Preschooler Wetting Herself Even Though Potty Trained...

My niece started doing this and had a UTI that my brother didn't find out about for quite some time. He thought it was behavioral but it was medical.

Okay-
When in Preschool, my daughter had accidents.
In Kinder and 1st grade too.
Our Pediatrician said normal.
ALL my daughter's teachers I talked to, said this DOES happen. Normal. EVEN if a child was potty trained.

OR, yes, it can be due to stress.
Or, they are simply distracted and "think' they can hold their bladder longer... but can't. Hence an accident.
OR, they may be having changes in their home life or routines, or a new sibling.
Or, just check with the doctor to rule out urinary infections.

A child, has accidents. It is childhood.
This child is 4.
Accidents happens.
Even if potty trained.

Just the other day, a 5 year old kid in Kinder at my daughter's school, had an accident. No biggie. The school health room, even has extra clothing/clean underwear for the kids to change into.
OR the teachers will tell the parent to bring extra clothing for their child, to keep in school.

She's 3 yrs old, close to 4, but still 3.
Accidents are to be expected.
Especially when they are playing/concentrating hard on something and don't notice the signal that they need to go.
It's best to keep interrupting what ever they are doing at regular intervals for potty breaks so they can at least try going whether they think they need to or not.
Even 5 and 6 yr olds can have some trouble with this, so it's not uncommon.
If she's worried about UTI or an irritation, she should go easy on the bubble bath at bath time and have her drink some cranberry juice during the day (maybe mix a little in with other juices).

Hi Leah,

It's very, very common for youngsters who are regularly using the toilet to experience regression from time to time. My first question (as a preschool teacher) is always "so, what new thing is going on?". Regression often happens during times of transition: new baby, new sleeping arrangement, new room, new house, new caregivers/teacher.... and as Susan pointed out below, stress can be a factor. Or it may be that she is doing what some kids do from time to time: test themselves to see *how long* they can hold it and keep on playing before they really have to use the bathroom.

Sometimes, too, this can be an attention-getting tactic. Please understand that this is so far in their subconcious that there's no way we can approach a youngster and say "so, you are doing this only to get attention". Attention is a primal need for many people, not just children.

The most straightforward approach would be for her parents to tell her "time to go potty" every hour and a half or so until she's back into the swing of things. (They should not ask "Do you need to....", because this can build power struggles when she says "no" and they send her anyway, or get frustrated with yet another accident.) Included here is a link with more information; your friend might want to skip the beginning discussion of assessment and scroll down to "Handling Accidents and Setbacks" and how we can help our children. I've found this site (written for early childhood ed students) to one of the most concise and helpful and have referred many parents to this:

http://www.betterkidcare.psu.edu/AngelUnits/OneHour/Toile...

Lots of good information here. I wish your friend plenty of consistency and patience!

My daughter did the same thing about 6 months after she was potty trained. Most times she was making it to the bathroom and would wet next to the toliet. I took away all her "favorite" panties and told her every day she stayed dry, she would get a pair back. She was back to no accidents within a week. So I believe that she was doing it for attention, as some others have stated, since it was corrected so quickly and not a medical reason (as it wouldn't of corrected).

Hi there my name is R.. Many times when little ones' enter school, they are confused and nervous about askig to use the bathroom. As well if she is enjoying what she is doing at this time and does not want to lose her place should she leave to go to the bathroom. It isn't uncommon for her to start wetting. My son did just this when he started pre-school, it ended up that I sent extra clothing for him just in case. As I said though that if she doesn't want to lose her position in whatever she may be doing and accidents happen. I should think that nothing is wrong, she is just excited about being there. Things will change, thats' a guarantee, I promise. Take care and do not worry yourself.

I have a toddler and just a few months ago we experienced the same thing. We thought something was wrong too. So we started to try and figure out what we could do. One thing could have been bad dreams that he wasn't able to communicate to us. Then we started reading sweet stories before bed so that he would have good thoughts instead of scary ones in his head. We also stopped letting him have ANYTHING to drink 2 hours before bed and those two things put together solved our problem! Sometimes he still gets up in the morning and takes off his undies complaining that they're wet, but that's just because he doesn't get up in time to go pee. Recommend these things and see if either thing works. Good luck and keep me posted!!

I have a 5 year old and he just started having a little pee on his underwear and I too am concerned. But what I find happening is that he is holding his pee and starts to pee then must run to the bathroom. At the pre school age they have so much going on and need reminders to go every couple of hours, when they drink a lot. He always says I just went, I dont have to, then he is told by me to go and he goes a lot, they just don't understand how much a bladder holds, that they have to stop and play to go. That is good about K, they remind them and have frequent bathroom breaks, I hope my son does ok in school next year. Tell your friend she isn't alone :)