Toileting, intimate and personal care
Clophill Preschool respects our children and encourages them to achieve their potential, this includes encouraging them to be as independent as they are able with their personal care. We will ensure that our children are:
Treated as individuals
That their right to safety, dignity and privacy is respected
Involved with and consulted about their personal care as far as they are able, and that we work in partnership with their parents at all times
Provided with consistency of care as far as possible
All children need contact with familiar, consistent carers to ensure they can grow confidently and feel self-assured. At times children need to be cuddled, encouraged, held and offered physical reassurance.
Intimate care routines are essential throughout the day to ensure children's basic needs are met. This may include nappy changing, supporting children with toileting, changing clothes where required, first aid treatment and specialist medical support.
Toilet training
Toilet training can be easy for some and more difficult for others. At preschool we want to ensure that every adult is supported through their child’s toilet training and that every child is supported between home and preschool for this important transition from nappy to toilet.
Child Development
By age 1 - most babies have stopped doing poos at night
By age 2 - some children will be dry during the day, but this is still quite early
By age 3 - 90% of children are dry most days - even then all children have the odd accident, especially when they are excited, upset, unwell or absorbed in something else
By age 4 - most children are reliably dry during the day
It usually takes a little longer for children to learn to stay dry throughout the night. Although most learn this between the ages of 3 and 5, up to one in five children aged 5 and over will sometimes wet the bed.
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All children are different, there’s no hard and fast rule for when they need to toilet train but doing it too early, when you might be ready but they aren’t, can make the whole process long and difficult and do more harm than good.
It’s also important to pick a time when there’s not lots of other things going on in your lives; a house move, new baby or starting at a new setting will no doubt make things stressful and confusing.
It is really important not to push your child to train before they are ready or to try and get them into pants really quickly once they have started training.
Like any other skill, your child will learn, it will take time and practice and pushing them before they are ready may lead to your child becoming distressed and anxious about going to the toilet and more stress for you!
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Signs that will tell you that your child might be ready:
they know when they’ve got a wet or dirty nappy
they get to know when they are peeing and will often tell you when they are doing it
they can tell you when they have had a poo or a wee
they go for more than an hour between wetting their nappy
they are starting to be able to remove and put back on their own clothing
they fidget or go quiet when they need to toilet
they have the ability, whether verbal or non verbal to communicate that they need the toilet
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If you think your child is ready to stop wearing nappies please consider the following:
talk with their key worker before starting, they are trained to look for signs your child is ready and your child will behave differently at preschool than they do at home, they need to be ready at home and in setting
make sure they have loose underlayers, they need to be able to get trousers etc off easily
be patient - some children take to it like a duck to water, others need more support
be positive - although it can be frustrating, when potty training your child it’s really important that you don’t get cross or upset if they have an accident, this could lead to them having difficulty going to the toilet or becoming very anxious and negative about toilet training
It is important to remember toilet training at preschool is NOT THE SAME as at home and here’s some reasons why…
they are in different surroundings with different toilets/potties
children are often very busy engaging and moving around the setting and don’t want to stop for the toilet
children may not feel as comfortable to tell a member of staff that they need the toilet as they do their own parent
at preschool children come dressed in many layers which can be hard to get off
staff are looking after many children at a time often with many children toilet training in the same session
most children are not one to one so unfortunately staff cannot take every child to the toilet every half hour
when in waterproofs it is impossible to tell if a child has wet themselves unless we physically check them
Preschool support
staff will work with you to support you and your child when you embark upon potty/toilet training, this should be a two-way conversation between home and preschool
staff will talk about toileting with children through chat and stories throughout their time with us, it is important to normalise using the toilet as early as possible
please make sure you send your child in with at least two full changes of clothing and multiple pants, any wet clothes will be sent back in a wet-bag, however, if your child does a poo that can’t be tipped out (!) or the pants are beyond saving they will be put in the bin, thank you for your understanding
please try not to use pull ups or put pants over nappies, it doesn’t help your child, put pants on them so they can feel if they are wet
please ensure you dress your child in loose clothing that is easy to get down at speed, e.g. jogging bottoms - not jeans, waterproof dungarees should be done up on the outside of top layers of clothing
staff will encourage your child to go to the toilet regularly, however, we are a very busy setting so they will tend to do this at regular optimal intervals e.g. when we stop for snack or group time, they cannot be expected to do it every half hour
please remember that even if your child has been doing really well at home, they have many more distractions at preschool so may struggle to start with
please be realistic, while at home, you have the opportunity to take your child to the toilet frequently, at preschool we do not work one to one with the children and are often helping to potty train a number of children at once
don’t feel pressurised into potty training, there is no hurry however, it really helps to start to familiarise your child with toilets and potties as soon as possible, have a potty in the house, get your child to sit on it or the loo, talk about what it’s for, do all this way before they stop using nappies
please don’t be too annoyed if they wet themselves, its all a learning process, your disappointment can have a really negative impact on your child’s wellbeing and progress
try not to swap between nappies and pants, though we do understand many children will still be in a nappy at night
More advice can be found on ERIC the bladder and bowel charity website
For those children in nappies
Please provide nappies each session, preschool will supply wipes.
If your child requires barrier cream please let you key worker know and provide a named tub.
Staff will change your child’s nappy at regular intervals throughout their session and as they become more familiar with them often they get to know their routines. If a staff member notices that a child might have a wet/soiled nappy they will change them as soon as possible.
Preschool is committed to ensuring that all staff responsible for the intimate care of children undertake their duties in a professional manner at all times. All children are treated with respect and care.
Preschool will act according to our Safeguarding policy and procedures if there are any concerns fora child’s wellbeing.
All staff need a cleared enhanced DBS check before they are allowed to tend to children’s intimate care
Staff know to be aware of any signs of symptoms of abuse
Intimate care should be carried out away from onlookers but with an open door for the safety of all
Potties and toilets are provided both indoors and out
Outside the children are changed in the enclosed toilet area
Children in the SEND provision are changed on a changing mat on the floor or in the case of high dependency children, on a specialised changing table
Apparatus will be provided to assist with children who need special arrangements following assessment from physiotherapist/occupational therapist as required
Children are encouraged to be as independent as possible in their own care but are encouraged to ask for help to they need it
Staff work in partnership with parents to support potty/toilet training, handouts are also available
if it’s just not working for your child, then sometimes its better to revert back to nappies, its not worth the distress for everyone involved, you may need to wait just a bit longer until your child is more ready
Conduct thorough inductions for all new staff to ensure they are fully aware of all nursery procedures relating to intimate care routines
Follow up on these procedures through briefings and to identify any areas for development or further training
Procedure for nappy changing at preschool
Children in nappies are changed regularly
When children need changing, a member of staff will take them to a changing area
Staff will put on gloves to tend to children
Children are encouraged to be as independent as possible
Nappies are put into bags, provided by preschool, then into the bin
The changing mat needs to be sprayed and wiped with antibacterial cleaner after every use
If clothes need to be changed then the child’s own spare clothes are to be used first, as provided by parents, if none are available then preschool can provide spares
Any wet/soiled clothing is put in a wet-bag, provided by preschool, and into the child’s box to take home, these should be returned clean by parents as soon as possible
All toilets and potties are cleaned daily
Feb 24