Potty training and messes.... | Autism PDD
It is expensive but I just cut them off and threw them away. I dont think that three is early. I wish we had started in earnest. She is 4.5 now and really having trouble. we use pull ups and she treats them like diapers, I think I will try the panties and paper towel thing.
missnippy/Yvonne
just curious! :)
when my son has a number 2 accident He goes right in the tub clothes and all, I dump the poop in the toilet and put the undies in a plastic bag, take them outside, laythem on the ground and hose them off using the jet nozzle on the hose.
My son is 4 1/2 we started potty training in the beginning of summer. it took awhile but he got it......still has accidents sometimes though.
They have or at least used to have these diaper liners made for that. They're a little sturdier than paper towel but basically do what you have in mind. If they don't sell them in your diaper aisle check online.
Hi everyone. Well, I have started potty training my son , putting him on the toilet about ever 1/2 hour, on the ABA therapists advice.. She also said just to have him in underwear during the day.. Anyway, I have no problem with the wet underwear, but I am really having a hard time when he poops in them. Its just so messy trying to get off the underwear, its gets all over him, me, the floor, everything. Also trying to rinse out the underwear is pretty gross too. I was just wondering if anyone has any tips on how to make that part a little less messy. I was thinking of maybe putting paper towels or toilet paper in his underwear. Im not sure how that would work out though. Any suggestions?? Thanks all!
Jen
Here is a link for PODS - especially in case anyone else is interested!
http://pottytrainingsolutions.com/shop/product_info.php?prod ucts_id=28
It's .99 for 57 of them. Which is about the same price as a pack of Good Nites. More expensive than Pull-ups though - probably by quite a bit. However, if you're only using them for poops (depending on how much your child poops of course!) it might be worth it. Because the whole point is that they are still in underwear.
We used these toward the end of potty training for my son - when we were going to be out in public for a long time or away from an easily accessible toilet. For instance, we had his 4th birthday party at a pizza place and he had only been in underwear for about 10 days (but had mostly been dry for about a week prior). I definitely didn't want him embarrassed by having an accident there so we used the POD. I honestly can't speak to how much they hold - because for some reason he never went in them! It was like having the POD in place made him realize when he needed to go and he got to the potty in time.
Thanks ABCmommy!
There is a product called PODS - they are like sanitary napkins but in child-size. I think they are more designed for holding pee (they hold over a cup of urine, if I remember correctly) but I think they would work for what you are looking for.
However, I think they are quite pricey - but maybe not as pricey as throwing out underwear (which I would be sorely tempted to do if they were THAT messy!
Thanks everyone for your help. The ABA therapist seems to think that my son is ready to be potty trained, and I imagine she can tell. Otherwise, I wouldnt know for sure. I know he can understand certain things.. though I still think that it is going to take a long time to get him potty trained, especially since he is nonverbal. I still dont know how he is going to tell me that he needs to go to the bathroom..But hopefully it will all work out.. Thanks again all for the suggestions!
Jen
Jan, I just love those people who know how everything should be for all kids, no matter what their issues are.. lol My mother in law is like that. She says that all kids should be potty trained by the time they're 4. So, I guess she MUST be right. My in laws are something else. They even think my son may end up living with us his whole life and not have a life of his own. Very positive. Luckily, I dont think like that for a minute. I will do whatever I have to help my son.. Anyway, this has gotten a little off subject.. Just venting. lolWe started potty training our son in May of this yr. Within a week he had finally started to go pee in potty, second week number 2. After 2 weeks of doing both great he all of a sudden stopped going number 2 in potty
A 9/93 NT
B 9/00 NT
C 7/02 ASD
Mommy
Maybe it is different with more severe autism, because we were told by our sons medical team not to even think of potty training until age 5!My oldest son (AS) was trained at 3 years old. However my youngest son, who is more affected, wasn't trained until he was 5.2 years old. One mom told me that no one ever went to Kindergarten in diapers. That mom didn't know kids with neurological issues. Ben learned to poop in the toilet much easier than urinate. He's just about 9 and still has need for a strictly adhered-to schedule. We started somve VERY low dose meds that are helping in tricking his bladder to cooperate. The folks at Nemours are wonderful. They are teaching me to help Benjamin to preserve his dignity. Thus far, he has not had an accident at school. The teachers are wonderful with maintaining the schedule. I am so grateful. My 5 year old who was just recently dx as PDDNOS was not trained until 3 years, 8 months. She has always been afraid of new things. Once I got her to go once on the potty, it only took a week for her to be fully trained.Her brother is 3 years 4 months (I think he is NT at this point with the exception of some tactile sensory seeking behaviors; prior speech delay that was resolved) He shows all the signs to being ready to potty train, but he will not go on the potty. I am not really going to push it until he is closer to 4.
