My youngest daughter is almost 3 and for the past two months has been wetting her underwear daily, usually multiple times a day. She potty trained fairly easily right before she turned two and has been great ever since. Except for now. When we talk about it, she knows she's supposed to go "in the potty" and not in her pants... it just seems like she forgets. What bothers me most is that she doesn't seem to mind running around in wet underwear. That, and all the extra laundry.
I should note that both her older sisters have a "wait until the last minute" issue with going to the bathroom. It's very frustrating for me, and them when they have accidents. This usually occurs when they are focused on an activity (playing outside, watching a show, doing a craft, etc).
I do try to make the baby go every 2 hours... but with our schedules I even forget to make her go sometimes. Oh, and she sleeps through the night without bedwetting.
Has anyone gone through this and have some advice for breaking the "last minute" habit?
Thanks for all the ideas. She's gotten a little better lately, but still has "accidents" at least once a day. She makes a joke of wetting her pants, so we put her in pull ups and told her she can wear "big girl panties" when she listens like a big girl (when we'd tell her it was time to potty she would say NO and run away giggling). She doesn't like the pull ups and is working toward earning back her panties by keeping them dry all day. :)
I had a son that pulled that but with the other, I made him wash them out and stood there while he did it. He got the point and stopped on his own. When he did he got lots of praise and told how big he was for that. It might work for you might be worth the try anyway. Good luck.
Yep....been there. I'm not sure which came first, but she also developed a case of vagititus at the same time. It's where she had a red and burning vagina. I think what happened was all the "last minute" lead to slightly wet panties, which led to germ breeding. Also, she has a HORRIBLE habit of wiping her backside first, then her front, so that also bred germs. It was so frustrating!
My advice: Check her out - look for redness (my daughter just turned 3, but didn't always tell me it hurt or burned). If so, call your pedi. You can treat with sitz baths in epsom salt. You can also use vagisil cream to help heal and soothe her. Then, be sure to go with her each time she potties (a habit I wasn't in). Help remind to how to clean herself properly and if there is any amount of wetness in her panties, have her change right away (I just kept a stash of clean panties on the back of the potty in a little basket for easy reach). I even went back to the wet wipes (Kandoo) for her to use to make sure we "got it." I found that as her vigititus cleared up and we retaught what it was to keep herself properly cleaned, we got back on track! Lots and lots of "We have to keep our panties all dry so our vagina doesn't get hurt" reminders - probably 5-10 times a day I tell ya - it finally sunk in! :) Good luck! :)
Mom used silky panties with me and said that did the trick. wet and silky get slimy or icky feeling. again i would try to remind them all day "ITS POTTY TIME"!!! good luck.
I had a friend in college that didn't know she had to go until that last minute. She said that the sensor that tells you that you have to go didn't work properly. Since all of your girls have a problem with waiting until the last minute, it might be worth checking out.
A timer/alarm watch might be a way for them to remember to go.
Set a timer to remind her to go.
I echo what Susan said- my girls and I have trouble noticing when we need to go. If we're not busy doing something then we may go but not really FEEL the need to go. But if we are busy we loose track of time and then oops! it's too late and we're running to the bathroom while peeing in the floor.
Do your girls have other sensory problems? The Out of Sync Child (some libraries have it!) is a great resource to learn more about it and if your children have it.
My girls are nearly 6, nearly 5, 3 1/2 and 1 1/2. My 6 YO is the only one potty trained.
We had the same problem with our son around this age when there had been no changes which could lead to regression. He also potty-trained around 2yo. We just started keeping an eye on him as we did when we were potty-training and had to ask if he needed to go. When we were sure he did, but he said no, we would offer him 2 choices- take the time to go to the potty or go have timeout instead. His issue was not wanting to take the time out from playing to go potty. Usually he would just go to the potty then go back to playing. It may seem harsh, but it worked wonders for us.
I've found that routine is an excellent way to overcome many issues with children. For instance before you leave the house to go to the store EVERYONE uses the potty whether they think they have to or not. Then (mostly for the little one) as soon as we enter the store, if it's going to be a long shopping trip, EVERYONE uses the potty. Then (again mostly for the the little one) EVERYONE uses the potty just before we leave the store. This sounds excessive, but it's easy to lose track of time in situations like grocery shopping. I've found that I can be in the store for 2 hours easily. But if you make the trips to the potty a habit the brain begins to build dendrites that connect to the act of using the potty and the times it's supposed to occur. Just like using the potty right before going to bed and immediately after waking up. Or if a craft project is about to begin we use the potty right before(washing your hands before a project can be a plus anyway) and we go immediately after we finish the first project we were working on. Going outside can get a little tricky, that's when an alarm may come in handy. We use the potty first, then go outside, after about 2 hours we come in to use the potty and maybe have a drink of water and a snack, then if we like we go back outside.
The routine will be hardest for you, but it will be so worth it once you've noticed that none of your girls are wetting themselves. Also, not waiting until the last minute as they grow older will reduce their risks for recurring bladder infections, vaginitis, yeast infections, and various kidney problems.
Good luck with the potty re-training.
Mine is doing the same thing. Just know it is a phase...our pedi said that it is perfectly natural until they're 7.
I find that maybe there is some thing new in her life that you may want to pay closer attention to and zoom in on the things that started just before the wetting accidents
