My daughter is 5 and still on pullup

Cassandra - posted on 03/02/2010

I can so relate to this. My son was having such a hard time with the same problem. I just kept on about the reward system. Everytime he did a poo in the toilet he got a special surprise ie: chocolate , lolly or something special.

It didnt work at first but it did eventually.

My son was 5 yrs old too and he also wore pullups. 6 months later finally toilet trained :o)

Wishing you luck :o)

Karen - posted on 03/01/2010

I understand so well, my son is 7 and we do still have them for night time. It helped showing him the inside of the toilet and how it worked, he always covers his ears when he flushes and also must have the lid down at all time when not in use. With us time and desensitization was all that worked. good luck.

Tasha - posted on 03/01/2010

My son is 5, I had him completely potty trained at 3. But he went backwards 4 times. he is in the process of being tested for autism. We have been having an issue with bowel movements since November 2008, I honestly do not know how something soooo...huge can come out of such a little person. His peds Dr. has him on Miralax and Benefiber, but I also found that dark Karo syrup ( I used to use it in my kids bottles with their formula when they got constipated as babies) works well to. Try and talk to your peds dr and see if he will prescribe some miralax it is basically a laxitive you give them it is powder you mix it with liquid once a day and they drink it. The benefiber just adds fiber to their diet to make it softer for them. My son is finally going on the toilet he has had a couple incidents of holding it here lately, I took him to the e.r. last week to have them do an x ray because he was complaining of stomach pain and he said he was impacted and just had to pass it,,,,wow...lota help haha. I know it is very very trying but hang in there. I still put him in a pull up at night in case he wets the bed but other than that he is in big boy undies = ) I thought he would NEVER be potty trained after going backwards so many times. I am just glad he is going normally now, it has to hurt terribly = ( when they hold it for so long. He gets a kick out of showing it too us and we make a big deal out of it...even his 7 year old sister he makes her come in and look at his poop,lol. If daddy isn't home then he won't let yo flush the toilet because he wants his daddy too see it to...hope this helps and hang in there = )

Melissa - posted on 02/27/2010

My son just sat on the big boy potty chair today and he's almost 4. He's afraid of the big potty. I'm not sure why, but he seems pretty terrified. Thanks to everyone for your input. I'm hoping to figure something out.

Patricia - posted on 02/27/2010

I went thru the same thing, except my daughter was 6 when the pull ups were no longer needed. She is 8 now, and as of recently she has been peeing in her pants at school. So I am not sure what to do about that, or whats causing it. #2 was also the issue last time. She would actually take it out of the pull up then flush it. Or tell me she just forgot to go to the bath room. If you ever need an ear I am at FB as Trisha Dias

Tracy - posted on 02/08/2010

This sounds just like my son, who finally trained at 4. He never once had an accident either, he held it for two weeks though! I didn't go the pull up route, I went to straight underwear. The pull-up was safe to poo in he figured, and once he got used to underware he hated diapers, but still refused to poo. FINALLY after lots of books and saying that the potty REALLY loved to get his special prizes (lol) and also bribery (one $20.00 RC Helicopter) oh,oh and a really funny japanese potty training video on you tube (look it up, don't know how suitable it is, but he loved it).. and we have yet to have one pee or poo accident since!! Good luck! Keep us updated :)

Michelle - posted on 02/08/2010

talking bout expense of pull-ups, our insurance covers them, we got a perscription from Dr. for them.

Lydia - posted on 02/08/2010

well the expense of the pullup is not the issue...it's affecting our daily lives because I can't take her to the mall for a long period of time because I have to rush home in case she has to pee she won't pee in a pull up just poop ugh I'm just frustrated

Julie - posted on 02/08/2010

My son also would not poop in the potty. I started using suppositories so that he would go in the potty and now we are one month without poop in his underwear! YEAH! It was a way of making him go in the potty and now he knows that is where it goes. We even say bye bye to the poop as we flush it. He still pees on himself because he hasn't connected the sensation of having to go pee and holding it till he gets to the potty, but I'm sure eventually he will figure it out. I don't use pull ups at all, although at night it would probably make since too, but I don't want him regressing and thinking it is ok. I just had to make him sit on the toilet. I gave him things he liked and we did stickers, just whatever would distract him from sitting on the potty. My son also would not poop for days without his pullup and at one time he got really sick, so that is why I started using the suppositories. It made him go even if he didn't want to. BEST thing I ever did!!!!

