Activities to help with bottom-wiping
Achieving successful bottom-wiping can take time. There can be several reasons why this skill is difficult or taking time for a child to learn. Be patient, use lots of encouragement and praise, make the practise activities fun. Children can wipe ineffectively for many months, and it is not unusual for children to rush and wipe inadequately often marking their underpants.
Consider the following points:
- If there is a continence or constipation problem consult with your GP or Continence Nurse.
- The toilet environment at school and home – is it decoratively pleasant, smells pleasant, private for the child.
- Think about the best time to practise bottom wiping. This is best NOT done at first at toilet times but as a game, and some activities can be done in the bath.
Activities to help the child find the right place to wipe.
- Get your child to retrieve clothes pegs pegged to their trousers or underwear at the relevant point.
- Get child to sit on chair/stool with feet flat on the floor and ask them to retrieve objects placed or stuck under the chair.
- Place a large cotton wool ball, or kitchen roll ball between their bottom cheeks, can the child reach to retrieve.
- Get your child to use a flannel to wash their bottom when in the bath
Activities to support manipulating toilet tissue.
- Use toilet tissue to pick up small objects from a table
- Use toilet tissue to pick up soft materials from table, e.g. jelly, yoghurt
- Show the child how much paper to tear off, and how to fold over
- Alternatively show the child how to wrap the toilet paper around their hand if getting dirty hands is an issue.
- As well as using dry toilet tissue try using moist toilet tissues. Provide a small pack for school if necessary.
- Use a piece of kitchen roll if the child is heavily soiling and throw away in a nappy sac in the bin. Do not flush down the toilet!
Consider the best position to be in when bottom wiping.
- Rather than sit on toilet to wipe their bottom see if any of the following positions are easier:-
- Crouching close to the floor with one hand on the floor for balance
- Half kneeling with the knee up off the floor on the SAME side as the hand that is holding the paper/wiping. This position gives good access to the bottom.
- In standing with one foot on a low stool or side of the bath if the bath is low and the child tall enough. The foot on the low stool is the same side as the hand which holds the paper/does the wiping.
- Sitting on the toilet with feet on the floor but the child leans to one side raising one side of the bottom off the toilet. The hand with the paper/doing the wiping is on the side where the bottom is lifted.
General Advice
- When adult has wiped bottom, ask the child to do a practise wipe of the clean bottom
- When successful then get child to do the last wipe
- Then get child to last two wipes etc. until child is doing all the wiping.
- Practise washing bottom with a cloth in the bath and drying afterwards with the towel.
- Include hand washing after using the toilet!!