Big Kid Toileting Accidents
Heather writes:
I could use some advice. My 5 year old son has suddenly started wetting his pants, and I don't just mean a little trickle - it's the whole thing to the point where it gets on his shoes. He has done it a couple of times at home, once in a store, in the car, and just tonight at his school. I am beside myself! I can accept that he may feel stress from preschool just ending, the idea of a new baby coming (we are due in January), and starting a new school in the fall, but while he is getting adjusted to these changes, what can we do to curb or better manage the accidents? I hate getting angry or flustered with him, but I don't know how else to react.
My son did this too (he started regressing after his new brother arrived). During the greater part of it, we wouldn't make a big deal of it and say "accidents happen, it's OK, no worries." But it gets pretty tough to be consistent with that if it goes on for more than a month. So, we started telling him he'd need to go back to diapers/pull-ups if he couldn't make it to the potty on time. He seemed to grasp that pretty quick(especially since his big boy undies have superheroes on them)! I know how hard this is, but hang in there and be assured it will pass.
Posted by: Jennifer | June 07, 2006 at 08:28 AM
My son started wetting his pants every day a few months before he turned 5 (which was also soon after he became a big brother). Our pediatrician's nurse said kids this age sometimes just get so busy doing stuff they forget to go to the bathroom till it's too late. But sometimes when I remind him to go, he gets offended & it turns into a struggle. When we remember to set a timer (once an hour is what we usually do), it works.
Posted by: Anita | June 13, 2006 at 10:10 PM
Thanks for sharing your experiences. Sometimes it helps just to hear that your kid isn't the only one. We started reminding him more, having him go before we leave the house, getting him up at night before we go to bed to go to the bathroom, and also insisting he not wear underwear to bed. We have not had any accidents since... Hopefully we can stay that way.
Posted by: Heather | June 14, 2006 at 10:15 AM
Nice to see that my little joy is not alone. We have been struggling with toileting ever since our daughter was 2 1/2. We had it almost in the bag and Katrina hit. During the evacuation (6 weeks) is was as if she didn't know what a potty was. We went back to NOLA for a while and tried to rebuild. We made considerable progress during that time. Finally, we moved to another city in June. That set us back until present. She will be 4 at the end of January and has been pretty consistenly going poop on the potty for the last couple of months. Over the holidays my sister and niece (14 mos.) visited and for the last few days my daughter has been going poop in her pants almost every time. It's as if she's not even aware that she has to go. After a year + of struggle, I am very frustrated. Any suggestions? Also, my daughter has never slept through the night without a pull-up that is full in the am. Should we be addressing this yet? I wet the bed until about age 6.
Posted by: Cathleen | December 31, 2006 at 02:25 PM