5.5 and still having wee accidents

[losenotloose]

I'm at a loss. he potty trained at two and a half, but since then he regularly has accidents. it used to be worse, sometimes 1-2 times a day, now he sometimes goes a couple of weeks without accidents, then will have an accident every day. I genuinely think he just doesn't care.

any advice?

i would have said he could have an infection, but if he's dry on and off for a few weeks, i dont think it could be that.

have there been any changes that may have caused this, if it is his attitude, you need to make him understand that its not right to go where ever he wants.

my db, when younger, was so absorbed by watching cartoons, and put himself off going to the toilet. in the end, he would soil himself in the chair.

the doctor said in his case, if he doesn't respond to the signal of his body needing to go toilet, his nerves will die and he'll be wearing a bag to poo in, extreme but effective in getting him to sort himself out.

I think you should go to your GP and ask to be referred to your local community paediatric team that deal with wetting. There may well be a medical reason that needs intervention, e.g small bladder.

One of my dds just couldn't be bothered and would leave it until the last possible moment!!

She did eventully grow out of it, I told her it wasn't acceptable tbh.

You should rule out medical issues first though.

I agree about taking him to the Dr to be referred. Could be several medical reasons.

The ERIC website is useful.

should have said, he doesn't have accidents at school so I know he can control it.

it happens more if he's watching telly, playing computer games etc.

maybe I should start making him go when enough time has passed, I just wish he'd try harder.

Sounds like can't-be-bothered-itis.

You have my sympathies. Honestly maing her clear up the mess and being "cross" worked.

Sorry to restart an old thread but I am at my wits end. Dd is in reception (5 at end of January) and she 'dribbles' most days. It is very rare that she totally wets herself but every day her pants are yellow and smell even if her tights are fine.
We have tried over praising when she gets to the toilet in time, we have tried stickers and reminding her and just recently we have tried cross/ashamed/furious.
This weekend the cross strategy is what I was trying. Told her that people wouldn't want to be her friend if she smells, that she will make herself sore, that is embarrassing etc and that if she wet herself she would need to wear pull ups. She has dribbled in her pants 5 times! After the 2nd time I got the pull ups out and she was beside herself, wouldn't put them on so I cancelled our plans and sent her to her room. She came downstairs without anything on and was playing in the playroom and did a dribble on the floor . At this point I put the pull ups on her and she was inconsolable. We had a chat and she agreed to go to the toilet when asked (without arguing), after 40 mins or so I agreed she could put pants back on and all was well. The 4th time was after bouncing on the trampoline - can 4 yr olds have a weak pelvic floor?! And the 5th time was when playing with her brother, she knew she had done it because she told me she hadn't been drinking enough (earlier I had said that I had read drinking more may help so she was using this as a get out clause).
Are u still reading, this is long sorry!
Anyway does anyone have any suggestions because nothing is working and I don't know what to do.

Bump

Have you tried consistently getting her to drink more? This will improve bladder capacity. Also advice is to avoid darker juice like blackcurrant -check out the ERIC website. Personally I think being cross doesn't help but it is hard!

You need to read the ERIC resources, increase daily fluids and see the gp and ask for a referral to the bladder and bowel service.

Please don't shout and shame her. She may have an over active or irritable bladder and need medication. Making it an issue that she feels bad about could have long term effects.

Thank you for your responses (they made me cry, I don't want to damage her). I have looked at the Eric website and can't see anything quite matching our predicament but will look more closely this evening. I did ring the health visitor and she is going to get make an appointment for me to discuss behaviour strategies and if that doesn't work she will refer me to the gp.

Glad you have a plan. My dc eventually grew out of their issues but it was v frustrating at times.