When does a toddler start learning to wipe himself/herself??

Question

My son refused to wipe himself and he just turned four.. I'm trying to bribe him with incentives , it's not working very well. He makes me take his hand and land the way ,but will NOT try on his own! I'm embarrassed as school won't help him anymore and he comes home in soiled underwear everyday!

Answer 1

you need to teach him. my son is four and does it on his own. let him see you or dad do it a few times and he will get it

Answer 2

My son did that until about 3 and a half..he went to daycare and they will not wipe him so he learned quickly to do it but would still come home and try to get me to do it. I just absolutely refused and there's times he'd sit in the bathroom and throw a fit for a very long time wanting me in there to do it, but he finally learned that i was not going to help him. I did show him what to do at one point by putting the toilet paper in his hand and taking his hand around his backside (but not touching it) and do the motion and say "that's how you do it, now you do it by yourself you're a big boy now"...and i would walk out. Of course he came back with dirty underwear for awhile but learned how to correctly do it eventually. Maybe buy baby wipes and see if he likes those better or the smell of them and will want his bottom to smell good like those. Just refuse it is all you can really do and take something away (a favorite toy) if he doesn't atleast try.

Answer 3

This is something that you are going to have to make him imbarresed about...My son was 3 and decided he did not want to any more..I simply would not do it for him. I purchased the wet wipes and he was thrilled! LOL but they did the trick for him..now I always have to bring a small baggy with us. I work with children...and yes, we do see many 4 and 5 year olds..we even have a 6 year old who sits on the toilet and screams for someone to wipe him(nothing wrong with him except his mother will simply do it for him)..we will not do it..we make this clear to the parents as well. For his own sake..you need to take a stand and tell him that he will smell like Poo and the kids WILL make fun of him (believe me they do) if he does not clean himself. Try the wet wipes( I think they have Kiddo ones, but I buy the store brand, they are only going down the toilet anyways) with him..but do not do it..make him do it..if you once "show" him how to he will never use them.

Answer 4

My son is almost four and he didn't want to wipe himself. So, one day he asked me to wipe him and i refused and he has been wiping himself since. Sometimes he needs to be reminded on how to wipe, so i talk him through it.

Answer 5

Well, I would have said that along with potty training, you could have shown him the wiping part at the same time but....
Try showing him his soiled underwear and that it's icky. If anything, get him new ones with his favorite characters on them so he won't want to get them dirty.