update post 17

Is that normal? He's 3.5yo.
He pee'd last night before bed, probably about 9ish. It's 10:30 am and he hasn't pee'd since. This is typical for him. He does it throughout the day too.

He's been holding his penis and doing the pee dance, but for some reason doesn't recognize that he has to pee. I ask him, and he says he doesn't have to. I tell him that I'm very sure he has to, because it's been all night since he's peed, and because he's holding his penis, but he's still quite sure he doesn't have to. Once he finally recognizes it, he has to go very bad. He hasn't had an accident though (other than a few drops in his undies one day).

It's not that he doesn't want to stop what he's doing, because if I tell him to "go and just try to pee" he will. I'm not sure about doing this very much, though, because I want him to learn to trust HIS body, and not rely on what I tell him about his body, yk?

Anybody else? Is this just one of those phases (it's been since he was potty trained- before he was 3yo, I think). Should I do anything other than just let him figure it out?

My ds did go through an infrequent peeing stage at that age. He'd sometimes not pee for 24 hours. Then he went through a purposefully peeing in strange places phase. A couple years later (5 1/2) he went through a very frequent need to pee stage that I'm wondering if it was growth/hormone related. It went away after a month and has recently started up again. No signs of infections and I tried eliminating a bunch of foods when it happened last spring.

My son's like that. He's got the bladder of an elephant, it seems. He goes before bed around 8 and then often doesn't go until 10 in the morning. During the day, he'll say he has to go, then gets involved with something and doesn't "need" to go right then. Later it's an "emergency" and we rush into the bathroom.

I wouldn't worry. I was a preschool teacher and this scenerio isn't unusual.

My ds (4 years old) does this too. I pee so many more times in a day than he does :o He often pees before bed (around 8), in the late morning (around 10ish), when he gets to daycare (2:00), *maybe* when we get home around 6:30 and then again around bedtime. He doesn't pee at all at daycare (I work there so I know for a fact he doesn't).

Me on the other hand.... LOL!

My ds is like that too- now that he's gained control of his bladder it seems he can go forever without peeing. He drinks a fair bit so I'm not worried about dehydration. Sometimes it's a struggle to get him to go pee if he doesn't feel he needs too, especially if I know he won't have another opportunity for awhile. However, I just let him figure it out and not worry about it too much.
A

I've been wondering the same thing. My ds has been able to "hold it" for....ever since even before he was using the potty. He would wake up dry after 12 + hrs and then have a serious man size pee. He still does it and I don't get it. I have to get up in the middle of the night often, not him. He'll sleep almost 12 hrs and then have his morning hot cocoa and then finally he has to go. So guess I shouldn't worry.

On a different note, should I be concerned about the color of his first am pee. I know that pee should be pretty much colorless, does this same rule apply if it is the first pee of the day? During the day it seems fine but the first am one can be pretty dark and abundant.

BOYS! Aren't they fun? My 1st DS doesn't do this, but my soon to be 1yr old does.

Maybe he just isn't recognizing the signs until the pressure is strong enough?
At that age, my ds would say his penis hurt, or that it itched. I finally figured out that he was interpreting the urge to pee (a mild urge, before it got so bad he was about to wet himself) as pain/tingling. I told him when his penis felt that way it was telling him it needed to let the pee out, so go to the bathroom!
That seemed to help.

Thanks everybody. Doesn't seem uncommon.
Good point about him not being able to really interpret the sensation. I might casually talk about that at some point.


I wouldn't worry. I was a preschool teacher and this scenerio isn't unusual.
Thanks! That's kinda what I thought, but wanted to make sure.

My dd can hold it FOREVER. And doesn't even end up dancing around...

-Angela

my dd too. She holds it for 12 hours at night. but she goes every hour during the day.

My friend's ds is like this. They must have giant bladders!

my son does this, too - we've just had to put going potty in as part of his morning routine, otherwise it was always a struggle to leave the house in the morning because i didn't want to go out until he'd gone potty, and he would refuse and hold it and then have an accident while out somewhere around 11a or noon.

My dd can hold it FOREVER. And doesn't even end up dancing around...

-Angela


This is my dd too. She just turned 3. I have to coax her into going when I dress her for the day because I *KNOW* that she'll decide when we are out and about that she would like to go then! :lol

My 5 yo dd only goes pee 2x a day.. when she wakes up (7am) and at 4:30pm!

My 3 yo dd pees about 3x a day.

I thought that they needed to drink more but they are not interested. I have to remind them during the day to drink.

my 3 yr old is like that,too!!!! i was worried for a while, but like pp, he drinks A LOT and has never complained of any pain or discomfort.

ok, now he's started peeing a little bit in his undies before he realizes that he has to go. He's done this about 5 times now, in the last few days.
He's been potty trained for pee for 7 months now, and has had 1 accident in that whole time until now.

What should I do? Just leave it? I'm sure it's because he doesn't recognize the feeling, and any amount of my trying to explain it doesn't help at all. He doesn't feel it.

Will he just start being able to recognize it? In the meantime, do I prompt him to use the bathroom more often (which he will). Actually, now that I think of it, I think he started dribbling in his undies about the time I stopped telling him so often to use the bathroom. I guess I worry that telling him to use the bathroom all the time will teach him to trust me more than what his body is telling him. Am I just really really overthinking this? lol

ok, now he's started peeing a little bit in his undies before he realizes that he has to go. He's done this about 5 times now, in the last few days.
He's been potty trained for pee for 7 months now, and has had 1 accident in that whole time until now.

What should I do? Just leave it? I'm sure it's because he doesn't recognize the feeling, and any amount of my trying to explain it doesn't help at all. He doesn't feel it.

Will he just start being able to recognize it? In the meantime, do I prompt him to use the bathroom more often (which he will). Actually, now that I think of it, I think he started dribbling in his undies about the time I stopped telling him so often to use the bathroom. I guess I worry that telling him to use the bathroom all the time will teach him to trust me more than what his body is telling him. Am I just really really overthinking this? lol

I would think that if he's been potty trained for 7 months, he *would* be able to recognize the sensation of needing to go. Have you had him evaluated for a UTI or other infection/condition?

Does he get enough to drink?

Oddly enough, if their bladder is full, it's easier to recognize the signs than if there's not much there. I'd focus on giving him lots to drink, and not worry.

And I came in late to a discussion among some moms of boys who talked about the dribbling in the underwear thing. Apparently it's pretty typical for 3 yo boys. I wouldn't know since ds trained at 3 1/2, and was a bit obsessed about getting himself wet, so he went out of his way not to have an accident. But he was atypical!

Does he get enough to drink?

Oddly enough, if their bladder is full, it's easier to recognize the signs than if there's not much there. I'd focus on giving him lots to drink, and not worry.

He may not get enough to drink. I try! I'll start offering it to him more. Thanks for the reassurance.

If it doesn't get resolved with drinking more water, I'll see about checking for a uti. Thanks!