Potty-trained 3 Year Old Is Peeing His Pants

Talk to your son, give him ways to tell you what is going on with him, such as playing with toys and talking out what's going on, or drawing things out and explaining his picture. Any change can cause regression. My son regressed when he started a new school...he had gone 6 months without accidents while awake and during nap when he regressed! Be calm and understanding while still letting him know it doesn't make you happy. Once you find out what's going on in his little head, it might help him to do better with the bathroom.
OR it could be as simple as he gets too busy playing he forgets he is suppose to be using the potty. He knows he has to pee and forgets he doesn't have a diaper on. Reminders, such as those used while potty training help with his.

I have a 3 (almost 4 year old) boy as well. He's been a handful in the potty training department! I've noticed that stress and change makes him have accidents. I just go back to bringing him to the bathroom every hour or so to see if he has to go until he gets back on track. Good luck!

It sounds like he is regressing because of all that has happened and that is very common. He know he has control over his pee so he controls it as he wishes because he has no control over all the other changes (baby, house fire, moving). I would read the responses that have been given to other moms (I think you can search by topic) and go from there. I know its hard, but I would not push him to go in the potty if he doesnt want to-maybe come up with a fun reward and have him help choose what it is.
Good luck

J.,
My 2 1/2 year old daughter is doing the same thing. We potty-trained at the beginning of Oct. and she rarely had accidents. Recently she has been completely wetting her pants all day long. I too, think she is stressed. I went out of town with my 7 month old for about 4 days and left her with my husband a couple weeks ago. She stayed dry the whole time I was away but since I got back she started having accidents. Anyway, I have been doing a few things and they seemed to have helped...

1.) We have a sticker chart with 30 spots. Every time she pees or poops on the potty without getting any in her underwear she gets a sticker. When she has filled the entire chart my husband and I will take her to get ice cream.

2.) In the morning I put out an extra pair of dry pants and underwear in her room. If she has an accident I let her know she is responsible for taking care of it. That means, she sits on the potty, washes her hands, takes her wet clothes off and upstairs to the hamper, gets her dry clothes from her room and brings them down to me so I can set them up for her to put on by herself. I am not trying to punish her, but I do emphasize that when she chooses to pee-pee or poopy in her underwear she has to take responsibility for cleaning it up. I also point out that it takes a lot more time to clean up from an accident than to just go in the potty...meaning less time to play. I don't ever raise my voice or act upset, I just keep reminding her that she can't play until she has taken responsibility for her accident.

3.) I set a timer and let her know that when it beeps it's time to go potty. This has really helped cut down on my constant asking if she needs to go and the struggle to get her to try. I set it for different times depending on the time of day since I am pretty familiar with when she might have to go. If she doesn't pee when she tries I set the timer for 15 minutes so that she'll try again 15 minutes later.

We've been doing these things for a few days now and today she was dry all day so it seems to be working.

It is so frustrating, I know, but hang in there. I just keep telling myself this is just a phase.

Good luck!

Hi J.,

I don't know you, but I will tell you normally this is stress related. That happened to my nephew.

He was trained completely and had to go to a new sitter, it was very hard on him and very stressful.

With all the changes, I can almost bet that is why.

Hopefully once everything settles, he'll be back to normal. I will tell you, he had to kind of start all over again, but everything worked itself out.

Good Luck, hope I helped a bit.

The wetting probably is a response to the trauma and changes caused by the fire. I'd put your son on a 90-minute potty schedule until the accidents subside. Whether he's with you or grandmother, try to have him go to the bathroom at that frequency. When he wets his pants, I'd take my time in getting him clean and dry; he should experience some discomfort. Keep track of the number of accidents each day, as you'll not be very accurate if you trust your memory (nor will grandmother). This will help you see progress; it won't stop overnight. Be sure to praise and give hugs and social rewards for his peeing in the toilet and remembering on his own. As your routine becomes reliable, he should return to toilet-trained status.