3.5yr old son constantly wetting and doesn’t care.

[BoomerFF]

Hi all,

My son decided to potty train himself just before he was 2 years old, so we went with it. He was doing really well and had minimal accidents. He started preschool when he turned 2 (I’m a manager at the preschool) and the first half term he was pretty much dry with only the odd accident. He then started to have lots of accidents every day. We have had periods when it’s just been one accident a day but more often than not he’s having multiple ones sometime as many as 8 in a day. It’s now a year and a half later and nothing has improved. When talking to him about why he wets himself he just says “I don’t know” or “I don’t care that I’m wet.” I have exhausted all my know how and nothing is working. We have done sticker charts, potty presents, earning chocolate and even getting a toy that he wants if he stayed dry all week. I’m at the end of my tether and it’s now starting to affect my relationship with him. He has an older sibling and even the encouragement of her hasn’t worked. The health visitor and doctors have not been helpful. They just say he’s still young. But knowing my son I know that he can be dry. Lately he has also started to have poo in his pants, which is baffling as he’s always hated the sensation of being dirty. If anyone has any pearls of wisdom or any suggestions that I haven’t tried that would be great. I’ll also add that he really enjoys preschool and has made good friendships with both his peers and staff, he only really comes to me for comfort at preschool if he’s hurt himself.

Thanks

[Zigzag27]

Hi, this sounds exactly the same as my son who is nearly 4. We realised that he is constipated and are currently disimpacting. Sounds scary and has been scary on my part but my little boy has taken it all in his stride. We are getting some positive results- he’s taking himself for wees and poos. We are not finished disimpacting and are on day 18 but hoping to end is in sight.

So perhaps look into constipation. Have a look on Eric at the info

Good luck xx

[Bambie83]

Yes I agree with ZigZag27, very often wetting and constipation go hand in hand.

If you believe that he’s capable of knowing when he needs the toilet then he may be blocked up and can’t feel it.

Maybe use this lockdown to disimpact him and see if that helps.

[Smileygirl79]

I posted something similar the other week, my son will be 4 in September and he switched to wearing underpants in the day circa. 18 months ago.

He had an accident at nursery today and when I asked him about it, he didn’t really have a reason for why it had happened. He doesn’t get upset by wetting himself and I’ve tried lots of different rewards, praise etc.

He never poos in his pants and he always does it before bedtime.

I wish I had an answer for you but wanted you to know you’re not alone.