Going Overboard?

So this is the first time I've ever heard of this...

Alarm Systems in the underwear!  It is the new "gold standard" for potty training. Alarms include a battery-powered sensor worn inside underwear. If the sensor becomes wet, it triggers an alarm and wakes the child, so that he or she will go to the bathroom.  These fancy-schmancy underwear go for $50-$100.

Has anyone tried, or heard of, these things? I would be afraid of electroshock!

These actually work quite well! I know it sounds a little odd, and the hardest thing is getting the child accustomed to them, but they do work. Eventually, you are able to fade out the use of the alarm. I've never used them on my own clients, but a former colleague of mine has and she had good success.

I know people who have used a similar product.  It is a pad that is placed on the bed.  At the first sign of wetness an alarm is triggered.  That was very successful from what I heard.  Malem was the brand name.  It is pricier than the ones that attach to the underwear.

The American Academy of Family Physicians had this to say about the bed wetting alarms:

http://www.aafp.org/afp/20030401/1509ph.html

Hope this helps.

Amy H

 

 

 

I have been doing some research now and found this nifty potty...

Fisher Price Royal Step Potty

Description:
This is a training potty that sings to your child when used. It has the ability to be used as a step stool for those hard to reach places like the sink. It includes a removable bucket for easy clean up and the seat can be used on the large toilet as your child’s ability grows.

Sounds fun!

 

I also recently heard of a potty time watch that the child can wear and it plays a song every 30, 45 or 60 minutes to let them know when to go to the bathroom.  I have not heard back yet to see if it was helpful or not. 

My next door neighbour used something very similar to train her twins who were an absolute nightmare. She said that not only did it help the kids know when they were going potty, but it also let her know. She felt that the sooner she found out about any wetness she the easy it was to ask if they wanted to go 'potty' in a timely manner. She said that she paid about $70 for her potty timer but that it was worth every penny.

I have used digital watch reminders for toilet training, especially for children who are more prone to poop accidents, and had tremendous success.  It is great for the older student.  You just have to remember that it is still a prompt which requires it be faded for them to successfully learn to be independent.  Let me know if you want more details on it and I can give you a program overview.   

What is the difference between the digital toilet watch reminders and the ones that go in the pants. How does the digital watch reminder work in letting you know that the pants are wet. Does it not just keep you on a schedule? Which is better? I have been trying to train my kid but with absolutely no success and we have tried everything...... including M&M's :-)

Hi,

I have never heard of the digital toilet watch reminders (either kind) but I have to tell you, toilet training is a rough road for any parent of an autistic child. My son, who is now 13 has finally become bowel trained. My husband got lucky one night and followed him up to the bathroom and made him sit on the toilet, and he just happened to do his bm's in the toilet.

My husband was excited, and so was our son. The look on his face was,...WOW! That was much easier than going in my underpants. Here's the scenerio.

He's been bladder trained since he was 8, we've worked 5 long years on getting him to do his bm's in the toilet.  He just didn't get it. He would hold them in. He would sit willingly on the toilet for as long as you wanted him to, we figured 10 minutes was sufficient, to them it's an eternity.  For that entire 10 minutes, he would hold his bm's in. As soon as you let him off, we let go in his pants, and if we happened to be downstairs, they'd be on the floor, on the walls, out the window, anything to get rid of them, even on the ceiling...lol, yes, the ceiling.

Smearing, I know, it's sounds disgusting, but that's what he would do to get rid of it, on the walls mostly, and his pants would get washed out, and we'd go through a pack of pants in a month, because most of the time, I or my husband would just say "screw it" and throw them out.

Now, it's a Godsend, he feels a sense of accomplishment of going in the toilet, he didn't like his bms in his pants anymore than we did, we just couldn't make him understand that the toilet is the ONLY  place they should go.

So if your child is not yet 13 don't sweat it, just be patient, it'll happen. These kids just take forever to toilet train, there's just no rushing them. I know I would get the looks and the comments from people when I'd take my son in the ladies room with me.  With all the sexual predators out there in the world today, I would be petrified to let him go into the men's room by him self.  So I have no choice but bring him in there with me.

One day a lady said to me, "you know ma'am, he's too old to be in here, he needs to go to the mens room".  I turned to her, and in an "IN YOUR FACE" way replied back... you know ma'am, you need to mind your own business, he's in here with me because he is special needs, and there's no way in hell I'll let him go in the mens room by himself, how do I know that there's NOT a pedaphile in there ready to pray on him, and he couldn't tell me if  he's been molested. She didn't know what to say, and actually apologized.

I graciously accepted her apology and went on with my business.  I just wish people would ask instead of assume something. But that's the problem with autism, it's unseen to the untrained eye.  The invisible disorder I like to call it. Unlike Down's Syndrome which has noticeable facial differences, Autistic people look like regular people with no deformities. Infact most autistic children are down right attractive to the eye, very handsome or pretty.  My son is no exception and I'm sure your child is no exception either.

Anyway, I think the point I'm trying to make amidst my ramblings on, is that.....don't knock yourself out about the toilet training, he/she will do it when they're ready and not before.  When the time is right, it'll happen, then you can sit back and and take a huge sigh of relief. It's not a bad idea though to always have the wipes and spare undergarments on hand, accidents do happen.

Good luck, and don't worrry.

Vanessa

This is a great thread. Like the other posters I have tried almost everything to get my son to use the bathroom without having to prompt him. He is non-verbal like Vanessa's son. I thought that she was incredibly accurate in her assessment that this is a invisible disorder (not to us that live with it everday) in that people just have no CLUE that my son has a disability. I also agree with her that our kids are just good looking. My son always gets complemented on his looks and my hubbie always says that he get his good looks from him.

Our success came very similar to Vanessa's in that our son was on the potty holding it in (BM)when suddenly our front door slammed shut. It startled him so much that he relaxed and went to the bathroom. He got so much praise that you would have thought he had won the Olympic gold, and in our eyes he definitely had!!

It is a relief now to not have to fight to change diapers and clothes which was especially difficult in Public. I almost never ever used a public bathroom as I was just so afraid of taking my son into the ladies room because I was so conscious of his age (he was almost 9 before he was potty trained). It really was stupid to think like that when I look back, but you want so desperately for your family to fit in, that you forget sometimes that your job as a mom is to teach and help, not just fit in.

My advice to all the moms out there is be persistent and TRY everything. You just never know what the trigger will be that starts the process.

Jessica