What can you do about a 4 year old who persists on peeing herself?

Question

Hi My middle daughter is 4 years old and she has been fully dry since she was about 2 and a half, but recently she has taking to peeing herself. She knows she is doing it because she will stop what she is doing and like squat and pee in her clothes and then make a fuss when I try to clean her up. She also has started peeing at night again as well and he bed has been wet every night for about 2 weeks and last night i let her into mine (was her mommys night out) so I let her in my bed with me and we were reading a story and she just lay in the bed and peed in her pjs, she didnt even move or say she needed to she just lay there and peed the bed. I am at my wits end with it, its driving me crazy because I dont know why she is doing it and I can understand what her problem is. I have an appointment booked with my dr, but because I want her to see a female dr and there is only one at my practice she has to wait two weeks mean while she is continuing to pee herself.
Help
VERY FRUSTRATED

Answer 1

snap ,mine has just started doing the same thing since i had my second child 6 weeks ago,had to start using nappies again .been told by health visitor to ignore it ,its for attention but its hard 2 isnt it.

Answer 2

Is there something that's happened recently that may be causing this behavior change? Any instability at home or daycare (if she goes to daycare). Is she drinking more? My friend's daughter was diagnosed with diabetes and she would drink and drink and drink and then pee more often, sometimes not on the toilet (don't freak, diabetes is not the only reason this could be happening I'm just throwing some ideas out there). Just don't get mad at her, no matter how frustrated you become. That will only make things worse. Be patient and understand that there is a reason for this sudden change. Going to the doctor is an excellent first step.

Answer 3

Hi there

All i can advise until you go to the doctors to see if there's a cause for her wetting herself is

Take her to the loo every hour or so even if she seems like she doesn't need it encourage her to try just in case...it may be hard to keep to a time scale but anything is worth a try....and praise her for using the loo...

Don't react to much when she has an accident ( i know this is hard )as it may be an attention thing just clean her up and get back to whatever you where doing

When it comes to bed times cut out all drinks an hour before bed and take her to the loo just before bedtime.

Also it doesn't hurt to put her on the toilet again before you go to bed say 11..12 pm..? she will probably still be half asleep but get her to have a wee and put her straight back to bed ...she should just nod back off.

That's all i can suggest you try until you can get to the docs
Good Luck and i hope some of this helps

Answer 4

You say she is the middle daughter - is the younger child still in nappies? Because if so and she sees the younger child is having lots of fuss & attention if she is wet then she might want some of that attention herself. Many children regress in various different ways when they think a younger sibling is getting attention for babyish ways. Maybe they start using baby-talk, want things done for them that they used to do for themself ......& start wetting where they had previously been dry. Its a tough situation - hope this has helped.
Also - I know its a very old book but see if you can get hold of Dr. Benjamin Spock's book on baby & childcare. He explains this sort of problem very well indeed.

Answer 5

Perhaps she likes the attention and fuss she gets when she does it? She could have a medical problem causing it, but by the sounds of what you said about her squating down she's probably meaning to do it sometimes.

You say she's your middle daughter... How old is your youngest? Could she be jealous of you paying attention to your youngest child, eg if they still wet themselves.

I'm sure your dr will have some great advice, but like you said it IS 2 weeks away. Maybe tell her you'll take her sweets away or something she likes a lot if she keeps doing it. Always used to make me behave, lol.

Answer 6

Something about your post suggests you are a single mother? Do you have a new man friend? Has your daughter been in contact with new people - or other children - has she started at nursery school? It is hard to say what is affecting her and I wonder if you can start a conversation with her at the time she is 'performing'? Something along the lines of, 'Do you like wetting yourself?' Said in a non-judgemental tone of voice. Listen very carefully to her response and try to get her to vocalise what is happening in her mind when she thinks about wetting herself. There are many factors involved and the sooner you can have a thorough discussion with your doc the better.

Answer 7

i can understand your frustration!!! Did something happen in the home to make her not get as much of attention as she is use to?? My daughter is almost 5 and she started peeing in the bed at night(almost every night) because she had a new baby sister. Now she wears night time undies ..we call them...Just get your daughter big kid pull ups and make her use them until she gets over the peeing in her pants. It might be something as simple as the fact that she has a small bladder or just for attention. I would have her wear big kid pull ups. Hope this helps..

Answer 8

The parvo booster shouldn't reason incontinence. maximum in all probability the venture is being led to by utilising some thing else. on the main she ought to have had vomiting or diarrhea, some lethargy, or maybe an allergic reaction- no longer urinary incontinence. you ought to get her regarded at alongside with your vet ASAP. If she is spayed you are able to rule out pyometra even with the undeniable fact that that doesn't propose that she does not have some thing like a urinary tract an infection or bladder stones giving her difficulty. If she is licking this is an illustration that she is uncomfortable.

Answer 9

If you see that this is just for attention.........whenever she pees on herself..........make her help you clean it up. Make her do most of the work. And take away one toy everytime that she does it until it stops. If you take away one toy each time and make her change her own clothes, pull the sheets of the bed, ect. she will learn that it is not worth it. But make sure that if she goes an extended period of time without peeing on herself that you praise her for it and maybe even reward her. Show her that she gets more attention when she does something good.

Answer 10

Is there any chance that there could be some sort of upset or problem in her life? Have the family had a recent upheval-moving house etc?
This is often the cause of children who have previously been dry to revert back to wetting themselves.

Answer 11

Set an alarm during the day and take her to the bathroom every 2-3 hours; at night-time use goodnights. It's a phase. Don't worry about it.