I'll tell you when I'm ready to 'go'

Same headline as below, different topic...

I thought I might update you on Bright Eyes' toilet habits. Anyone with an ASD child is going to be very interested in this. You others may want to pass.

He started to do his daytime wees in the toilet I think at the age of 4 or thereabouts, but there was no way he was going to sit on the loo for a number two. Instead, he told me when he was about to go, and asked for a nappy.

This is still going on! Once a day he runs out, "Mum, I want a nappy" and I obligingly put it on, wait and then clean it up.

Here and there I suggest that he might like to sit on the toilet to do his poo. I always get a violent 'no' and give up the idea for a while. I'm hoping that when he's ready he'll feel able to do it.

A few weeks ago I tried bribery. He was very interested in a Thomas the Tank Engine catalogue. I said, "See that engine there - if you can do your poos on the toilet, I'll buy you a train that you like."

I got a flicker of interest. We talked some more, and he agreed. All day, until it was time to 'go'. Then it went back to being a big fat "Nooooo - I want a nappy."

So I decided to change tack. This time I asked him, "When are you going to do your poos on the toilet?" He thought for a while and said, "When I'm six."

It's become a bit of a fixed idea now. He'll often talk about "When I'm six, I'll go on the toilet. And then you'll buy me a new train." It's a shame we've got to wait until August for his birthday. When it comes closer, I'm going to start talking about not buying any more nappies because he'll be too big, and hope for a smooth transition.

And as a postscript, because he sees his brother wear a nappy, little boy Jamesie, who is completely toilet trained and has been since he was two and a half, thinks it's cool to wear nappies. rats...