Potty training is a process. For most kids, the final frontier is managing bowel movements. Compared to learning to pee into the toilet, little kids are often more stressed by bowel movements and have less opportunities to practice. Most children don’t have more than one BM per day, but they urinate many times per day.…… Continue reading How To Teach Your Child To Wipe “Back There”
Tag: low tone
Teach Kids With Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome Or Low Tone: Don’t Hold It In!
People who have read my blog are aware that I wrote a book on toilet training kids with low muscle tone, The Practical Guide to Toilet Training Your Child With Low Muscle Tone. Children that have problems with muscle tone or connective tissue integrity (or both) risk current and future issues with incontinence and UITs…… Continue reading Teach Kids With Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome Or Low Tone: Don’t Hold It In!
The Practical Guide to Toilet Training Your Child With Low Muscle Tone: Potty Training Help Has Arrived!
My most popular post, Why Low Muscle Tone Creates More Toilet Training Struggles for Toddlers (and Parents!) inspired me to write a manual to help parents with potty training. There was nothing in books or online that really helped families, just a few lines about being patient and…… Continue reading The Practical Guide to Toilet Training Your Child With Low Muscle Tone: Potty Training Help Has Arrived!
Low Tone In The Summer: Why The Heat Affects Your Child’s Safety
If you have a child with low muscle tone, you may have seen them wilt like flowers in the sun. Even if they are well-hydrated, even if they are having fun, they just can’t run as fast or sit as steadily when they are warm. Add a SPIO vest or other compression garment, and…… Continue reading Low Tone In The Summer: Why The Heat Affects Your Child’s Safety
Low Tone and Toilet Training: What You Can Learn From Elimination Communication Theory
Yes, those folks who hold a 6 month-old over the toilet and let her defecate directly into the potty, not into a Pamper. Elimination Communication (EC) has committed fans, as well as people who think it is both useless and even punishing to kids. I am not taking sides here, but there is one thing…… Continue reading Low Tone and Toilet Training: What You Can Learn From Elimination Communication Theory
Low Tone and Toilet Training: Parents And Children Need To Work Together
This one is simple to explain, but not so easy to achieve with some kids. Children whose interactional pattern is defiance or whining are going to be much harder to train, regardless of whether or not they have significant issues with low muscle tone. In fact, I would rather coach a very physically unstable but…… Continue reading Low Tone and Toilet Training: Parents And Children Need To Work Together
Low Tone and Toilet Training: Kids Need To See How It’s Done
Low muscle tone creates more challenges for toilet training, but that means parents need to focus on getting all the parts of teaching and practicing down right. If your child is unfocused or inattentive when you speak about potty training, you can try books and videos. Sometimes the use of media will spark interest and…… Continue reading Low Tone and Toilet Training: Kids Need To See How It’s Done
Is My Child Ambidextrous?
I answer this question from parents about once a month, on average. Here is the better question: Is my child developing age-appropriate grasp? The statistics are against your child being ambidextrous: only about 1% of people are truly ambidextrous. Being able to hit a ball equally well with either arm is valued on a team,…… Continue reading Is My Child Ambidextrous?
Low Tone and Toilet Training: The 4 Types of Training Readiness
When clients ask me if I think their child is ready to potty train, my answer is usually “Tell me more about the readiness signs you believe you are seeing.” There are numerous factors to consider when assessing toilet training readiness if a child has low muscle tone. Here are the four types of readiness…… Continue reading Low Tone and Toilet Training: The 4 Types of Training Readiness
Low Tone And Toilet Training: Pull-Ups or Cloth Training Pants?
My post on clothing choice when toilet training a child with low muscle tone Low Tone and Toilet Training: Teaching Toddlers to Wipe covered a lot, but it did not include a very important garment: underwear. I am putting pull-ups and their generic equivalents in the underwear category. Many would not, as they are as absorbent…… Continue reading Low Tone And Toilet Training: Pull-Ups or Cloth Training Pants?
Low Tone and Toilet Training: Transition to Using The Adult Toilet
Once the potty seat has been mastered, the question soon becomes: How is she going to use a regular toilet? Most younger children use a step stool and an insert to sit securely on an adult toilet. Kids with low tone often need a little more assistance to get up there and stay stable. Here…… Continue reading Low Tone and Toilet Training: Transition to Using The Adult Toilet
Toe Walker? Why The Problem Usually Isn’t Touch Sensitivity
Kids that toe-walk after they have fully mastered walking and running (usually 24-30 months) are often accused of avoiding the feeling of their feet on the floor. It certainly looks that way. The truth is usually not so simple, and the solution not so easy to achieve. Getting a toe-walker to use a heel-toe gait…… Continue reading Toe Walker? Why The Problem Usually Isn’t Touch Sensitivity
Why Low Muscle Tone Affects Pencil Grasp
Low muscle tone can cause a child to struggle with holding crayons and pencils. Those little fingers wrap around them, fold over them and sometimes ball up into a fist to hold a pencil. How a child holds a pencil does not automatically mean that his handwriting will be illegible, but it almost always makes…… Continue reading Why Low Muscle Tone Affects Pencil Grasp
Why Low Muscle Tone Creates More Toilet Training Struggles for Toddlers (and Parents!)
Most parents assume that toilet training a child with low tone (also called hypotonia) isn’t going to be easy. A child with low muscle tone often crawls later, walks later, and may speak later. Low tone can affect toilet training in ways both obvious and subtle. As an occupational therapist, I want to share…… Continue reading Why Low Muscle Tone Creates More Toilet Training Struggles for Toddlers (and Parents!)