Teach your child to wipe their butt
So, your child is finally pooping on the potty (yay!)
This is one of those milestones we wait for as parents, but teaching potty skills doesn’t end here. One of the next steps will be teaching your little one to wipe their own bottom, so prepare to muster up a little more patience. This can be a tricky motor skill that takes lots of practice.
When can you start teaching wiping?
You can start teaching wiping as soon as your child is pretty fluent with pooping on the potty.
We don’t recommend adding this step in as soon as you begin potty training because we want that part to be as easy and as stress-free as possible for your little one.
If your child asks to wipe themselves early on, go for it. Let them give it a try and be on standby for the final wipe.
How can you teach wiping?
Think of all the individual steps that you personally take when wiping your own bottom, and give your child the opportunity to practice each one on themselves.
Show your child how to grab a wipe or piece of toilet paper, then allow them to copy you. Assist them with hand-over hand support, as needed.
Show them how to fold it, then have them copy you.
Tell them to reach behind. Guide their arm slightly, if needed. You can use some hand-over-hand guidance to help them wipe, too.
Show them how to look at the paper to check if they need to wipe again, then repeat the process until clean.
Show them where to dispose of the toilet paper or wipe.
You can do a wipe check by wiping them yourself after, too.
Don’t forget hand washing! :)
*Each time you practice, aim to be a little bit less involved!
Some other things you can do to help teach wiping:
Model/Practice wiping on a doll or stuffed animal.
Have your child practice wiping peanut butter or other similar spread off the back of a plate.
Tie 2 balloons together behind a chair at the seat level. Have your child practice reaching around to wipe in between them.
When should you expect your child to be able to wipe on their own?
This really varies from child to child, but typically somewhere from 3-5 years old. If your child goes to school/daycare, it might more important to you to teach your child this skill early on so that they're more likely to have a clean bottom all day (teachers should be available to help but they are often quite busy!).
All in all, we know it can be quicker and less of a mess to go ahead and wipe your child's bottom for them, but remember to take some time to teach them this skill, too!
