4.5yo suddenly having potty accidents.

[minkajane]

Yesterday afternoon, DS peed in his bed during a nap. He hasn't wet the bed in a year and a half. Last night, he had a nightmare. I was sitting on the floor holding him and he suddenly peed all over me. When I asked him today what his dream was about, he said he dreamed he was on the potty. This afternoon, he pooped in his pants and blamed it on "somebody else."

I tried to talk to him about why he's been suddenly peeing and pooping outside the potty and he said his stuffed animals made him. I've also noticed lately that we're having a really hard time getting him to listen and he's being more defiant than usual. I don't know if it's related. The only real change in our household lately is that we got a dog two weeks ago. DS adores her and they get along great. He doesn't go to daycare or preschool because DH is a SAHD. He does go see his dad every other weekend, where he's usually plunked on the couch in front of the TV and left with XH's GF half the time. But that's been going on for two years now, so I don't think it's the cause.

What would cause this kind of sudden potty issue?

[barefootbabies]

Sorry, I don't have any advice for you, but you are not alone! My DS is 4, had been staying dry at night for at least a year, and was PT during the day since August. Just in the last few weeks he has started wetting at night and is now in Pull-ups for bedtime, he is also having tons of accidents during the day. He told me he pees in his pants because it is warm I have no idea how to deal with that one. We seem to be back to square one, its very frustrating. I'll be keeping an eye on this thread, hoping for some ideas.

[glorio]

Any food changes?
I think additives in food influence my ds to have accidents. We removed all dyes and hfcs from his food for almost a month, and he was given 2 full cups of Sprite at his Dad's. The next day he was literally bouncing off the walls at school and wet himself.

[ledzepplon]

As far as the bed-wetting, I think that's pretty normal given his age. Plus, I remember having the same type of dream about going to the bathroom when I was a kid, and I'd end up wetting the bed, too.

I'm not sure about the #2 issue. Was it just that one time? Have his bowel movements been normal? If so, I wouldn't sweat it. Perhaps he was just "experimenting."

I hope it gets better soon!

[brightonwoman]

It is normal for kids to have regressions (potty and/or behavioral) when a new baby enters the family...getting a puppy kinda fits that category.

One thing you might want to look into is salicylates (something found in food--it's not an additive, it's naturally occuring in certain foods) some people feel that an intolerance for them is related to bowel control issues. My older DS struggled with that for a long time and this was one thing we investigated.
With my DS, what it ended up being was encopresis--now if your son has been just fine for a year, then I think encopresis is NOT his issue (my son never managed to control his bowels for more than a month or two at a time). Encopresis is an actual physical problem relating to difficulty going and subsequent impacting and loss of control...it's pretty ugly (I wish we had known what was really going on literally years earlier than we did, poor kiddo )

[Ellen Griswold]

A similar thing happend to my ds. He had been dry for ...I dunno, a year, and then one week he wet the bed every single night. Then, suddenly, none of his pants were long enough for him. So, major growth spurt. That could be a reason for some behavioral issues too. As far as the bm accident, not sure about that one. Hope this resolves quickly for you.