Self-flush toilets: potty-training saboteurs?

by Stefania Butler (Subscribe to Stefania Butler's posts) Jan 4th 2006 7:01AM

Categories: Money & Work, Health & Safety

Damn you, self-flush toilets! It is because of you that my three-year-old is hesitant to use a public restroom! She will, but she needs much reassurance that the toilets are not of the self-flush variety. And, if they are, I need to practically sit on the seat with her so that she is relaxed enough to use the bathroom.

My daughter isn't the only one who is thusly freaked-out by toilets with a mind of their own. My six-year-old niece is also scared to use public restrooms because of this reason. And she's six! All I can say is thank goodness her potty-awareness was well-established before we ever encountered those scary self-flushers. It seems that they could be responsible for sabotaging many a potty-training program. One encounter with a toilet that flushes when you aren't ready for it to surely must be a frightening thing for a little one. Especially to kidlets who are just starting to feel comfortable on the grown-up pot. How about you? Are your children averse to self-flush toilets? How did you help them to feel more comfortable?

Comments (10)

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Jennifer 1-04-2006 @ 9:50AM

If you put a piece of toilet paper over the sensor, that seems to help a lot. Good luck! Those pots even bother me and I have been potty trained for a while now...

Ann Adams 1-04-2006 @ 10:43AM

I didn't know they flushed while a person was still sitting. Or is it just the noise as soon as one stands? If it works on a weight sensor, maybe a hand on the seat would help. I don't know.

I have mixed feelings. I was startled the first couple of times and I bet a small kid would come unglued.

On the other hand, they're a big improvement over what I've been unfortunate enough to find in public restrooms when a slob has been there before me.

Victoria 1-04-2006 @ 11:35AM

Try carrying a small package of Post-It notes in your bag; they're really handy to stick over the sensor.

Linda 1-04-2006 @ 11:43AM

My poor girl was great til we encountered one of these.. It flushed while she was sitting and that was the end of it..

We had many tears.. especially being in walmart.. 30 min from home and she really had to go.. so after much presuasion and my hand has to be over the detector at all times.. (til she walks far away as she can) now (a year later) she is ok.. but she will always say.. mommy.. is the toilet like ours??

We need a kid friendly bathroom.. Poor kiddos already have a wild imagination.. they don't need this added to it.

Alice 1-04-2006 @ 12:06PM

I admit to being completely amazed: behind the times I certainly appear to be, but, they REALLY make toilets that flush all by themselves?

Yowzers!

That would freak ME out and I'm 21. God knows what it would do to a small child, potty trained or not.

...So, do they *know* when you've finished and stood up, and then they, you know, just flush? Sorry, I'm totally in the dark and bemused about this one. It sounds so weird!

S'pose I shouldn't be surprised though. They can take people to the moon and back, program machines to fly to mars and make cars that are able to drive themselves; why not a thinking loo?

Kate 1-04-2006 @ 2:18PM

We just had our first experience with one of those auto-flushers. I think that becuase the kids are small and kind of fidgetty, the sensor "thinks" they've gone away from the toilet when in fact they are still sitting on it. Luckily, it didn't scare my daughter (this time). She just thought it meant she was done and she got off and started pulling her pants up.

JT 1-04-2006 @ 2:23PM

The self-flushing toilets work using motion detectors, ostensibly flushing after/as you rise from the seat. My kids also hate them, so I usually stand over them and block the sensor with my hand.

Ms Janice 1-05-2006 @ 9:03PM

I think it would be good for daycares to put automatic flushing toilets in their bathrooms. The children would get used to being around them, and the children would not have to touch the handle on the potty to flush it.

pottytrainingsite.blogspot.com

Angye 1-28-2006 @ 9:22PM

I hate them I have to tell my daughter that it will not flush on her and make sure I put my hand over the sensor so it won't. I have to keep the door to the stall unlocked so she can fly out of it when I let it flush. She freaks outs everytime.

Lori Wekerle 1-30-2006 @ 12:10AM

My daughter will be 3 in April and is the most brilliant kid I have seen (no kidding, she really is) yet she won't use the potty. She is not scared of it or the flushing sound. She will sit on her little potty for an hour and nothing happens. She will take her diaper off when it's wet and put on a dry one herself (the kind that tape even). I don't know what to do, but it certainly is not the fear of the flush.

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