4 years olds and wiping ones bottom...

[Olive]

so DD1 has been fully TT day/night wee's/poos since 2.5 years, is competant wiping bottom etc.. and is able to wash her hands without help from me (unless asked or the occasional time i make sure shes doing it a-ok)
the question i have is, is it normal at this age or should i be helping more??

shes the only one in my mothers group/cousins that is so capable to be able to do it herself.

what are other 4 year olds like??

she turned 4 last month

[Floweryfields]

Well from work experience, many can do it themselves by this age, though, many would probably rather sing out for someone else to do it for them! We try to encourage them to at least try to do it themselves and supervise how well they do it! By close to starting school, they should definitely be able to do themselves as the teachers definitely don't do it for them.
Doing it at 2.5 I would say is quite clever.

[Phteven]

Until about a month ago Mr4 flatly refused to wipe his own bum. If I told him to do it himself he would sit on the loo screaming for as long as it took for me to crack and do it for him.
Now he does it himself but without the wiggles wipes he doesn't do a great job so I usually ask him if I can check and finish it up if needed.

He's pretty good with hand washing unless he's in a hurry.

[Olive]

ausgirl sorry should have said i wiped probably up until maybe 9 months ago, but it seems many friends her age dont wipe now at 4

[nellnell]

My 3.5 yr old is fully TT during day and we're in the process of chancing it at night with undies (no messes for a WEEK! Yay).

Like your DD, she wipes her bottom and washes her hands by herself. Although I do need to remind her occasionally to wipe from the front to the back only once.

As for your ? - why should you help when she can do it by herself? She is obviously independent and if she wanted your help, she'd let you know.

Normal? - What's normal? I'd say it's fabulous that she's willing and able.

[~Kim~]

I wish mine would. SHe has until recently flatly refused, but is now tentatively having a go, but only with lots of encouragement.....night is another issue all together for us

[~me~]

My 4.5yr old still has the odd poo issue his jocks. When he does go on his own to the toilet he can competently wipe his own bottom. I do ask if he needs help and can I check, and he says "no I am fine mummy".
I was talking to some Mum's at school a couple of months ago about DS2 and toilet training. One of the Mum's says her 7yr still doesn't wipe his own bottom and she does it, I asked her what he did at school and she said he just doesn't poo at school!
So I suppose it's the old different strokes for different folks thing

ETA: When he does wipe on his own, we go through alot of toilet paper!!

[Rivlas]

We were talking about this the other day.

If there are no skid marks on her undies then she is doing a good job.

They need to be able to wipe themselves by the time they go to kinder anyway unless things have changed since the girls were at kinder

[minimatron]

DD1 is the same as Onxy ds.... she can do it but would rather me do it for her!!! She is 3 and 8 months. She had to learn to do it because at occassional care they dont do it for her unless she is newly tt or calls out for it. Shes been tt for over a year now. It also depends on her mood!

[Beach Mama]

Izzy is 3.5 and has been fully TT for about a year now and has probably been wiping herself for poo most of the time for around 3 mths? She does it herself at creche and doesn't get skiddies (tee hee) and often she will call us to come in (because we have taught her to call us when she is done to wipe) and she will say she has done it herself, and sure enough she has and has done a great job.

[Kaydee]

My DS is almost 5 and was VERY late with TT due to some bowel problems. Now he is fully TT day and night and can use the toilet/wash hands completely alone, however, he still calls for our help with wiping if he does number 2s. After the stress of TTing for the past 2 years I'm very proud of what he can do alone.

[Tinks]

We were told at Kinder orientation that the kids must be able to wipe their own bottoms so I made sure they could before kinder started.

[Kazbah]

We were told our DS had to be TT before going to kinder. So I've assumed that means everything. The only problem we have is with flushing and him actually holding onto his bits while standing for a pee. He prefers to let it hang over the edge of the loo.

[beckoes]

DD wipes after a wees and does that just fine, she is probably more thorough than i am she is 2 and a few months. I dont think she can even reach properly to wipe after a #2 and i wouldnt expect her to do that either. I looked after a friends DD a while ago who was 5 at the time and i couldnt belive that she couldnt wipe her own bottom!

[Early Kids]

DS1 is nearly 4 (in Feb) and is partially toilet trained (he will use toilet, but needs prompting, won't wipe or flush and only during the day) and has been for about a month now.

He will not go if anyone is in there with him, so for now we are leaving him to his own devices.

As for Kindy, because he has other issues going on (mainly sensory processing disorder) the Kindy has to accept that toileting is part of his special need. He starts Kindy along with his peers in Feb next year!

[CrazyLady]

DD likes to be independant and tries at nappy change time usually with good results. If she wees in the potty she wipes and in the bath she will wash her face, neck body, bum (in that order) on her own. She's always liked to do stuff for herself though. Saying that I do check and usually she does a good job but will also let me get any bits she's missed if it's especially messy. I think it varies from child to child.

[Kaydee]

We were told our DS had to be TT before going to kinder. So I've assumed that means everything. The only problem we have is with flushing and him actually holding onto his bits while standing for a pee. He prefers to let it hang over the edge of the loo.

lol, luckily we don't have this problem as DS pees sitting down, like his dad. He CAN pee standing if he needs to (outside etc...).

[Artechim]

Apparently I am either harsh or lazy - my DS has been wiping his own bottom since the first time he used the potty at 2.5. It was entirely his idea, he did his business and then shuffled over with his pants around his ankles to get a wipe and did it himself. His undies are clean so he does a fair job of it. I do help every once in a while if he is having trouble but mostly he is self sufficient in the whole toilet department.