Potty training and sensory issues

Re: Potty training and sensory issues

• His(1&only)wife member

  May 2012

  My son has issues with the flushing noises so what we do is "close our ears"  He will cover his ears with his hands as soon as walk into the restroom and keep them covered till he is done.  He on his own came up with the idea that he can flush with his elbow while still covering his ears.  Now that he is standing up to pee I cover his ears while he goes and then he takes over again (his choice).  I also cover his ears while he is washing his hands.  If the bathroom only has hand driers, no paper towels, then I let him dry his hands on my pants.  Not the best idea but the only one I have so far.

  Also his OT said that many parents will keep an index card in their bag and they use it to cover up the sensor on automatic toilets so that they don't go off while the child is going. 

  I know this solution won't last forever but it works for now.

  
  

  
  

  

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• bugmommy

  May 2012

  I carried ear plugs in my purse in the beginning and still carry them although we rarely use them.  I'm a big fan of addressing such issues, but clearly when actually potty training it isn't the time to do such things. 

  Honesty the high powered dryers are more of an issue than the flushing, but when training a sensitive child I would plan on staying at home as much as possible for 4 days or so.  I tend to favor a total underwear approach so this works best anyways.  I've potty trained 2 now with ASD and sensory issues and both were fine after days at home.
  

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• AgrippaRidesAgain member

  May 2012

  Honestly, DS has only recently gotten mostly ok in public restrooms.  He still freaks out if I use one of the super high powered dryers, and he has to flush the toilets while covering his ears (he flushes with either his foot or his elbow, depending on how high the flusher is).  For a while, I also used toilet paper to cover the sensors in automatic toilets.  I was eventually able to convince him that as long as he stayed still, the automatic toilet wouldn't flush until he moved out of the way.

  It took an entire year for this to happen though.  He didn't potty train until over 3 due to his other sensory issues, and didn't poop train until almost 4.

  We started with practice flushes.  We honestly went into the bathroom everywhere and just flushed the toilets.  In the beginning, we let him just stand on the far side of the bathroom covering his ears.  Then he had to be in the stall with us.  Then he had to hold our hands while we did it.  Then he had to do it himself.  When we started, he'd bolt out of the bathroom screaming and shaking.  Bribery was introduced, but forgotten after a few weeks.  I think that preschool helped a LOT.  They have set potty times for the kids, and even if they don't have to go, they have to stand in the bathroom waiting for everyone else.  The first day of preschool, they called me to come calm him down because he had a major meltdown at potty time.  It only happened once though.
  

  
  

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• ridesbuttons member

  June 2012

  Many if not most kids are afraid of public toilets during potty training.  I remember being at Chicago O'Hare with my NT 2.5 year old (who was essentially potty trained) and how he freaked out at the automatic seat covers (the kind that rotate around the seat).

  My kids (if afraid) of public toilets would hold it, seriously.  It was helpful in the way that it taught them that it was ok to hold it for a bit.  Part of the whole potty training thing is the kid learning that he doesn't have to go when he feels the first urge.

  Also, promising to not flush the toilet while they were in the stalls helped.

   

   

  promised myself I'd retire when I turned gold, and yet here I am

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