Help with pottty training

[Guest guest]

Hello everyone,

I've been reading all the posts lately on potty training and it

seems I am not alone with this issue. My son is 3.6 (verbal

apraxia) and is not 100% potty trained. It has been the most

frustrating thing we have gone through with him. He will go if I

make him and we just recently have mastered standing up to " pee-

pee. " We haven't even tried to accomplish anything with #2! Anyway

our problem is he will not tell me (which he is very capable of

doing) that he has to go. He mostly wears the pull ups that have

the pics on the front that disapear when wet and he will usually

tell me after the fact. He does have some sensory issues and I'm

wondering if that is contributing to his slow progress like someone

else mentioned on a previous post. We've tried letting him just

wear " big boy underware " , didn't work, he just would pee on the

floor. We've tried using a timer that rings. That would work for a

while but sometimes in the busy schem of life you can't always

remember to set it. Poor thing, he would tell me it's time to pee-

pee while I would cook dinner and he would hear the microwave or the

oven timer go off!! I've tried backing off but I didn't see any

change.

My question is for those of you whose children have mastered potty

training, what kind of advice or helpful hints can you give. If it

is delayed because of sensory issues, how do I help him over come

it? Someone had said to send them to school. My son will be

attending preschool for the first time in Aug. I really wanted him

to have accomplished this before going but I do know they will help

if needed. Are there any books, videos, etc. that some of you have

used and found helpful? Any help and advice would be GREATLY

appreciated it seems by many of us.

Much Thanks,Robin, One frustrated mommy!!!

[Guest guest]

Robin sometimes they just can't help it! Does your son have hyptonia (low

tone)? Many times these children can't feel the sensation until after it's

happened. Thus the reason they just " go " . It may simply be a matter of your

little guy learning to understand the sensation when he HAS to go, rather than

you taking him, and then him going because he's in the bathroom.

Jordan began potty training at 2.5, but I always kept a pull up on him at

preschool, because they could simply not be as attentive to him as I was at

home. Most days he came home dry, other days.....well...... I realized it was

not his not WANTING to do it, rather the fact that they don't feel the sensation

as a typical child would. Many times the reason this happens. Not because of

stubbornness, or really anything other than the fact that their sensory system

doesn't know whats happening.

What worked for me was to have a regular potty schedule. I watched him for

about a week, and tried to jot down when he went. Then, for two weeks after

that, around those times I'd make sure we were at the potty. Of course he did

not go every time, and I also attempted to limit fluid intake if we were going

out somewhere, but by kind of " catching " him when he had to go, I think he began

to understand what that feeling meant, and he was better then able to

communicate to me that he had to go.

Hope this was some help.

~karyn

<<<'

Hello everyone,

I've been reading all the posts lately on potty training and it

seems I am not alone with this issue. My son is 3.6 (verbal

apraxia) and is not 100% potty trained. It has been the most

frustrating thing we have gone through with him. He will go if I

make him and we just recently have mastered standing up to " pee-

pee. " We haven't even tried to accomplish anything with #2! Anyway

our problem is he will not tell me (which he is very capable of

doing) that he has to go. He mostly wears the pull ups that have

the pics on the front that disapear when wet and he will usually

tell me after the fact. He does have some sensory issues and I'm

wondering if that is contributing to his slow progress like someone

else mentioned on a previous post. We've tried letting him just

wear " big boy underware " , didn't work, he just would pee on the

floor. We've tried using a timer that rings. That would work for a

while but sometimes in the busy schem of life you can't always

remember to set it. Poor thing, he would tell me it's time to pee-

pee while I would cook dinner and he would hear the microwave or the

oven timer go off!! I've tried backing off but I didn't see any

change.

My question is for those of you whose children have mastered potty

training, what kind of advice or helpful hints can you give. If it

is delayed because of sensory issues, how do I help him over come

it? Someone had said to send them to school. My son will be

attending preschool for the first time in Aug. I really wanted him

to have accomplished this before going but I do know they will help

if needed. Are there any books, videos, etc. that some of you have

used and found helpful? Any help and advice would be GREATLY

appreciated it seems by many of us.

Much Thanks,Robin, One frustrated mommy!!!

