Preschool and Using the potty w/o assistance

[rainsmom]

Dd just started preschool yesterday. She's been potty trained for a year now. But here, they expect all the kids to sit on a regular sized potty, w/o assistance. For us, not using a potty seat on the regular seat and wiping by herself is not something she does yet. She's terrified of falling in. Ive been working with her on the wiping..... They told me we cant bring her seat to school either. They said she could use a stool.....but that isnt really going to help her.

Thankfully, that day she didnt need to use the potty. She is there from 9-1. But she did cry half way thru her time there......and now when I try to get her to use the potty at home w/o her seat and to wipe, she cries and says she doesnt want to go back to school....she's afraid of falling in the toilet (it happened once)

Has anyone else dealt with this issue too? I understand why they cant, they would have to have a license similar to diaper care......which they dont. Dd will be 4 in December and most of these kids are her age and younger. She goes twice a week.

[mammastar]

Hey, I haven't dealt with this yet - dd is not in preschool yet, she's just under 2 and we're waiting for 3.5 or 4...but I'll be curious to see what response you get, because I've wondered about this too! She uses her adaptor at home, and we have to lift her up, even though there's a stepstool- and I keep thinking about those little stalls at preschools and wondering how on earth the 3 yo's handle it!

Honestly, I don't see why they wouldn't just have an adaptor seat in the bathroom for kids who want to use it: seems more empowering than having to hoist themselves up and hang on for dear life.

[Evan&Anna's_Mom]

Hm... can't say that we ever had this problem. My DS learned to use the regular potty from the beginning -- we only used the adapter ring for about a month or so and he was never afraid. Our preschool has little tiny toilets (and urinals), so this isn't a issue for us at all.

I'm just brainstorming here, but it seems like you could use the same sort of gradual process that they use for phobias at home. Of course, this may mean that she is uncomfortable at preschool until she masters this at home. Something like, use the regular potty at home with adapter, but with climbing up on her own and wiping on her own. Then after she's comfortable with that, then removing the ring and staying close by... I can't think of any really quick answers.

It may also be that once she is opens her eyes at school she will see all the other kids and all of a sudden it will make sense to her and she won't be afraid anymore. Positive peer pressure can do great things at preschool!

[rainsmom]

[Annie7]

I've never seen *regular sized* potties in a pre-school setting! Is this school held in some rented public space or something? There's no reason those admins shouldn't let her have a seat that helps her. They sound very compassionate and helpful . Wonder if they would like a potty 4 times the normal size in their own bathrooms! :