[berkeleyp]

My nephew just turned 5 and has recently started wetting himself nearly everyday while playing - though he has been "potty trained" since he was 2. My SIL is at a total loss and is going the taking things away route. What do you think could be going on?

 

[strellamama]

Same thing is goun on with my 4 year old daughter! I'm at a bit of a loss too. I can tell she has to go so I ask her if she has to and she says "I'm sure I don't" and I want her to know that I trust her so I say ok, well listen to your body and go when you feel like you have to. She's super into riding her bike right now so I've gotten to the point of saying if you pee in your panties, no bike riding for the day.
I don't know what else to do.
She has also been potty trained since about 2ish.

 

[Mama Mko]

I would go to the pediatrician and see if there's a medical problem. I would not punish the child

He probably already feels ashamed.

 

[MusicianDad]

My guess is that he doesn't want to stop what he's doing because he's having too much fun. Most kids go through a phase like that where they have accidents because playing is more entertaining then sitting on the potty.

I would recommend against punishing for the accidents. He's all ready facing the consequences of not going to the bathroom, so why double that?

 

[PreggieUBA2C]

There are so many possible causes for this. Our five year old started this when he was 4.5 yrs old, and suddenly. I don't know what to do either, except to remind him to get up from his activity and pee when I notice he hasn't for a while. Otherwise we just provide him with what he needs to clean himself up and dress and then he re-joins us and continues his activity. I've never punished for this; he is always so embarrassed and upset about it that he oftentimes won't tell us and we just notice he's wet.

I've read that this is common around these ages especially for boys, and I've also read that there can be brain involvement and that it is more common with Inattentive ADD (which he has).

We gave him Hyland's bedwetting homoeopathic preparation at bedtime and he's woken up to pee each night instead of peeing in his bed. I forgot last night and he peed in his sleep.

I'm going the 'be patient' route and hoping it'll resolve with or without my help (because I'm always willing to help if I can).

 

[leighann79]

We had the same problem with DS (from about 4-6.5) and DH had the same problem when he was a boy ( for even longer and not only peeing). Part of it is just that they don't want to stop playing. They get so involved that they just don't notice. Punishing does not help.

We just had to start reminding him at certain times. What worked for our DS was to remind him before he started something we knew would really involve him (a video game, legos, etc) Also we would take notice and make sure he had a potty break if he hadn't gone in an hour or two.
Another thing that has helped DS alot is going to the chiropractor. He hasn't had day time accidents since about 6.5 (he's 7 now) but recently had two in a day. (!) We took him in to be looked at and he was WAY out of alignment.

 

[covertlycrunchy]

I don't know if this would work or not but since everyone else is suggesting that they don't want to stop playing to potty....maybe you could make potting fun? Add books/special toy that sits at the potty just for when he has to go? Just a thought.