Toileting: Where to Start
The Foundations Series – for Paediatric OTs – toileting challenges
Toileting challenges are some of the most emotionally loaded referrals you’ll get — for the child, the family, and often for you as the clinician trying to work out where to even begin. Is it constipation? Fear? A control issue? All three? This resource gives you a clear, evidence-informed starting point so you’re never guessing your way through a first toileting session.
What’s inside:
Toileting: Where to Start distils the physiological, sensory, motor and emotional drivers behind toileting challenges into one practical guide. It’s built for how you actually think through a case, not just what the research says.
You’ll get:
- Six common drivers — constipation, toilet fear, control, feeling pressured, life changes, and sensory overload. Designed so you can quickly work out what’s actually behind the resistance.
- A full readiness & assessment section — prerequisite skills to check, investigation questions to ask carers, and more.
- Toilet set-up & the best way to go — practical, physiotherapy-informed positioning guidance including footstool height, seat inserts, and the exact sitting sequence to teach a child.
- A complete task-by-task guide covering daytime bladder training, bowel training & constipation, wiping & toilet hygiene, and generalising, regression & night-time — what each demands, common drivers, and strategies to trial in session.
- The constipation deep-dive — diagnostic criteria, the withholding cycle explained, why soiling is involuntary, and realistic recovery timelines to set family expectations.
- A dedicated Working with Families section — ready-to-use talking points on fluid and fibre targets, diaries, accident response, and the “dry at school, wets at home” pattern parents often misread as defiance.
Who it’s for:
New grads who want a confident starting point when working through toileting challenges, and experienced OTs who want a clear, structured resource to hand to students or use for parent education.
Format: Instant digital download (Word document) — yours to keep, print, and reuse across every client presenting with toileting challenges.
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