Toddler holding wees for hours

[sunshinedaisies00]

Looking for some advice/reassurance please!

DS is 2.5 and has been doing really well with potty training overall, but lately he’s become quite resistant to doing a wee at home. Some days he’ll go as long as 6 hours without going, until he’s absolutely bursting and it becomes a bit of a dash to the potty.

I spoke to his nursery keyworker today and she said he’s been doing the same there too, so it’s not just at home. She suggested trying a sticker chart as encouragement at home & nursery, but it sounded like this isn’t something she’s come across often before.

Has anyone else had this happen? Did your toddler grow out of it on their own, or did you find anything that helped encourage them to relax and go more regularly? I’m a bit worried about him holding it in for so long and don’t want to make it a big battle.

Thanks so much in advance, any tips or would be appreciated

Is it just because he's busy doing other things?

Mine had an awkward phase and we had to make sure everyone had a wee before leaving the house or sitting down at the table for food. Just casually saying "DC go for a wee and then we'll start walking to X". Bit of push back sometimes but we just kept it light and joined in doing it too. They were good times to implement it as she was motivated to get out the house or wanted her food.

She can still hold her wee for ages but given she's a bit older were not so worried about accidents. She's 3.5 and could easily go 6hrs without a wee, with lots of drinks.

My DS did this. He used to hold it from 8.30 in the morning till 5.30 when he got picked up from nursery 3 days a week. Nursery tried everything to encourage him. He only ever had 2 accidents but sometimes he would come out bursting and have to go behind my car! This lasted until he left at age 4.5 and went to school where he did the same thing but luckily shorter days!
Hes now in year 1 and he uses the toilet occasionally at school but he's still very private.

He is quite sensitive and shy, I think he found the idea of asking to go to the toilet too embarrassing, it was just his personality. I accepted that he probably didn't drink much in the day and made sure he had drinks in the evening. It's all worked out ok and fortunately he never suffered any urine infections or dehydration or anything 😊

I could have written your post last week. My DS is 2.5 and we started potty training last week, he's done really well but the same as you, he was holding his pee for over 6hrs I was demented worrying about him! I read its quite normal and to try and encourage more potty time, so I set a timer for every 1.5-2hrs and we call it the wee wee beep beep 😅 when he hears the beep we go for a wee! He can have a special "potty sweet" out of the jar that he picks himself, and he can have 1 episode of bluey while peeing. This seems to be working although I understand its probably not the best way of going about it 😬

I'm now at the stage of only allowing him either a sweet or 10 minutes of a show. Then eventually none of that if possible 🤞

I've found the show distracts him better than a sweet, he has a wee without even realising, then we do huge praise and hugs etc x