Hi Dr. Aarti, My Son now. 5 yrs 10 months old is still wearing diaper. Me and my wife tried many times to keep him off diapers but to no avail. Though he occasionally urinates in washroom when without diapers and we ask him to do so, but he will always ask for diaper to pass out stool. If we refuse to put on a diaper he will simply just not pass out stool. Once we tried it for more than a day to not give him diaper but even after a day when he still did not pass stoll we gave him diaper thinking that keeping stool under pressure may hamper his health.
Now he has to go to Class 1 and we fear how he will cope up, as till K.G. there are maids (aya's) who change diapers at school, if needed, and school time is also upto 3 hours.
Please help us with what to do? Thanks in advance.
Ans: Is he wearing diapers at night still? If he is dry by night then stop diaper at night first. When he is at home, take him to the washroom at regular intervals like say every hour initially then 2 hourly to pass urine.
For stools, give him 5 min potty time in the commode after each meal. Stay with him at that time. If he hasn't passed, it is ok. Just repeat after every meal. Slowly it will regularize. Once he starts passing regularly the diaper should not be used at all. Use a reward for each time he successfully uses the toilet. It could be a story reading or a game. Be patient. It could take up to a couple of months.