Need some creative ideas for re-potty training my preschooler

[higleytownheros]

Hi!
My almost 4 year old DS has been potty trained for nearly a year and a half now. He started regressing about 3 weeks ago ... and has been wetting in his pants several times a day! We've already tried several things. I've tried talking to him about why he isn't telling anyone he has to go potty, and he'll say he didn't know he had to go. We've tried positive reinforcement ... he'd get a coin every time he used the potty and his underwear were dry, and when he'd get a full cup of coins, he could pick out a new toy. He seemed interested for a while ... but it didn't motivate him much or change the situation. We've also tried punishment ... time-out, losing going to the park, losing favorite toys ... but no success with this either. We're leaving for WDW in 10 days, and I've been trying to get him back on track before we leave. Does anyone have some creative ideas? I was thinking about maybe putting a poster board chart up in the bathroom and having him put stickers on it to track his success / accidents and maybe get a reward when he gets a certain number of stickers. I need to do something that is interesting but not overly complicated. I can't wait to hear your ideas!

 

[estherhead]

Not to make you panic, but I might take him to a Dr. as this happened to my eldest & she had bladder issues. It ended up being a huge ordeal but had I known & called a Dr. it might not have been. After we had everything resolved, I bought Pull-Ups & made sure not to nag at all but did insist on a pee schedule. Every 2 hours she was on the pot & we totally relaxed. And I did do a sticker chart too. Maybe you buy a toy for the back of the potty for him to look at as he pees?

I have a friend who did that & her son was one day away from getting that toy (as he was doing so well) when there house burnt down. He cried & cried over the toy so once it was safe his dad went to see the damage & the toy was OK. Even tho it smelled horrendous (like smoke) he wouldn't let them get him a different one, it had to be the one he had been looking at.

My sister used an M&M after each time. She had a container her son couldn't open in the bathroom. It helped.

Hope to help!

 

[CampbellScot]

You probably should run him to the doctor to make sure all is well...if everything checks out medically...

I would put him on the potty every half hour. Set a timer. If this bothers him, explain that since he doesn't know when he has to go anymore that you have to do it this way until he can keep his pants dry and go potty like a big boy. This will do two things...get him back into the habit of listening to his body, and putting him on the potty every half hour will probably keep him from having accidents. It will also remind him that HE has the control here. If he doesn't want to be interrupted every 30 minutes to sit on the potty, then he can start going potty on his own and keep his pants dry in between. It's all up to him. Keep reminding him that he needs to have dry pants if he wants to enjoy Disneyworld.

Do NOT go back to pull ups, whatever you do. That will reinforce the wetting. If you must do pullups in the car, put underpants on him first and the pull ups over them. If he wets, he'll be uncomfortable but he won't make a mess of the car. sometimes being uncomfortable is motivating enough to stop the wetting. Don't change him right away. Make it a big ordeal, have him help put wet pants in the washer, then wash hands really thoroughly...and the whole time talk about how much easier it is to have dry pants...how much more play time he gets. He'll get it. Having wet pants is a pain and a total interruption of my day!!

good luck!!

 

[mom2alix]

Definitely have him checked by a dr to rule our physical factors.

Have you had any big chnges in your household lately which might be causing him to act out to get attention? New school, new babysitter, new baby, etc.? You might actually try the old low attention approach. When he has an accident be real low-key about it and have him take responsibility for the clean up. "Yep, it looks like you've had an accident. Go get some clean clothes and I'll meet you in the bathroom to supervise while you clean up the mess." You're simply there to supervise, not to do the clean up. His body, his responsibility. It takes any fun/extra positive attention for the mishaps out of the equation and reinforces that he is a big boy who can do things on his own.

Good luck!!!

 

[higleytownheros]

Thanks everyone for your replies. I never thought about it being something medical. I called the nurse at his peds. office, and she thinks I should bring him in for a urine test tomorrow just to be sure. There haven't been any big changes for him. (This was the first thing the nurse asked me too) He does have a little brother, but he's 16 months old. Today I've been taking him to the potty every 30 -45 minutes ... and he's still dry! I'm going to have trouble keeping up with this though.

 

[Alex2kMommy]

My son did this periodically, from age 3 to age 5. It always seemed to be that he was falling into bad habits, like getting so engrossed in playing that he ignored the urge to go to the bathroom. Just as when he was potty-training, we required him to clean himself up after an accident, but that didn't seem to bother him in the least.

Talking to him about it didn't work, so we did a bit of reward and punishment. The punishment consisted of taking away privileges to a favorite toy (an electronic game), and we reinstituted the potty chart, earning back the toy after so many successes.

If that hadn't worked, I would have threatened to get a package of diapers or pull-ups for him. I think he would have been mortified to wear diapers again!

 

[nettii]

My DS did this when he was between 3 and 4 off and on, he was just tooo busy to go potty then it was too late. He is 6 now and still has wetting issues at night.
I would also go to the Doc. just incase. Good Luck hope all is well!