When did your kid wipe their own butt (after a bm)

[jloww]

I've started having DS do it at 4.5.  I still follow it up with a wet wipe about 90% of the time though.

[mie]

Well, they had to be able to do it by 3 when they went to preschool. Truth is that while they could do it we still had to encourage them to be better about it and sometimes help with wiping at home to make sure they we're clean.

[spanikopita]

DS just turned 4 and he does it unless it's a super mess (rare).

[pupcake]

We made her do it just before she turned 4 to get her ready for 4k. She didn't always do the best but we taught her to wipe until there was no more poop on the toliet paper.

[drloretta]

Dd has promised she'll start doing it when she's 4. 2 more weeks!

[elocrates]

5, reliably and without us needing to double check quality. As far as how to teach, I think it was mostly us talking through what we were doing when we changed his brother's diaper. ("We need to make sure we wipe all the poop off. Oh, look, there is still poop on the wipe. We must need to wipe again. If we don't get all of it off he will get a sore bottom." Etc.)

[mollybrown]

DS got it right before turning 5. It was a great day when I no longer had to do butt checks

[iheartbanjos]

DD had to do it by herself before age 3 for preschool. We started having her do it around 2 years, 9 months with flushable wipes. We also did nightly baths to be safe. It took a few months for her to be thorough, but she was good by 3.

[mswax]

Around 4...still asked for help with messy ones until he started kindergarten at 5.

[frlcb]

Also 5, more like 5.5, but right before he went into Kindergarten. He wouldn't get it all before that, even if he tried. But I told him his K teachers wouldn't help him so he really worked on it.

[stealthmom]

Feb 16, 2014 14:55:23 GMT -5 frlcb said:

Also 5, more like 5.5, but right before he went into Kindergarten. He wouldn't get it all before that, even if he tried. But I told him his K teachers wbfouldn't help him so he really worked on it.

that's what I told my son and he was all, no big deal. I only poop at home anyway.

Which is true. Lol.

[frlcb]

Feb 16, 2014 15:01:39 GMT -5 stealthmom said:

Feb 16, 2014 14:55:23 GMT -5 frlcb said:

Also 5, more like 5.5, but right before he went into Kindergarten. He wouldn't get it all before that, even if he tried. But I told him his K teachers wbfouldn't help him so he really worked on it.

that's what I told my son and he was all, no big deal. I only poop at home anyway.

Which is true. Lol.

That is what happened when I tried to get him to learn for pre-k, when he was 4, and it was a half day and he really did only poop at home! I still don't think he does at school but at least his poor teacher doesn't have to help him if he does!

[Jem]

DS had to do it himself when he started pre-school at 3. We send him with flushable wet wipes - it's the only chance he has at doing a decent job.

[pacificrules]

No helpful suggestions (sorry). DD started insisting on doing it herself just before she turned 4. It's been a few months and she still doesn't tell us when she has pooped; she just goes, wipes, and keeps playing.

[ECB]

Dammit. I need to be firmer on this. DS knows the basics but won't just DO IT. But I'm being lazy about it too.

[karinothing]

DS is obsessed with wiping his butt. He is 2. Are you telling me this will not last? lol. He is not very good at it ha ha

[barefootcontessa]

my newly turned 4 YO still asks me to wipe him. I say somewhere between 4.5 and 5.

[BlueNotebook]

DD turned 4 in November and we're working on it. She was doing great right after she potty trained. The she just stopped wiping BM's at all. We went through a ton of undies. Sometimes she does OK now, other times she comes home from school in gross underwear. Honestly I think she could do it, she just gets lazy.

[DarcyLongfellow]

Feb 16, 2014 14:42:27 GMT -5 @vicmo said:

I read a tip for teaching them to wipe (I think it was on ml) - you smear peanut butter on a plate and have them wipe with tp until it is gone. I guess it helps them to understand what it means to be really "done" wiping?

We did this! Someone on here suggested it

Use a styrofoam plate, though. Otherwise it won't all come off..

DD's teachers won't wipe her this year (pre-K), so she had a melt down the first time she pooped at school because she had no idea how to wipe

She now knows how, but I have to check/help when she goes at home.

[rootbeerfloat]

DS has only pooped at school since being in first grade, lol, so I wiped butts for awhile. Or it was awhile before I stopped following up.

[niq]

I should not have read this thread.

[cosmos]

She's been doing it a while. She is 4.

[House4Me]

Are you teaching your kids to wipe front to back.... no matter hoe much I say this way my kids goes the opposite -- easier for them....

[megs193]

My son is 4.5 and he just started doing it himself. I still check him almost every time but he is getting better at it so hopefully I can stop checking soon. I didn't do anything to teach him, we just go through a lot of toilet paper.

[h]

DS1 asked for help wiping for what seemed like forever. We finally cut him off at 5 and told him he had to do it himself. He wasn't great at it at first, but he figured it out pretty quickly when forced.

DS2 will be 4 in April, and aside from a couple times when he was sick and it was particularly messy, we haven't wiped for him for months. I don't recall teaching him or making him do it himself--he just kind of quit asking for help one day. I don't even know when he goes anymore. lol

Can I just say how happy it makes me that 2 out if 3 of them just handle their business without help, reminders, announcements, etc.?

[jena]

I have done the laundry of a teenager, so I'm gonna go with "never". Or maybe "when they get a girlfriend who might potentially see their butt". Because the racing stripes do not really go away completely for a long long time.

DS is almost 4.5. We make him wipe first and then he insists we check. He does pretty well usually. I asked him what he did at school since they don't check... He looked at me horrified and said in a shocked voice "I don't poop at school!" Umm OK kid.

[ijack]

DD is about to be 6 and I still do it sometimes, mainly because we've had issues with cleanliness and DD is built in a way that makes it very easy for the whole area to share germs.

[jlt19]

Hmmmm, I don't and never really did. I've never noticed poop on her underwear or on her butt, so I guess she does an adequate job? However, I would like to get her to wipe better when she pees.

[whitemerlot]

For sure by age 3. My son is very meticulous. He likes to be clean so I've never worried about a bad job.

[SpartanGirl]

I had my kids wipe themselves since they started potty training (which was at 3 or 3.5). In the beginning I would coach them through it, but I always made them do it. Sometimes they weren't (and still aren't) perfect with it, but they have to learn by doing.