She'll Be 4 Next Week and Still No Potty Hope...

Updated on October 20, 2011
B.C. asks from Arlington, TX
5 answers

My little one will be 4 on Monday. She has been poop trained for over a year, but still has constant accidents all day long. She doesn't care if she's wet and will not tell me if she needs to go pee until it's too late and she can't hold it anymore. Sometimes she goes on her own and I praise her greatly when she does. She still wears diapers to bed and the kids that I watch (all potty trained) call her "baby Aubrey". I tell them that it's not nice to bully or call names, but I don't know what else to do. My oldest trained in a day at 32 months. She's a busy girl and rarely stops for anything. Please help!

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So What Happened?

She is in regular panties and has been for some time. I put her in pullups if we go out b/c of the accidents. She is just now begginnng to be teased so I don't think that's the issue, although I'm sure it isn't helping mattters. She has her next pedi appt, next month.

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M.P.

answers from Portland on

If you haven't taken her to the pediatrician to ask about this, I suggest that is where you should start. There may be a medical reason for this.

There may be an emotional reason for it, also. Being teased can cause her to be tense and unlikely to pay attention to her body. Could she be in a power struggle with you? Eating and peeing are the only two ways that children can have control.

Have you put her in "big girl" panties so that she actually feels the discomfort? Do you take her to the bathroom every so often, when it's likely that she'll need to pee so that she'll developed a routine?

3 moms found this helpful

B.P.

answers from Pittsburgh on

First of all, know that you are NOT alone in this one. Many parents have one child do it right away, and the next one takes forever or vice versa. Children mature at different ages. Don't stress yourself or her over it.

Your daughter sounds like she is a busy, curious child who may not be "body aware" yet. The body gives different signals for stool than urine so she may not have the muscle control to hold it by the time she realizes she has to go. Also, some children's bladders are smaller and need time to catch up with their bodies.

One of the things we did was to put up a time schedule to go every 3-4 hours and a star chart in the bathroom for every time my son went in the toilet. Have her sit on the toilet every time whether she says she has to go or not. It sort of gives the child a chance to figure out what it feels like to "go" and puts their body on a schedule. This works with all ages, even elderly patients, but you have to be diligent and stick with it. If it doesn't work after a few weeks, you may have to back off and restart it in another month.

A call to the pediatrician to make sure she doesn't have a bladder infection or something else going on would be good idea, but I wouldn't use the other kids' development as a yardstick for what your sweet one should be doing, especially her older sibling.

The name calling has to stop completely..you don't want her associating herself with shame or worry that she isn't enough. Try not to show any annoyance with her, especially in front of the other kids, or call attention to the fact that she has wet herself. You can speak to her in private about it, but kids are cruel and have long memories...she may never live that name down. We had a child whose cruel schoolmates called him "wetty teddy" for years beyond elementary...

The diapers at night are a pretty good sign that your daughter's bladder isn't large enough to hold the urine, often also a reason for her wetting during the day. Fluid intake is something to consider for nighttime wetting, although it is hard to tell them they can't drink when they are thirsty.

Lastly, think about the power struggle thing. She may be aware of how much you want her to do it..for ALL of our reasons, and she just won't give in to it. If that's the case, ignore it as much as possible, help her change and get back to what she loves to do, and don't say anything except "we go into the bathroom to pee, honey"..... She won't have any way of "fighting" that...

Hope this helps you...our struggle was a long one too, but once I relaxed, my son did too, and a lot of things beside the potty training came along more easily.... Hugs!!!!

3 moms found this helpful

✿.3.

answers from Reading on

Good Morning!
I also thought it my daughter would be in college in diapers. However, we kept reinforcing to her that once she turns 4, all diapers go away. She'll be a big girl and can only wear underwear. Do you know what? The day she turned 4, she was potty trained. She knew exactly what to do. Now, she does still wear pull ups to bed because she is a very heavy sleeper.
Good luck!

2 moms found this helpful
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P.M.

answers from Portland on

This website has explanations and suggestions for kids with delayed toilet training. Most of the information is quite sound, based on everything else I've researched and experienced with teaching young kids: http://www.rogerknapp.com/medical/pottytrainingrefusals.htm

Be aware that night dryness is not a matter of training, because it's not within the child's will to wake up during a deep sleep cycle. There are other physiological changes that must happen for a child to wake up dry, and that maturation simply takes whatever time it takes. For some unfortunate kids, they may be approaching puberty by the time they can reliably wake up dry, though most will get there sooner.

2 moms found this helpful

A.S.

answers from Iowa City on

Have her sit on the toilet every hour and a half for three to four minutes. Perhaps eventually she will get tired of you interrupting her activities every hour and start to go on her own. That worked for my daughter and it is what her doctor told us to do. Also, we got rid of diapers/pull ups completely during the day. If she had an accident, we cleaned it up. If we were out and about and she had an accident, so be it. We cleaned it up. Good luck.

1 mom found this helpful
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