DS just turned five and is finally wiping his own butt. He would hold it all day at school last year, because he was afraid to wipe. This morning, he proudly told me he can now poop at school, because he can wipe himself.
OOOOOOhhhhmygod. This totally makes sense now.
Yeah, took me a while to figure this one out last year. We were having a few constipation problems. We started a routine where he would sit before and after school to at least try to clear him out.
Also, his favorite phrase was to yell, "I pooped and peed", to cue me wiping. No matter if we were at home or in public.
Post by starshine1977 on Sept 4, 2013 22:26:14 GMT -5
I teach preschool and last year one of my kiddos had never wiped his own butt, mom or dad always did it. So one day he's crying on the toilet and I ask him why and he says it's because he can't wipe his own butt. So I say it's no problem and that I'll go get his wipes and be right back. I walk back in the bathroom and he's standing up and bent over holding his ankles, butt sticking straight up in the air. Guess he was ready for me to wipe him.
Post by litebright on Sept 4, 2013 22:26:41 GMT -5
My DD1 is 5 and I stopped (mostly) wiping her butt this summer, because I knew she had to be able to do it for full-day kindergarten. She also typically has very, very soft, messy poops.
Wipes weren't going to cut it because they would not be available at school. We worked out a routine: count 5 squares of TP, crumple, wipe (making sure she gets up far enough to effective), check the paper for poop, throw in potty; then repeat the process until she gets no more poop on the TP.
She, too, is a big fan of stripping from the waist down for her poops at home. She's also a sloooooow pooper. So far, I haven't been told that either of these is an issue at school, so I guess she's just more leisurely about things at home. Which is fine as long as she gets that school is different.
@jehc, I love the PB on styrofoam thing. That's such a great idea.
I don't recall having problems teaching my kids to wipe. What I had trouble with was teaching DD to blow her nose. I'd hold a tissue up to her nose and say "blow" and she would sniff. I couldn't get her to understand blowing out of her nose instead of sniffing in to her nose. This went on for quite awhile. We still tease her about it.