United Brachial Plexus Network, Inc.

Hi, it's me. I forgot to ask about day care? Do we need to make any special considerations when seeking child care?

D.J. has a left arm injury, I need help/suggestions in trying to potty train in the next month since I haven't started.

my potty training experience has been to let them run around without a diaper...we had a couple of little potties in the bathroom and in our family room, so if they had to go in a hurry, it was right there. As for daycare, explain to the teacher your son's issues to make sure they know not to pull on the arm or pick you son up under his arms...you know what to tell them.

We are currently seeking child care as well. I talked with different providers about not pulling on his arm and not to let him do things were his balance is more off than normal (like skating). I plan to print of some info from the awarness section for the child care provider as well. My doctor also listed on a medical form that he should have a "modified" PE program. He did this mostly so they will not expect the the impossible.

As far as potty training: How old is D.J.? Before starting potty training make sure that he is ready... goes several hours without wetting a diaper is a good clue. At first we just concentrated at getting him to go on the potty... meaning we did the pulling up and down of the pants and underwear for him. Then when we was ready we started to have him try. We found it was easiest for Ian to hold the front of his pants with his affected arm (left) and to use his right arm in the back. It is easiest to start with lose pants that are elastic in the wasteband and maybe try underwear that are one size bigger. With both of my kids I found it much easier to go straight to underwear than to use pull ups. In a way it was messier but they got the idea much faster after we switched to underwear. We do use a diaper or pull up for sleeping since Ian hasn't mastered that yet.

Try taking DJ potty every 30 mintues or so. Also one that helped us was that a few time we poured water on thier private parts to encourage them to go so that they would get the idea of what was to happen. But don't do it too much or they might think they have to do that all the time!! LOL!! It was funny to see them get the idea of what was going on!

Ian is just about to turn 3 and has been working on potty training for almost 6 months.

Hope this is helpful!
Blessings,
Kristie