I had a speech eval for my almost 2 year old, and they asked if he was potty training. I almost fell over my chair laughing. I told them I would get to him once his brother was trained.
I am really glad I waited with dd. It made it easier because she was trained quickly without accidents.
I think if you son is still on the early side of 3 then I might wait if he is not cooperating.
PODS aren't flushable though - and they are expensive. I shared them with a few other parents of kids on the spectrum since ds only used about 10 of them.
I really liked that ds wouldn't have to go back to pull-ups. Because once you start underwear, you really don't want to go back. With my dd, I can put a pull-up over her underwear for when we go on long trips (which I didn't do this last weekend and had no issues!
The only down-side is those PODS are kind of thick and for a boy - it's really weird to be putting what is basically a sanitary napkin in their underwear. My dh wasn't too keen on it, let me tell you! FWIW, our ped told us (I guess like Autumn's doc), not to worry if we
didn't even start training until after 4. I read for NT kids, the average age
for being trained is 30 mos. I suppose it's an individual thing, some kids
on the spectrum can be trained & all at 3.
Our dd doesn't tell us when she is wet or has a bm...until it starts running
down her leg, I've yet to see her squat or go somewhere in private to do
her business, she wakes up wet, and she can only pull down loose pants
w/ prompting about 50% of the time...all signs that she is NOT ready yet.
So, we are holding off. We have a great PECS potty book & signs up, for
when the time does come.
I too have family members who apparently have a list of RULES for what
age kids MUST be doing what...potty training is by 3 for my mil!! Man, I
really wish I had all the answers like she does. 
Hope things go well,
and you figure out an okay way to clean up the messes. Good luck!!!
[QUOTE=Turtle] They have or at least used to have these diaper liners made for that. They're a little sturdier than paper towel but basically do what you have in mind. If they don't sell them in your diaper aisle check online.
And they are flushable! they are (or use to be) called flushies. I used them when I was cloth diapering and you can flush the whole mess down the toilet. Those pods sound promising, I saw those on line the other day and plan on giving them a try.
"Anyway, I think every 1/2 hour is a little much also.. The ABA therapist was just here today and she says to keep doing it every 1/2 hour because he is not able to hold it long enough and is having accidents
Everything I've read up to this point indicates that until a child can stay dry for several hours, they are not ready for potty training...our therapists said to not even think about trying until he would wake up from nap dry, or we would notice diaper changes were becoming less frequent (i.e. every few hours)...we have been working on potty training solidly for a good 6 months now, and he's still not trained, so I don't know if we started too early or not...my son is 4.5 and he is verbal, knows what the potty is, knows how to pull his pants down, and will stand there and pee when you make him go, but still will not initiate it...you have to ask, "do you need to go potty?" The standard answer is always "no" and then I have to make him go in there anyway, and usually he will pee. But we still have plenty of accidents, because as I said, he still will not come up to me and tell me "pee-pee" until he has already done it and it is dripping down his leg and he's walking all bow-legged...LOL
Poop, another story all together...he usually flat out refuses to sit on the potty, so we've yet to have a poop on the potty. It's not for his lack of awareness because when he poops, he goes off in private to do it...and I've tried everything...books, DVD player, toys, rewards...
For clean-up, I just dump the poop in the toilet, then after flushing, hold the undies by the waistband in the stream of the toilet and flush several times and this usually does the trick (my mom said way back when, before disposable diapers, this was how she rinsed the cloth diapers before they went in the bin for the service to pick up)...then my son goes right into the tub...we've only had one accident out in public with the poop, and that was a real treat...be sure you have a whole package of wipes with you, and yes, be prepared to just throw those undies away (what else are you going to do with them, carry them?)
