Five YO having accidents all day long...help!

[quelindo]

My son potty-trained very late, like at age 4.5. But he's been dry all night long since he was about two (he'd hold it all night and then pee in his diaper in the morning). He had accidents here and there after he was in underpants, but then he was completely accident-free for about six weeks in a row this summer. Then in the past few weeks he's had tons of accidents. Today was the worst. I've lost track of how many he had today -- maybe ten? It's pee and poop.

I'm expecting a baby in about six weeks and DS is NOT happy about this at all, so I know that could be part of it. But also, the poop is often just tiny bits at a time and squishy, and he has food intolerances, so I'm wondering if it could be more than just the impending change.

He's off gluten and corn. He eats dairy but I'm wondering if this could be the culprit -- he did react to it as a baby by spitting up.

Does anyone have any advice/ideas? It's getting harder and harder for me to bend over and clean up a puddle of pee...not to mention how frustrating it is in general.

P.S. X-posted in the childhood years forum.

[tanyalynn]

The stress of the coming baby probably is contributing, but it sounds like something else is going on as well. I'd think either a food intolerance or possibly a food chemical intolerance. Starting with dairy makes the most sense, symptoms often do seem to change from babyhood to toddlerhood to childhood (and adulthood ). The other thing to consider is salicylates, a natural chemical that's found in varying amounts in lots of healthy foods. Things like berries, almonds, quite an array of fruits, but other foods as well, they are all high in salicylates. Search the forum for better lists and more discussion, there's a big thread on salicylates and amines (another food chemical that's sometimes problematic, though it seems less often than sals).

on the clean-up, and congrats on the new baby!

[gigismom]

my dd2 (now 6) had the same problem at that age. She is intolerant to dairy and it definitely is worse when she gets exposed to dairy. However, even off of all dairy she went through a period around 5y that she was having accidents every day and at night. It was related to stress I think (starting kg and family upset over ds food allergies and gi issues). I found a homeopathic remedy in the hfs callled "Dry Bed" the company is homeopathy for kids. I don't have much experience with homeopathy but figured we would give it a try. It really worked for her. She stopped having accidents day and night and has not had any since. I think I treated her for about a week (the bottle says 2 weeks but she had stopped 1 week in and I was then not motivated to remember to give it to her). It really is such a relief to her as she was embarrased to have accidents and the sheets every night was enough to make me crazy. Still, she waits to the last minute to go to the bathroom, especially if I tell her to go. She is a very self directed kid. But she does not have accidents anymore. When her brother was born (she was 3 y and 3 months) she completely regressed and had to wear pullups for a few weeks. hope that does not happen to you. Hope all that made sense....kids are distracting me

jen