I am a mom of 3 kids, my oldest being 7. I thought once I got my kids potty trained they were good to go, wrong! I am apparently learning the hard way on teaching my kids how to wipe their backside properly. My 7yo is struggling with this the most and I feel like by age 7 he should know how to wipe himself w/o help from mom or dad. Am I wrong in thinking he's old enough?? How old was your child when they finally caught on when it came to wiping their backside properly? Maybe there is a magic trick to teaching this matter of hygiene, I just haven't figured it out, help!!
We bought my daughter those Kandoo wet wipes. We found that made it MUCH easier for her to do it on her own. She's 4.5 and doing great. My almost-3 year old is starting to wipe on her own too, but I think her arms are a little too short! hahaha
I got "Kan-doo" kid wipes for the bathroom and that seemed to help.
We use the charmin wet wipes for when she poops. My 3 year old can wipe herself when she pees... we are working on the poop thing. It is much easier for them with wet wipes. just make sure they don't use the whole box at one time or you will clog up your pipes. :-P
My daughter is 5 and we have trouble with this too. Is he really having trouble or does he just not want to. With my daughter it's a bit of both- she does seem to have a hard time- it seems physically akward for her- which I think could be corrected with practice. The other issue is she would just rather have one of us do it. She asked me once "How do you know when you are clean?" I responded that when the paper was clean so was she. We make her wipe at least once before we will help and also when she calls for help- I am sure to take my sweet time.
DS (who was potty trained at 25 months) just took a cursory swipe at his butt until he was almost 4-1/2 when he became competent at wiping. The wet wipes do help (he has known to throw these in the garbage not the toilet since he turned 2).
My daughter was Pee potty trained by 16 month and Poo potty trained by 20 months. I have not wiped her since. I got her the Flushable wipes and she learned to do it. By 7 your child should know how. My daughter is 7 and half now so I am there with you on age. I ran a daycare with 300 kids so my experience is there as well. Once kids move to the 3 yo potty trained classroom they ARE NOT ALLOWED to wipe a child. So by 3 your child should know how to wipe themselves.
Another vote for flushable wipes. My 5 y/o has been wiping his own for about a year now.
Keep encouraging him to do it. Maybe get a reward chart? Hey, whatever works right?? LOL!
I always told my kids. Keep wipping till you dont see poop on the tissue. I know it probably waste toilet paper, but its something I'm willing to deal with to know they are cleaning good. My youngest is 5 and takes care of herself.
My little sister had issues for a looong time figuring it out. My dad eventually bought one of those bathroom mirrors that has it's own little stand, and put it on the floor next to the toilet. She could look in the mirror to see if she was clean. :)
You are so not alone!!! My youngest now 8 still has some issues with it. We got to a point that we bought flushable whipes for him at home. Sometimes hes in too much of a hurry and sometimes its just so thick that it does not want to come off. It is totally a kid thing. Girls are better I think because they are tought to whipe elsewhere from the start of potty training. So it comes natural to them. The whipes did the trick for us. And tell him when he's at school or in public just keep whiping till there is nothing there.
Good Luck and God Bless!!!
My 4 year old just told me the other day that he doesn't need to wipe his butt because he has a "magic butt that doesn't itch" I don't make a fuss over it, I just make sure to really soap up his bottom during bath time.
children are old enough to "know" by the end of potty training. Preschools & KG teachers will NOT do this for them.
Buy some feminine wet wipes....they work wonders.
You are not alone. My son just turned 7 and he still doesn't want to and if I make him, he does a terrible job. Soon I will just turn it over to him full-time on the weekends and see what happens. I know for a fact I won't be wiping him when he graduates from high school so it's not something I stress over. I,also, know that several of my son's friends are still having trouble. I think my youngest who is 3 will be wiping himself before he turns 4. He's just more take-charge than my oldest. I think it has to do with hovering more over the oldest and not doing so with my youngest. Good luck!
I don't remember and our boy is only 2, but I would like to chime in that some wet-wipes might help for the "final swipe". We've become addicted to them in our household and just don't feel totally clean without them.