IMHO, every 1/2 hour is way too much on a kid...as a previous poster said, he's just getting started playing with something, and then he's been dragged off to the bathroom again...he may begin to resent the entire process...just a thought...
There is a book called "Toilet Training for Individuals with Autism and Related Disorders" by Maria Wheeler...you might find useful since your son is non-verbal...it has information about other cueing, etc.
I know this is unbelievable, but really it's true. Our NT 8yr old toilet
trained herself at 17 months. She was not very verbal, but she'd use a
kind of throat clearing cough to tell us she needed to use the loo. Her big
bro. was (is still
) having a real struggle with toilet training, so she'd
heard lots of talk about listening to her body and stuff. It took 3 days for
me to be convinced she knew what she was doing, but she's been dry full
time every since.
I don't understand how you could toilet train anyone who can't tell you
they need to go, with pecs /words /signs /however!
In my opinion stage one is identifying the physical sensations that come
before pee/bm,
stage two is being able to communicate that it's loo time,
and stage three is developing a preference for being clean.
As far as I can figure, it's this last one that we still have trouble with for
our PDD 10 year old. He doesn't mind being covered in sh*t and doesn't
care that we care. He's paraniod about privacy, so he won't ask for help to
get clean, and he's defiant about following instructions, so he won't clean
himself without world war 3 errupting. I'm over it. We throw at least
.00 worth of undies away every week. Like I said, I'm over it.
Thanks to both of you for the input. I tend to agree with that he may just not be ready. I feel like I am doing all this work, and not sure if its going to result in anything. I cant put him on the toilet constantly for the next 6 months! lol Anyway, I would like to just wait for potty training until he can at least tell me that he needs to go or communicate it in some way.. What should I tell the ABA therapist though? She definitely seems to think that hes ready.. I am just not very confrontational and tend to go along with things even if I dont always agree (unless it involves the safety of my son of course). Any suggestions on what I should tell her? Thanks again!
Jen
I just wanted to add that the therapist is having me keep a record of when he pees, has an accident, or doesnt go.. So, thats one of the reasons I feel like I have to try to put him on, to keep up with the record.. but I just dont think this is working :(We did this every half-hour potty thing for a while as per our ABA therapist. It wasn't working and wasting our time. I finally let him try standing up and he has gone that way ever since. I broke the rules a bit based on my judgment and it turned out okay. Thanks flip.. I cant seem to get him to stand still long enough to go that way lolI'm a firm believer in kids go when they are ready and not a day before...
Both my boys learned to pee in the potty fairly easily, standing up only, a few months after their third birthday. I basically sent them into the bathroom with my dh to watch, much to dh's horror, and they just picked it right up.
My NT son learned to poop in the potty shortly after, but my ASD son took about 5 more months to get the pooping thing down. We had him in underwear 24x7 and he always harder stools like little balls (thank god). What he would do is poop in his underpants, go into the bathroom, take his pants off, very carefully take off his underware very slowly to make sure he didn't "spill" any poop nuggets, and then he would hold the underwear over the toilet and carefully deposit the poop. He then would wipe and flush, take his pants and underwear to the washing machine, deposit the undies in the washer, go to his room, get a fresh pair of undies and redress. No joke - this went on for 5 months. When we were out in public I always carried a couple of fresh undies and a ziplock. He would tell me "poop mommy" and I'd take him into the ladies room with a fresh pair and he'd do the whole routine. I'd then put the soiled undies in a ziplock to wash at home. This whole operation was incredibly bizarre, but we just let it go. One day, a few months before his 4th birthday, I walked by the bathroom and the door was open and there was C sitting on the potty, all by himself, pooping in the potty as if he'd done it every day. I did nothing - I get no credit for any of this. No sitting every half hour, no incentive program, no running around naked outside. He simply decided he was ready and trained himself.
Anyone else have an experience remotely similar to this?
Kristys, I'm still trying to get past the part where C could take of his undiesand not "spill", take them to the washer, redress himself???? WOW. J is so
clumsy and avoidant of all self help skills. I'm impressed.
Anyway all. My LAST attenpt at potty training starts next week!!! cross your
fingers for me.
I've been following this thread with great interest.Jen you gotta follow your gut, if you see that this is distressing him and you
it's just not worth it now and he could get completely turned off thus
causing more difficulty. How about telling your ABA therapist you really
want to wait 2 or 3 more months and feel he really isn't ready for this yet.
