Potty training a child can be a significant challenge for many parents. For example, your child may have a fascination with the toilet that includes flushing everything that they can find down the magic hole. However, this cute misunderstanding needs to be fully understood or else you run the risk of hiring a professional to dig many strange items out of your plumbing.
Children Don’t Quite Understand the Toilet
Very young children getting potty trained may approach the toilet with trepidation and even fear. Watching their waste flush down the toilet after using one may surprise and upset them or cause a sense of endless fascination. Unfortunately, some children may be inspired to experiment with the toilet by flushing multiple items.
Simply put, they don’t understand that the hole down which their waste goes is much too small to flush many items. They also don’t understand the size of the pipes that move their waste. As a result, children may try to flush a surprising array of items.
Items That May Get Flushed
Children typically try to flush items that look flushable, such as:
- Toys – Some children may try to sail their play things on a toilet’s water.
- Keys – Jingling keys may prove too big of a temptation for many children to avoid flushing.
- Cell phones – Small children may think that your cell phone will fit down the toilet drain. It won’t.
- Small pets – Mice, fish, and other small pets may find their way into a child’s hands and the toilet.
- Foods – Meals or snacks that a child doesn’t want may get snuck into a bathroom and flushed.
Unfortunately, any of these items can easily create a hard-to-break clog that needs professional help to manage. Therefore, you need to make sure your children stop this habit.
You Can Stop Kids From Flushing Junk Down the Toilet
If your child has flushed multiple items down the toilet in a short period, you need to teach them to respect what they flush; you should sit down and talk to them about why this is such a problem. Some children will accept their parents’ scolding as reason enough to avoid flushing items down the toilet. However, more stubborn children may keep flushing items anyway.
In this instance, you may want to call a professional to install a lid lock on your toilet. These locks will keep children from opening the toilet and flushing items that they shouldn’t flush. Keep the lid on the toilet until they are old enough to quit their flushing adventures. And, if they cause a clog in your toilet before that, consider getting them professional help to end their bad habit.
Help From Professionals May Be Necessary
When your children flush a large number of items down the toilet, you likely need a professional to get them out. However, you may be able to break apart some of the clog using a few simple tools. For example, you could feed a toilet snake down into the toilet drain to break apart the buildup of flushed items and to get your water flowing smoothly again.
Other tools, like plungers or chemical cleaners, likely won’t produce any results. Plungers will lift the items up and down and may not dislodge them from the pipe. And chemical cleaners won’t destroy any plastic or metal item that your child may have flushed. Though chemicals may destroy paper and other similar things, their use may be limited if the clog is too extensive.
We Can Manage Bad Toilet Clogs
If your children flushed items down the toilet and you’re stuck with a clog you can’t get out, don’t hesitate to contact us at Rapid First Plumbing to get the help that you need. Our experts will work hard to remove the items clogging your toilet and will help you regain the high-quality and robust plumbing that you deserve.
