3 year old daughter wetting pants?

Question

My daughter is 3 and has been out of day time nappys since 16 months and out of night time nappys since 18months of age. She would take her nappy off during the day and use the potty so she wasnt forced out of nappys and would wake up dry in the morning. In the last few months she has started wetting her pants during the day, sometimes a full wee that wets all her pants and sometimes just a little bit just to wet her undies, but doesnt wet her bed. She does this both at preschool and at home. Preschool said its just because of the cold but when i ask her she just says i dunno. I dont get angry at her about it i just tell her to next time use the toliet becuase weeing your pants is yukky and she says next time she will but it happens a few times a day. Anyone else with the same situation? Any advice will be great. Thanks

Answer 1

I'm having a lot of difficulty with my 4 year old not wanting to go to the bathroom until she just can't hold it any more, because she is so busy playing.  We will see her all hunched over, with her bottom sticking out, trying to hold it in, and have to tell her to go, and of course, her panties are a little wet when she does go.  She needs practice wiping aas well.  Your daughter may just be too busy to want to fool with going sometimes, and this is normal - irritating, but normal.

The other thing you may want to consider is that a urinary tract infection may make your child repeatedly wet herself.  These don't always hurt.  

I would suggest talking with your child's doctor about this, and perhaps setting up a reward system with your daughter for keeping her panties dry.  Depending on the frequency of her wets (I'm assuming it is a near daily occurance), and how cooperative her preschool is on helping you with this, You could give her small rewards (a sticker, small stamp on the hand, or small piece of candy, like one M& M) every time she goes potty and keeps her panties dry, with perhaps a larger reward at the end of the day for keeping them all day long.  You can ease back on the larger rewards as she begins earning them frequently.

Good luck!

Answer 2

I was a single parent when my daughter went through this same stage.  It was just after I first started dating my husband.  It was easy to pinpoint in my case.  It was the stress of adding a new person into her space that set it off.  She was a very mature little girl with a very high capability for communicating, so we were able to talk her through her fears and stresses and help her to find better way to show us that she felt upset.  We told her that if she felt like she felt badly in anyway, but didn't want to talk about it, she could come give one of us a hard hug.  It took about a month for the behaviour to stop, but it worked.

Answer 3

Sometimes they just get too 'busy' to stop, even when the signal comes. It is still a good idea at 3 to remind, say, after meals, before leaving the house, at the beginning of a play session etc. You are right not to make a fuss - I am sure this will pass. Just a minor thought - take a urine sample to the doctors and get it checked. Minor urine infections sometimes make the bladder 'irritable'. Keep up the great work, and good luck!

Answer 4

Kids have a bad habit of waiting till the last minute to go to the loo, for fear of missing out on stuff, or they are just too busy to notice until it is too late. Ask your teachers at pre-school to remind her at least once during her class to go to the loo and if you do the same at regular intervals during the day it might help.

I recently have been down this path with my 4yo.

Answer 5

Has she had any change in her routine or anything that may have upset her.

Answer 6

a lot of kids go back- its all a 2steps foward, one step back process. We are currently looking after my 4yr old nephew who  will NOT use the toilet. We have had to put him back in nappies and start fresh- his circumstances are different though! one of my sisters was fully toilet trained for six months, then started wetting herself again- it took us ages to get back to where we started off! My other sister was also too busy playing and had to be told to go use the toilet.

Keep with it. It will go two steps foward and one step back for a while, its just the way kids go.  But it is normal- most kids go backwards for a little while! It will work out! Best of luck

Answer 7

it happens sometimes in little kids.. even tho they have been potty trained, the someomes have accidents.  it will pass.

Answer 8

Routine change can be the cause and is often the most frequent thing. But all sorts of stuff like finding something interesting and becoming unusually engrossed in it. Unfamiliar surroundings, or just weather. Pre school could be right. Try just gently guiding her back to the toilet every now and then just a nudge in the right direction on an hourly basis may help her re-focus, but don't go back to basics, and try not to get frustrated with her. Little uns (and sometimes bigger ones!) do go through this sometimes. Wait till shes learning to read and she can read the same word three times on one page and not recognise it once you turn over,

Weeing is inconvenient but not life threatening it will click back soon. I have and 20 month old who hates his potty with a passion, put it in a room with him he opens the door and throws it out! , luckily he hasn't accomplished anything in it yet!! or it could be messy!