During that time you will take him to the bathroom just not every half hour.
You're the mother and if you really feel this is something that is doing more
harm then good right now, just tell her that you really don't want to do this
just yet.
Is every half hour a standard practice with all ABA therapists? That is alot.
I guess in my opinion, if he is so resistant I would back off for a while. I don't mean stop completely - but every half hour gets old after a while - for us too! He probably is just starting playing (in his mind or in reality) and he gets interrupted. I bet he is pretty frustrated about that and since he can't verbally communicate that - he is getting even MORE frustrated.
But, that's just my thoughts and I never had a non-verbal child so I could be way out in left field here...I started training my son about 4 months after he turned three. He has
PDD and is 4 years old.
I started putting underwear on him 2 hours a day, then upped it to 3 after
about a week and so on. We had alot of accidents but my son didn't like
being wet in pee. Pullups were like diapers and didn't do a thing for us.
Within a good amount of time be he started peeing on the potty. The
peeing comes first, then the poo. Until he gets the pee down pat, the poo
will follow. He poo'd on the potty sometimes but mostly poo'd in his
pants. I just kept saying you have to tell us when you need to poo and
go on the potty. After alot of underwear later, I started to read to him on
the potty every night 2 or 3 books and then he started to poo at that
time. Inbetween my reading, I'd say push for poopies. All in all it took us
a good 6 months to get almost completely trained. He is also in
underwear at night but still has the occasional accident.
Now he'll tell me he has to poo or he'll go when we read on the potty
before bed. Fortunately for us he has speech so he can tell us.
Since your son doesn't have speech, what did the ABA therapist say would
be his cue to you that he has to go?I appreciate your frustration (in other words, I feel your pain, sister!)
Our little girl was 5 in May, and we've been working on potty training since school got out. She loves to sit on the potty...and sit and sit and sit and flush and play and flush and sit...but not even once has she had an itty bitty bit of an accident in the potty!
Man I keep thinking if I could even get lucky to get her to just put ANYTHING (waste-wise of course ) in the potty, maybe she'd GET it!
BUT, the only progress we've made is that she takes her pull-ups off as soon as she pees or poops, and it's pretty messy with the latter of course. She loves to wear panties, too, but she won't tell us at all when she has to go, so I have no way of knowing before she has an accident.
*sigh* it's so dang hard.
Thanks everyone for the suggestions. I am starting to get a little frustrated and hopeless about this. I have been putting him on the potty, pretty much every half an hour for the past few days, and I dont think its really doing any good. He mostly just has accidents. He has peed in the toilet some but it is far outnumbered by the times hes had accidents or hasnt peed at all.. He is still nonverbal and Im not sure if hes ready to be potty trained. Of course, the ABA therapist thinks he is, and MIL does, saying all kids should be potty trained by the time theyre 4.. bc she knows everything...He will be 4 in December by the way.. Anyway, I just dont know if I should keep going on with this right now. He is also fighting going to the bathroom so much. And I am not able to get anything else done,which I wouldnt mind if it were actually doing some good but I dont think it is. Even if he does pee on the toilet more than in his pants, I still dont know how he would even tell me that he needs to go.. Anyway, what do you all think I should do? I just dont know.. Thanks for listening all.
Jen
Jen,FWIW, with most of the kids I work with they do ok with training at first. Then when they seem to be grasping what they're supposed to be doing, their accidents SKYROCKET, and they HATE the bathroom. I'd say it lasts 2-3 weeks on average. After that they seem to give up on resisting, and start to do really well (we're potty training six of the ten kids I work with this summer.)
If he is using the toilet at all consistently, you should probably really try to avoid letting up on the potty training-you don't want him to learn that if he's resistant that you'll give up.
Keep up the good work, I'm hope he gets it soon!
Well, I guess it might be awhile for my son too knuckle. lol I think if he could just start communicating a little and say potty then we might have a chance, but right now I dont see it happening. I guess I should stop being in such a hurry just bc I feel like people are pressuring me to get this done. I dont think they understand just how hard it is...
Im curious, what ages are everyone's kids on here getting potty trained at? It would really help to have an idea..
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