Mild cp and potty training

[Jennifer132]

My dd is 3 and has mild right side hemiplegia. She is walking. We decided to start toilet training with her. I was just wondering what your experience has been with potty training and mild cp.

[Ottakee]

My youngest has a general mild hypotonic CP.  She walked at 18 months and just had mild overall delays.

We tried and tried with potty training.  She would sit and sit and try and try but NEVER EVER had a success.  About age 4 we went to the peds urologist just to rule out any other issues and he just said that the signals weren't getting from bladder to brain and back to bladder muscles and give it time.

 

When she was 4 years, 8 months old we went on vacation.  She was DRY when we stopped for lunch so I just sat her on the toiler just because...........and she WENT.  Over the vacation we had more and more successes.........and I wasn't really trying as vacation is not the place to potty train.  Once we got home she trained easily in a week or so.  For her it was honestly a matter of neurological readiness.

 

Also, just has FYI, you might check with your health insurance (esp. if she has state special needs insurance or Medicaid) as they might cover diapers, pull ups, wipes, etc. for her since this is a medical issue and she is over 3.  They did that for me and it was a huge money saver.

[Ravin]

I'm sure you know better, but just don't use shaming tactics, punishment, or negative pressure. I had a foster sister with CP who my mom had to spend years teaching as a teen to deal with poor bladder control appropriately. She would refuse to use pads, or carry emergency clothes. She would hide wet sheets and clothes in the closet instead of taking them to wash, all because her bio family spent years shaming her and punishing her for accidents that were beyond her control, instead of helping her by teaching her to control the situation as best she could.

[PeterPan]

If it makes you feel any better, my ds (no cp label, but other things) has only been consistently dry during the day for a couple weeks now.  He started potty training at 3 1/2 but any little thing (distraction, emotional upset, you name it) and he'd have wet pants again.  Like 4-6 times a day, ugh.  He's just turning 6 and is finally consistently dry.  (fingers crossed!)  That's daytime.  Nighttime he still wears pants (the nighttime under guards for bigger kids). And they don't hold it all, so we have to change sheets.  I keep thinking I ought to be some of those Brolly pads and I haven't gotten it done.  

 

So hopefully yours goes better than that.  I'm just saying if you're surrounded by people telling you about their perfect potty-ers at at 18 months or something, well you're not the only one.  :)

[geodob]

While the Western world uses toilets that are 'sat on'.

In most of the world, people use the 'squat' position.

Where the pressure of the upper legs against the abdomen.

Prompt effective 'evacuation'.

Where the bladder and bowel, both have highly sensitive pressure receptors.

 

Though a long term consequence of 'squating', rather than 'sitting'?

Is a reduced incidence of bowel cancer.

 

 

 

[srs]

My child with mild CP is 7.5 and mostly dry with a daily bowel management program and timed voiding.  She does have a neurogenic bladder and bowel, meaning that the brain is not getting the signals very well (I would guess Ravin's foster sister upthread had the same problem).

 

OP, I wish you good luck and I hope your daughter has normal bladder function. I think it is pretty hit and miss with CP. My daughter's bathroom problems have caused us so much more grief than anything else so far, and that was what led to getting her diagnosis, because her orthopedic impairments are so mild that they got missed in toddlerhood.