[Guest guest]

Hi Robin -

I was in a similar situation with my oldest - he didn't train until

nearly 4. What worked for us was M & Ms - seriously! He got 2 for

peeing, 4 for pooping and maybe another 10 if he told us he had to go

first. Ok, so your kid is hopped up on sugar all the time, but it's

a pretty good immediate reward! The biggest thing is that you're

rewarding him - and there are no negatives. If you do this over 2

weeks and it doesn't work, you might see if he's having a hard time

removing himself from the TV or playing - that was also an issue so

we started with the little potty in the living room (gross, I know,

but better than peeing on the floor!). Also, throw the

pullups/diapers away - they really don't help you. As long as you're

giving him an option not to go on the potty, it's not going to

happen. If he pees on the floor (or worse), make him clean it up

with you - and make it a big production - not yelling or anything,

but one that's so involved and takes so much time away from what he

was doing that he doesn't want to repeat it. If you choose not to

throw the pullups away, always change him in the bathroom - and make

it take longer than necessary. All these things together and if it's

a WILL or a motivation issue, he'll figure it out! If it's not - if

it's physical (and my son's was to a certain extent) - having no

diaper on will help him know that he has to go - even if it's too

late. Someone suggested flooding them with fluids and having them

outside the entire day - that that would help them learn what having

to go feels like.

Ok - so there are my two cents. GOOD LUCK! And roll up your rugs!

Marina

[Guest guest]

Hi, Robin -

On the incentive idea - you can get a box of little sponge-type shapes that

you toss in the potty and the kid (a boy since girls obviously are not going to

be able to aim or see what's in the potty!) aims at the sponges - when he hits

them, they sink and disintegrate. It's actually kind of cool. A friend told me

her sister also used Cheerios in the potty - throw a few in and have your son

aim at them - make it a game and fun to go. The sensory issues play a huge part

in getting him to go into the bathroom at the right time but if there's a game

there, he may want to simply spend more time in the bathroom to begin with.

Once there, maybe the sensations will kick in. It worked with Josh - dh made a

game of peeing and aiming at a spot on the back part of the potty - OMG, how

many times did I have to wash that darn potty and the wall behind it!!! :-)

Even with sensory integration, hypotonia, global apraxia, verbal/oral apraxia,

he learned fairly easily and quickly to pee in the

potty (pooping took a bit longer and he still has the occasional accident but

he did really well with it, considering everything). Someone also suggested

letting your son run around naked - when he pees, it will run down his legs and

he will get the sensation that way. My SIL did that with her son (who has no

special needs except he's a wild one!) and she was done with potty training over

one weekend.

We still have problems with getting him through the night dry - no way! We

use the Good-Nites during the night. Eventually that will come as well.

Sherry

marina3029 <philipmary@...> wrote:

Hi Robin -

I was in a similar situation with my oldest - he didn't train until

nearly 4. What worked for us was M & Ms - seriously! He got 2 for

peeing, 4 for pooping and maybe another 10 if he told us he had to go

first. Ok, so your kid is hopped up on sugar all the time, but it's

a pretty good immediate reward! The biggest thing is that you're

rewarding him - and there are no negatives. If you do this over 2

weeks and it doesn't work, you might see if he's having a hard time

removing himself from the TV or playing - that was also an issue so

we started with the little potty in the living room (gross, I know,

but better than peeing on the floor!). Also, throw the

pullups/diapers away - they really don't help you. As long as you're

giving him an option not to go on the potty, it's not going to

happen. If he pees on the floor (or worse), make him clean it up

with you - and make it a big production - not yelling or anything,

but one that's so involved and takes so much time away from what he

was doing that he doesn't want to repeat it. If you choose not to

throw the pullups away, always change him in the bathroom - and make

it take longer than necessary. All these things together and if it's

a WILL or a motivation issue, he'll figure it out! If it's not - if

it's physical (and my son's was to a certain extent) - having no

diaper on will help him know that he has to go - even if it's too

late. Someone suggested flooding them with fluids and having them

outside the entire day - that that would help them learn what having

to go feels like.

Ok - so there are my two cents. GOOD LUCK! And roll up your rugs!

Marina