold on Amazon) does a good job of getting rid of the smell of old wee. We've got similar issues here as well wrt leaving it to the last second.

Draw a cross target on the loo bowl with a (very old, never to be used again) lipstick

YY to cleaning with a specialist cleaner. We use Simple Solution pet stain neutraliser from Pets at Home, or failing that, biological laundry detergent.

Also, use "normal" loo cleaner in the bowl itself, not the extra strong ones in black bottles. They seem to make the smell worse.

I know it's a bit grim but I'd rather have a loo mat down if the floor is regularly getting wet, especially grouting. The most luck we've had with stopping the behaviour is getting him to go and dry the seat with dry loo roll. We still have to go back and clean it properly but it's enough of a sanction to make him think, and can be done without getting his hand wet or touching the loo.

If your DS is that picky about touching the loo, is there a chance he is not sitting properly for poos and might be constipated? Constipation irritates the bladder.

I know he has SEN, but would it work to tell him that if he doesn’t want to be treat like a toddler he needs to stop behaving like one, so either he aims properly, cleans it up when he misses it sits to wee.

I don’t blame your DD, it’s grim.

I stayed somewhere recently, I’d missed the fact that it was a shared bathroom when I’d booked (photos looked like an en suite). It was not a highlight of my weekend, putting my foot in a wet patch around the carpeted base of the toilet 🤮

Totally with you OP, my five yo DS regularly wees all round the floor of loo. It's grim. Today he weed all over himself at school too

Mapland that's rubbish, your poor boy. PJs seem to be a particular issue here, which is a blessing really - they're the easiest clothes to deal with.