This is for those moms of children with special needs, Potty Training

Paulette - posted on 07/13/2009

What it takes is patients alot of patients. When I potty trained my daughter when she was younger (now 17 yrs old). I would get so frustrated plus she could also careless if she was wet or bm. I would time her as well. Nothing. Then I remember the day as if it was yesterday. She was attending elementary school she was about 5 or 6 yrs old. We had just left school for winter break right before christmas. Went home. Realized it was really quiet. I found her on the toilet she had gone bm on the potty. I cried, screamed, yelled for everyone in the household. We praised her so much that day. It was the best Christmas present I could ever have.



Just be patient with them and yourself. When they are ready they will go.

Laura - posted on 07/12/2009

My son will be 4 in Nov. He is autistic. He could careless if he is wet or had a bm. We have tried to wear pull up during the day and diaper at bed time but it still isnt helping. We tried having his sister start at 2 yrs and have him see she goes on the potty, but that didnt work either. We have since stopped her bc we realized she not ready yet. We tried the alarm too, but we have to use it for other things such as to get ready for bed or to go places so we have smooth transition for my son. I guess keep trying, thats what we are doing, take a break too. Kids might not be ready when we want them to be.

Lois - posted on 07/11/2009

mine was still having problems at 4. He had speach problems,one thing that helped was teaching him the hand signs for bathroom.The other thing was asking him do you have to go frequently,as in every hour.

Stina - posted on 07/05/2009

My son was potty trained at nearly 4 years. We had attempted before- he has a speech delay and challenges with his motor skills. We knew he was capable of using the toilet- had shown in the past that he recognized the feeling of going pee.. We did't use pullups b/c he called them diapers. Cotton pants to help him learn that going in the toilet kept things dry, clean and comfortable. We sat him pretty often and used the Training in One day method of practice runs after accidents. he wasn't trained in one day, but it really helped to explain as we practiced going potty that he needed to practice going because he had an accident. Overall, it was a rather long process. he'll be 5 end of the summer and we are just beginning to see a decrease in night wettings. (he was in diapers at night until a few months ago.

Marla - posted on 07/03/2009

We started setting an alarm, every hour at first. When it goes off I had her shut it off, and away we went, that was the start of June, and now we have the alarm set for every 2 hours and when it rings she says "Lynsie go potty" and automatically goes to the bathroom. She has even started going by herself in between alarms, so then I just move the time for when the alarm would have gone off. I use my cell phone alarm so I have it with me all the times, and even when we are out and it goes off we find a bathroom as soon as possible. My daughter is 5 and was diagnosed with autism 2 years ago, we never thought the day would come that we could say she was trained. Good luck everyone, hope this will help a little. It is quite the hurdle to overcome.

Nicole - posted on 07/01/2009

Mine son is 4.5 and we are still trying to potty train. He is delayed socially, cognitively, communication and adaptive skills so don;t know how this effects things. He did pee in the potty on his own today so we are making some head way, Of course he wet his pants a few minutes later but hey at least we are trying. Love to know if you learn any secrets to success.

Sung - posted on 07/01/2009

I can't help you, but my almost 4 year old with a developmental delays (receptive, expressive, OT & PT) isn't potty trained. I admit that I have only begun really trying for a week because I wasn't sure that he was able to understand me and he still has a hard time with undressing and dressing. I emailed an expert yesterday because my son was shutting down and refuses to even go into the bathroom. So she suggested taking a break. I am probably going to continue putting him in underwear but I will not ask him anymore if he has to pee. I am just going to let him pee on himself, have him clean himself and encourage him to use the potty next time. A few ladies on the BabyCenter had success this way. The reality is that they will do it when they determine they are ready, but we can't encourage them if everything is in place for them to move that direction. I don't know. I am grasping for straws too.