Peeing in pants after a long stretch of being toilet trained

[michelle2706]

Hi,

I have no idea what to do with my 3yr old son.

For about 3/4 mths he has been great at peeing in the toilet, for the last 2wks he has gone right back to the start almost and doing more than a dribble of wee in his pants and we don't know what to do with him.

I don't want to shout at him, but then neither do i want to mother him to much about it. I just want to understand why he is doing this, it seems to be getting worse and worse.

4 times today; once this morning and 3 times in the afternoon

I have done a chart of sad faces for pees in the pants and smiley faces for dry pants. I told him that if he is dry all day then he will get a special treat and sad faces he can't.

20 minutes later he's peeing in his pants as he's playing I noticed and stopped him and he didn't care, not a care in the world and when you ask him why he's done it all he says is "because i wanted to" or "because i want to be" and when you threaten with a nappy for being a baby and peeing in his pants he cries and shouts and says he's a good boy and that i'm bad.

We are really at our wits end and wonder if anyone has any tips to get him dry again. I went a brought a mattress protector as I felt sure we could start training him at night now, but should i still go ahead and do this if we're having problems during the day?

Hope someone can help

Michelle

Hi Michelle,

We have had similar regression phases with our daughter (now 3.9) a couple of times. In each case the phase lasted a few weeks. With the benefit of hindsight, I can say that it was often around the time she made a jump in other skills (e.g., language, fine motor skills) and was therefore in some way preoccupied. I spoke to the doctor about it at the time but she said not to worry as it often happens. We were told not to put a nappy back on her but simply to gently remind her after each mishap about the correct procedure and otherwise to just tolerate it. And sure enough, it stopped as soon as it started. The extra washing was definitely a pain though!

Good luck.

TRQ

thanks for the replies.

It has made me feel a bit relieved to know that it can happen, and yes the washing has been really bad at times...
and I hope that it does stop soon.

Have to be more aware of what is going on at the time he wets himself...

Hi, my ds (4) has been doing this recently, although day potty trained for 18mths now, and also for the 1st time ever at pre-school have had to start asking again when i remember or taking him before we go out etc....I think its a combination of over confidence and laso absorption in what hes playing at the time. Have been told this is v common in kids 3-4ish and especially boys by friends and very experienced play group leader ......