advice to help ditch pull-ups

[Doodles22]

My 5yr old is still in pull-ups, we are desperate to help him ditch them forever.

 He has some sensory struggles, hence his delay. We have reward charts, we’ve decked the toilet out to make it more comfortable, we also have social stories on the wall and a box of interesting books and bits only for use in the bathroom.

He will sit on the toilet for very short periods of time without a pull-up, and without having to pass any waste. In light of  his sensory struggles we try to approach this in a respectful way, yet most of time / the mere mention of wearing underwear and no pull-ups, this results in war 😩

He often doesn’t realize he’s peed ( in part, I believe, due to wearing the pull-ups ) He is aware when he’s about to poop, and will mention this, he will then do this standing up in a pull-up in private. He’s reluctant to sit on the toilet, feels like he’s about to fall in, we have a kids seat with handles and stickers on all the toilet seats to show him where to hold on. We also have a step stool for his feet. He panics at thought of going anywhere near the toilet. 

Has anyone else faced this dilema? 

Do you have advice or tips on how to encourage him to ditch the pull-ups.

My negotiating skills are worn out. 

[SmileyPrawn]

Hello :)My son doesn't like the toilet seat much. He doesn't have the language to explain why. There's a really useful page on the eric website about sensory issues and adaptations.

I wonder if there is something you could put in the toilet so it doesn't have such a big hole. Or some kind of toilet seat with a nice big back rest. I know my son doesn't like the way it moves around. If he's going to a private area I guess could start with getting him to stand in the toilet?

To help my son feel when he's wet we use kitchen paper in the pull up and that has worked well. Some people do underwear under the pull up.

Hope you get a break through soon x

[Doodles22 in reply to SmileyPrawn]

thank you so very much for your advice and for taking the time to reply. Eric have been wonderful and offered great advice, we’ve made some progress, albeit slow. The kitchen paper is a good idea! I’ll give anything a try! 👍 Thank you!

[14crosstitch14]

we just stopped putting them on her, no drink for bed. Regular toileting during the day. Lots of knickers and she's stopped moaning and just gets on with it. She's 3 so still not a strong bladder, getting their most days no accidents. Theirs different toilet seats/step for comfort stepseat to reach toilet. We used bubbles, music books everything. A lot of patience, your in charge, take the pull ups and say no big kids use toilet.

[Doodles22]

thank you so much for your kind advice. Out of interest, how long did it take your daughter to transition from pull-ups?

[14crosstitch14]

Showing his underwear on an old bear, and make a game of it. He can teach the bear to use toilet/potty if you still have it. Mayve give him confidence to take himself, he has a friend with him. Like a bear/doll if you have 1. Make it a game.