My youngest turned 3 in Sept. has been potty trained close to a year. The last month or so has been having accidents, only pee pee. He sometimes wets the bed and doesn't make it to the potty in time. I've struggled with the daytime accidents with wondering if he's playing and not paying attention or if something else is going on. The night time is another issue. Sometimes he wasn't even waking up.
Finally, I've taken him to his Dr. and they are trying a medication for controlling suddent urges to eliminate possible concerns.
Just wondering if anyone has had a simliar experience.
I appreciate everyone's comments. I agree mostly with everyone that it could be just that he's not developmentally ready. We are trying several of the ideas like limiting fluids before bed and going to the bathroom at regular intervals during the day.
I do, however, value my pediatricians opinion and I'm ok with his suggestion for the medication. Just to clarify, it's not something permanent. It's a fourteen day thing that he is trying to see if there is any improvement.
Kids are sensitive to stress or changes around them. Sometimes they will react to a simple fight between mommy and daddy or move in residence and one manifestation will be to start pottying when normally they wouldn't. Might be something to consider.
The key word here is "accident". Please treat them as such and do not put a 3 year old on medication for what is normal in development. His bladder, mind and body are still growing, sometimes at different paces of each other. I would simply get him a nighttime pull-up or what not and let him sleep through the night. It takes many years before the body will consistently produce the messages in the brain that decrease nighttime urine production.
I saw your response but did not read the responses of the other mommas. My sisters boy had this same issue. She took him to a "naturalist Dr" She asked if my nephew drank cows milk? Yes he did. Her reccomendation was to take him off of all milk products for about a week to see if it improved. He was 4 at the time. She did and he had no accidents all week and had been having 1-2 a day. My sister had to convience herself that this was really what it was and let him drink a glass of milk. Within a few hours he had another accident. He is now 12 and had over the years reintroduced milk based products (yougart cheese..) but he still drinks goats milk. In retrospect he had had a lot of runny noses when he was very little. Maybe due to the milk??? Anyway that conjestion stopped when he stopped cows milk. Lots of alternatives: Nut milk, Soy, Goat, Rice... It may be worth a shot to just try it for a week that is all it took for my nephew. Hope this helps!
Medication?? What are the side effects listed?? Please dont do that.. work with him naturally. Good luck and God Bless.
My experience is similar -- my younger son turned 3 in May, and I started potty-training him when he was around 2 because he was pulling off his diapers and peeing in the floor. :-( It took quite some time, but he's been basically potty-trained for over a year, including at night. Sometimes he still has accidents, both day-time and night-time. Yesterday, in fact, he didn't make it to the potty in time (but I know that was because he was enthralled with a movie). I don't make a big deal of it, and know that "this too shall pass."
It is very frustrating, because you think "Yes! We're DONE!" and then out of nowhere, it happens again... and again. My son can go for months with no accidents of any sort, and then have a string of accidents within a few weeks. Hmm, maybe it's something he's eating? or not eating enough of? I might try to figure out if there's something along those lines going on. But I'm still not sweating it.
Dear L.:
This is not considered a problem. Many boys particularly go through this behavior up to age 4 and then it stops. His mind is reverting back to diaper days which takes a long time to clear his subconscious. Medication sometimes helps but can also cause his bladder to retain fluid which is hard on his Kidneys.
If the problem does not resolve itself soon you can use a product called Uricontrol: It helps to signal the brain when urine is trying to flow and also helps to slow down the stimulant action of the bladder so he can make a decision to go and release the urine.
If you can’t find it you may locate it at http://www.healingedge.net/store/more_heel_uricontrol.html
Good Luck
S. L.
I agree with Betty O. Your son is still very young, and perfection should not be expected of him in this department. I strongly urge you to reconsider before putting him on unnecessary medication to "cure" something that is completely normal! And frankly, I'm shocked that a pediatrician would recommend putting your child on medication for something like this. It is very common for children (especially boys) to experience accidents well beyond your son's age. My suggestion is to simply have patience, don't make a big deal out of it to your son (emphasis on "accident"), and know that he will eventually grow out of this phase. Best wishes to you and your family!
I agree with most of the previous posts -- this is perfectly normal. My son turned 3 in June. He was potty trained at 2 1/2 and a couple of months later he stopped wearing a diaper at night. He has accidents at night periodically and sometimes during the day. I always bring an extra change of clothes when we go out just in case and remind him to go especially if he is involved in some activity that he distracting his attention. The nighttime accidents seem to happen in spurts -- he will go weeks with none and then have 3 accidents one week. I limit his fluids at least 1 hour before bed. I also notice that if he drinks a lot of juice (we don't regularly have juice but he may get it at a party or when we go out to dinner), he often will have an accident. I don't know if the sugary drink causes him to have to pee more or if he just drinks so much more when it is sugary. I try to limit juice to only special occasions. I just think he has to develop more to eliminate the accidents. I try hard not to get upset when he has an accident (which is hard sometimes in the middle of the night when I am so tired and have to get up to change his clothes) but he isn't doing it on purpose. I also think it is important to help him understand the relation between drinking fluids and peeing. My son understands that if he drinks a lot at night he may have to go in the middle of the night and because he doesn't want to have an accident he is cooperative in limiting his drinks at night.
STOP the medication, that is ridiculous. Your pediatrician should know that. The only thing I'd be concerned about is to rule out a UTI.
He is 3. He has better things to do than to stop and go to the bathroom. It is perfectly normal. It is a developmental leap. Even if it is Frustrating.
Help him by escorting him to the bathroom every 1 1/2 hours or so. Even (especially) if he says he does not have to. A 3 yo (or 4 1/2 yo for that matter) can not be trusted to accurately tell you if they need to pee.
My 4 1/2 yo has the occasional accident if she is really busy with play. She potty Trained herself at 17 months.
Don't scold him. He is not doing it to irritate you. He may wet the bed at night for several years. Dont scold him. He's not doing it on purpose. Some little bladders take a long time to develop. He's normal. That's what pull-ups are for.
Please keep in mid any medication you give him will compromise his liver.
Hang in there & remember it will not last forever. Keep changes of clothes handy & help by reminding him.
P. : )
