Wednesday 5 August 2015

Easier Toileting? Yes you can make it a little easier

Ok this is a bit of a gross subject but lets be frank, toileting special needs kids is hard, damn hard and it is probably one of your least favourite jobs.

I never thought placing Owen on a toilet would happen so when his special school wanted to do a little bit of toilet timing with him as part of his routine, I said go for your life.  Inwardly  I thought it wouldn't work and they were wasting their time. I was wrong and I underestimated Owen.  He did get the hang of going to the toilet (on a Commode style of chair). So we started doing it at home too and still do so.  He has even now moved to the toilet itself.  He can't tell us he needs to go but seems to know that if you place him on there that is what he should be doing.  

Bearing this in mind,  when we renovated our bathroom,my husband looked at options that would take some of the hard work out of the clean-up.  To our delight he discovered you can get Bidet toilet seat that attaches to your toilet in place of the usual seat.  The bidet washes (with warm water) and dries the "area". It is not  always 100% effective but most of the time it is and it definitely makes it easier. For those with girls there is also a special "lady hygiene" function.  

I think a Bidet is more dignified for a child reliant on parental support for toileting. I also think it would help any child who was capable of taking themselves to the toilet but have trouble wiping themselves.  How much more independence would that provide?  And don't panic that the child will jump off the seat and it will still being going, there is a little sensor that turns it off if they aren't sitting on it.

Are they expensive?  My Mum and Dad ordered one on e-bay recently for $500, ours was around $1000 (from The Bidet Shop).  So yes, they are a bit,  but no more expensive than a dishwasher and when you consider how much we save on wipes and toilet paper etc, in the long run it will pay for itself.

Do you need a special toilet for it to sit?  Not generally but you will need a power point to plug it in.  So that is an added expense.

Who can install it?  A handy person could.

It is worth looking into as it might save you some time.


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