Is potty training after the toddler years different? Yes, and no. Here is what you need to consider when you are looking at the equipment for an older child that is still in a diaper or a pull-up. Whether they have language or not, whether they have rigid or stereotyped behaviors or not, your set-up when training the older child is very important.
- Your child probably won’t fit correctly on a toddler potty seat. Unless your child is significantly shorter and thinner than her peers, she won’t fit. Children that are nonverbal or very compliant may not complain about sitting so low or so tightly. They just won’t do well. They may only sit for a short time, get agitated, or withhold. They may cling to you when transferring on and off because they are sitting so low. It can look like they either don’t understand what to do, or won’t comply. Both can be wrong. The defiant ones will cry and refuse to use a seat that doesn’t fit them. Some crafty parents have adapted the smaller seats for their slim little ones, but not everybody can do that. Look at my posts on the adult toilet Low Tone and Toilet Training: Transition to Using The Adult Toilet or on a child-friendly size Should You Install a Child-Sized Potty for Your Special Needs Child? for help to reconfigure your set-up ,giving your child a better chance at success and comfort.
- The right environment for toileting is not in front of the TV. After all these years of using diapers or pull-ups (which is developmentally really a diaper that you wear, not absorbent underwear), using the toilet can seem as silly to them as going into a restaurant and cooking our own dinner would be to us! If you have the room, use the bathroom for training. Bring them into the fold by requiring them to assist you with all aspects of diapering, turn off the TV so you have their attention, and when you do watch potty videos, make sure you are there reminding/encouraging them. Your demonstrated interest has more power than you think!
- You are gonna need a bigger
boat(wipe). Nod to one of my favorite movies, Jaws. But seriously, using those tiny little toddler wipes from the cute dispenser might not do the job on a 5 year-old heine. Not enough wiping with a tiny one, and if they aren’t clean down there, it is not only messy, it is a hygeine issue. Use the grown-up wipes and put Paw Patrol stickers on it if you have to sell them as appealing.
Good news! My e-book, The Practical Guide to Toilet Training Your child With Low Muscle Tone, is up on my website, tranquil babies . For a sense of what it includes, take a look at The Practical Guide to Toilet Training Your Child With Low Muscle Tone: Potty Training Help Has Arrived! I took all the requests from my consultation clients, and my years of experience as a pediatric OTR, and wrapped it into a book that gives you real help, not just charts or encouragement that it takes time. If you want a hard copy, go to my website and send me an e-mail to find out how to get one!
