Reverting Back to Early Potty Training Days

Hi N.,
You may want to ask your Dr. however my son went through the same thing off and on until he was 9. The Dr. told me it was growth spurts, the nerves and muscles grow at a different pace and the muscles used to control pee and poop may not be getting the nerve responses during the growth spurts. They generally outgrow this within a few weeks or month, pull ups are great during this time period.

Generally it is very embarrassing for the child. I explained all the medical stuff to my son so he didn't feel bad about it and I didn't mention it around anyone else. After he understood what was happening he would come tell me when he started having a hard time controlling it again, pull ups for awhile and back to normal again.

Like I said, he is 9 now and hasn't had another episode for probably 6 months. Always good to check with the Dr. and make sure it isn't a bladder infection or something else.

Good luck,
SarahMM

make sure he doesn't have a urinary tract infection or something....

Chances are he is so preoccupied that he forgets. He might just need to be reminded to go once in a while. I have heard of it happening. Also, is he happy at school? Is he accepted and have friends? How long have you been back to work? Just ask yourself the questions you don't need to write back unless you think there is something else.
C. B

Have there been any changes in your life? Change can cause children to regress. Is there something bothering him at school? Or at home? Sometimes boys get so caught up with the excitement they forget to go potty or don't want to go potty for fear of missing something. Talk to him. Don't punish or shame him. Pack extra clothes. Praise him for times when he is dry. He doesn't want to wet himself. I'm sure this is temporary.

Have a talk with him and tell him that he needs to be incharge of getting to the potty on time. Explain that only he knows when he needs to go and nobody else can know that for him. Kids rely on us for so many things sometimes they rely on an adult to make sure that they do basic things like getting to the potty on time and getting a snack when their hungry. I got this idea from my m-i-l and used on on my daughter when she started having accidents again. It really helped.

You may also want to try setting up a bathroom schedule. He needs to go at regular intervals during the school day and right before events even if he doesn't feel like he needs to go.

He is probably "too busy" to go potty. My niece went through a stage like that and she flat out told us that she just didn't want to quit playing for fear that she'd miss out. So we just made her "try" to go before we did anything at all...

Think hard about ANY changes that have happened in his life and really talk with him and ask him how he's feeling. People say "you can't talk to kids like they're adults". While that may be true in the sense that you cannot expect them to act like adults, I deeply believe that you always need to talk to your kids, ask them questions and explain things, because how else are they going to learn how to communicate?
Second, and I've had to do this. Make a habit of taking him potty every hour(they need to at least try, (or whatever time you think is appropriate) for a couple of days, then lengthen it, to where you eventually are just reminding them, and (hopefully you've talked before about what it may feel like to need to go potty)telling them "as soon as you feel like you might need to go, GO!"
Kids I think need to make things a habit more than once because they're learning so much and so much is changing, sometimes they forget and fall out of habit.
Hope this helps you. :)
K.