Michelle - posted on 02/08/2010

pooping was hard for my son, the Dr. said for him it probly felt like he was losing a body part, Once he did it I was screaming like a crazy woman was so excited, he seemed to enjoy my crazyness, and kept doing it just to see mom act crazy. Now when he goes, he calls me in and says " look". Hope it helps

Charmaine - posted on 02/06/2010

I feel your pain, I JUST potty trained my 6 yr old autstic boy, pooing is out of the question for now I'm just so glad to be done with pullups boy where they expensive. Like everyone said it's alot of trial and error, no one thing is going to work just like with the treatments no one thing works it's going to be a combination of things keep your head up

Renee - posted on 02/06/2010

I would say that's about right for kids on the spectrum. My son is 8 years old and just got out of a goodnite a year ago (at 7). Yes it takes longer for these kids. Think about it from their perspective, toilets are scary for typical children, my daughter (not autistic) still hates the flushing noise of a toilet and will not sit and flush at the same time and she's 10 years old. I don't understand why YOU are stuck you don't have autism, your child does and it's your job to support and help your child. How is this affecting you besides the expense of the pull ups? She will learn, you need to allow her the time to do this. It's not immediate. Trust me, this is small potatoes in the grand scheme of things. Use a social story and PECS, pictures help alot.

Missy - posted on 02/06/2010

I work with an austic child everyday at work. I'm potty training him at the moment also. He is only two and the age doesnt really matter. He also hates to sit on the potty. Right now his favorite thing to do in the potty is read the books "Everyone pees" and "Everyone poops" He sits in there and I read the books to him. He seems to like it. another suggestion that may work with flushing the toliet would be to try everytime she goes in the bathroom have her flush the toliet rather she has used it or not it will help her get use to the sound. I've had put cheerios in the potty and have had the child flush the potty so they can feed the fish in the ocean and if the potty deoesn't get flushed then the fish cant eat and they will be hungry. This was a great game and the child got use to flushing the potty. Just keep trying with the sitting a potty chair may work. You can put her favorite stuffed animal on the potty chair to show her that there is nothing to be afraid of. I hope this helps. :)

Patty - posted on 02/06/2010

Just wanted to say that I loved the onestepahead website!

Sarah - posted on 02/05/2010

I'm gonna be super honest here and just type what I'm thinking. I hope I don't offend anyone with my use of bodily words. I've been working on a potty plan for my almost 4 year old and I've done a bit of research and thinking. I just want to share freely.

Pooping is hard for most children when they are potty learning, autism or not. Next time you poop, think about it. You can literally feel the poop leaving your body from the inside out. That can be a scary feeling for a child who has sensory processing issues, which I'm guessing she does since she doesn't like the noise of flushing. It's kinda weird to think of it this way, but my guess is she is comforted by pooping in her pull up. She has had 5 full years of doing it that way, change is going to be difficult. Peeing is usually easier because you don't have to really wait to pee, you sit, you pee, your done. Pooping sometimes needs straining and waiting, so in the meantime her little bottom is out in the open and I'm sure it feels strange to have the air over her bottom like that. Also keep in mind that when you sit your cheeks spread a bit, so your anus is exposed too. I highly suggest that you think of what your daughter's sensory problems are, then go sit on the potty yourself and think of what sensations she might be having that are bothering her.

Now...have you tried a smaller potty? Like an actual potty chair? They aren't so drafty, they don't flush, and it might be a gate way into helping her. I don't know how big your daughter is, but my 3.5 year old is quite a big kid. She is about 43inches tall & almost 50lbs. I still plan on getting her a potty chair because I know that will comfort her and not leave her feeling super exposed. There are so many chairs out there on the market. I did a quick google search and came up with this....

http://www.shopzilla.com/potty-chairs-fo...

But none of the chairs I saw were specifically for disabled children. I'm sure that someone out there makes them.

Here are some other potty things you might figure out could be helpful in some manner.

http://www.onestepahead.com/catalog/sear...

Good luck to you mama. I know this is a difficult road. Remember to try to find the root of the problem, which I might be off on, but sounds like it could be sensory. I hope you find a good solution that is easy on both of you. Fighting over potty learning is so difficult. {HUGS}

Claire - posted on 02/05/2010

The pooping thing is really a problem for children with autism. I remembered trying all tricks. They will really try to hold it as much as they can but what happens to my son was when he was not able to hold it any longer I made him sat on the toilet he was screaming and was trying to stand up but I was really persistent on him and when it drops he was so relieved and laugh. I made him look at his poo and said "see, it's gone" gave him some praises and made him flush the toilet. He was so happy and was laughing on his way out. Since then pooping problem, gone. Btw, he also doesn't like the flushing sound and covers his ears and humms so as not to hear it but eventually he got over it. Goodluck!

Kristen - posted on 02/04/2010

have you tried the potty chairs that sing and stuff. A lot of kids like those. And remember all kids do things in their own time. She won't wear those forever.