4 Year Old Regressing?

my son will be 5 at the end of this month, and for the past few months he recently started wetting the bed also!!

nothing has changed here.....this has also happened with my friends daughter, who is the same age.

i don't know if it just happenes at this age, don't know if it is summer, playing harder, going to bed later, sleeping harder??????

i hate it!!!! i am hoping it will stop for good once school is back in.....good luck, sorry i have no advice

L.,

It is very common for a child to regress with certain behaviors. Some will start sucking their thumb, pacifer, and start wetting themselves. It is a huge stress for a sibling to accept another, even if they generally love them dearly. You do not have to treat him differently, but he does not have full attention anymore. Which is very common for the oldest to do this, because they are an only child for so long and then have to share the spotlight. He will outgrow it, may take a while and he may not know he is doing it subconciously. My son will be 4 and has 4 month old twin brothers and even though he loves them (hugs and kisses, and plays with them a lot) he will do things like, my turn now. I need changed. Just let him know, it's alright, accidents happen, and we might be disappointed but it is not acceptable to lie, or fib, (however, you let him know lies are wrong)and that if he does lie about it, he will have time outs, etc. Let him know, that as long he tells the truth about it, then lets work on it and you will not get in trouble.

Hope it helps, there is no set time but regression is normal for kids with siblings.

I think this is somewhat normal. My son just turned five and we've been having the same problem on and off since April (he turned five in May). The doctor said not to make too big a deal out of it. You might want to check with them, sometimes if they have a UTI it can make them do this, I had mine checked and it was negative, but you never know. I think this age is hard, five is a big milestone in any kid's life and even if he loves his little sister it may be effecting him in ways he doesn't even realize. As far as how long it will last...so far 4 months and counting. Sometimes he goes 4 or 5 days without an accident and then a week of everynight. You can try putting him back in pull-ups if it won't upset him too much. Our ped recommended no caffeine, chocolate, milk, and something else I can't quite recall as the caffeine and chocolate can stimulate and irritate the bladder and the milk takes longer to digest and process so it can take longer for it to come out. Allow him to help clean up his mess, like helping you strip the sheets, etc. Good luck, I know it can be frustrating, you can also try rewards if he's big on that kind of motivation, but if it's something he can't control - it's not going to help.

Hi L.,

When my son was born, my daughter was three and she did the same thing. She didn't act out in anyway except having accidents. It took a few months of adjusting for her and then she was fine. Then more recently, when we found out that we were expecting our third, she did the same thing. Now that has finally stopped (at least until the baby is born!). I just think that some kids have different ways of handling things and getting attention, whether it is good or bad. My best advice is just ignore it. Or try sitting down and talking to him about it. My mother-in-law tried to take a negative approach with my daughter when she visited, but I quickly put a stop to that! As frustrating as it can be, you should never be negative towards them and make them feel bad about it. Good luck=)

i dont have any suggestions or anything other than never yell at him or be show that youre upset when he wets the bed. from personal experience, it really hurts to have a loved one (especially your own mother) be mad at you for something you can not control.
try not giving him as much to drink before bedtime till he outgrows this. (although, i wet the bed consistantly till i was 17. no medical problems caused it.. it just happened and there was nothing i could do to prevent it)
good luck with this