Anyone with a BA baby had difficulty with potty training?

[LouTub]

My daughter has Biliary Atresia and is one of twins (her sister does not have BA). We have noticed that Sophie is always slower in her development but it is now 9 months since her sister mastered the potty and we are still struggling with Sophie. She was doing well this week until today when she has looked more jaundiced and she just doesn't seem to have been able to tell when she needs to go. I would really appreciate any helpful ideas, thoughts, comments you all have from your own experiences. Sophie is now 3 years 8 months.

[kirsteycarpet]

Hi there. You can always drop an email to the CNS at Kings. I normally find they are pretty helpful with stuff. Don't stress yourself over this. I work with children in a preschool and some of the "normal" children weren't potty trained until nearly 4 years old! Just keep trying but don't make an issue out of it. You could try rewards such as stickers, lots of praise etc. I know you tend to compare against the other child. I have a boy who was 3 years older and was always thinking Joseph did this earlier, Joseph did that. It's easy to get stressed at the time, it has taken me a few years (My daughter Lilly is now 6 and had a transplant at 18 months) to be able to look back and see how stressed I was at the time! Good luck and just remember that we can easily get caught up in all the nonsense of what they should be doing, milestones etc - when all that matters is that they are alive and with us. It has taken me a long time to realise this but I think I am nearly there!! Good luck.

[McSousa]

Hiya!

I know I texted you about this but it might be useful for others to read this, too. Have a look at the meds leaflets as some of them have side effects. I couldn't understand why my BA boy who was potty trained at two and a half started wetting himself many times a day when he was over three then I had a read of the small print in the leaflets and it turned out to be alfacalcidol (vit D supplement) that was causing too much urine to be produced. Within about a week of stopping the medication, with the permission of the docs of course, the problem disappeared. The docs hadn't come across this problem but it's sorted out now (and the vit D can be given by injection if necessary).

Keep in touch. xx

[katiep28]

Hi, I am glad you have asked this question as its something I've not been looking forward to! My daughter has BA and will be 2 on Sunday and obviously we are beginning to think about the run up to potty training. This is something I'm not looking forward to as she can poo between 6 and 8 times a day, I'm assuming because of the meds she is on. If anyone does have any tips or advice I'd be grateful too! Thank you! X

[kirsw]

Hi,

Sorry I'm probably not going to be much help but this was something I was really stressed about too, my daughter is 2.5 (2 years post transplant from BA). She barely had a normal poo until she was 2, pooing up to 14 times a day was fairly normal for her. We found she had food allergies and one of her anti rejection meds (MMF) wasn't helping either, once we sorted this (swapped meds, diagnosed allergies) I thought she'd potty train easily but any time we tried she was clearly not ready. We but it on the back burner, I was trying not to worry about it then, about a month ago, she just kinda did it herself! Funnily enough she started with poo's then within a week had mastered the peeing.

I know that's probably not all that helpful to you but I suppose I'm saying if there are no medical reasons for her struggling (meds etc) she may just need a bit more time? Lots of my friends with ''normal'' kids found it took until 3.5-4 years of age before potty training clicked, I don't think she is outwith what is considered common? It must be so hard with twins though as there will always be another child to compare against!

I had a friends mum telling me for ages that her kids were all potty trained at 20 months and that I should 'wait' until my daughter was too old to learn, after a while all I could hear was bla bla bla bla

x

[kirsw]

*I shouldn't wait

[LouTub]

Hi all,

Thanks for the advice and info. We tried last week and she was doing well for a few days but then had a really bad day so we decided to take a step back. Then Monday this week she cracked it, we have just completed fourth day without any accidents!

For anyone after ideas/advice I would support all the positive things like, buying special underwear to encourage them, we also used sticker charts and daily rewards for success. Probably most importantly from our experience I would say, if it is not happening just step back and it will!

[McSousa]

Regarding katiep28's comment- my boy was 2 1/2 when he managed and was doing about 8 poos a day. I had an interesting/useful/inspiringly positive chat with the superviser at the preschool he was about to join who said, "He'll get plenty of practice at recognising when to go!" He liked getting it right, too! You'll know when she's ready!