4yr old potty trained but still wet!! Please Help!

Mary - posted on 05/27/2011

My daughter was a heavy sleeper and a sleep walker at night and would have the same problem of bed wetting and then in the daytime only going to the bathroom just enough to relieve the pressure. Our pediatrician recommended a pad that we purchased through Sears that would sound an alarm when it got wet. We used this on her bed. (We would layer the bed with a regular sheet, then the pad, then a flat sheet folded the long way over the pad and tucked in on the sides. We also had a mattress protector on the mattress.)



It took a few nights of the alarm sounding and us getting her up to go to the bathroom when she wet the bed at night, but it did start to help her recognize she was wetting and helped her to gain control over this. The pad was extremely sensitive to wetness and it was best not to have too much thickness over it so it could trigger quickly.



When she gained control over the bed wetting she gained control over the day time wetting eventually, also. It took some discipline on our part to get up with her and follow through on having her use the bathroom at night and during the day on a regular basis, but in the end she was successful at mastering this.

Karina - posted on 05/26/2011

My 3 year old is going through the same thing. She will be four in Jan. and I'm afraid I'm still going to be going through this. She does good for a month or so then she slips and goes on her self. What I figured is that her brain is not mature enought to grasp the potty concept 100% so I put underwear on for most of the day then when I see that she's just getting lazy with going to the potty I put pullups. Another thing she was doing was going to the backyard to pee on herself, so I knew she knew what she was doing. All you can do is be patient with her you don't want to discourage her or bring her self esteem down. I have spoken with my daughters pedia. and she said that sometime toddlers to through this during the process of training, which means they learn something master it and might just go backwards and parents have to deal with the trainging or encouraging process again.

Patricia - posted on 05/25/2011

your welcome sorry i couldn't help if i think of any thing else i will let you know

Amanda - posted on 05/25/2011

First I'll mention that bed wetting is hereditary. If you wet until you were 10, she is probably going to have the same issues. My son had the same problem up until last year. He was about 5 1/2 when he stopped wetting at night, but he still has accidents at school sometimes even now. I used to get really frustrated because he would go months without an accident, and then all of a sudden we would have daily accidents for two weeks straight. His pediatricians can not find anything physically wrong with him, but I have found that his wetting tends to happen when he is having trouble with his allergies.

I would start keeping a diary for her, what she has eaten, if she has spent most of the day outside or inside, mentionable events (grandma's coming/friends party/went to beach), anything else you might think could contribute to the wettings. You might start to see a pattern you wouldn't have thought of before. It might be a reaction to food, environment, or excitement that is causing it.

I'm sure she isn't telling anyone when she goes on the sofa or floor because she is embarrassed. We went through a time when we kept finding urine soaked clothes balled up and hidden in corners, behind toys, in drawers with clean clothes... in the meantime, get a waterproof mattress pad for the bed and either changing table pads or something else for the sofas. I have little pads that are cloth on top and rubber on the bottom that my mother had saved from when I was a baby. Make it a rule that she will need to sit on them for awhile. They can be her "special seat covers" so everyone knows that is "her seat".

Lisamarie - posted on 05/25/2011

Thanks Patricia, unfortunately we have tried all that, because I had problems when I was young, I tried all the tricks my mum used to do for me including the praising and treats.

Patricia - posted on 05/25/2011

i meant steam clean the furniture i got distracted with my son sorry

Patricia - posted on 05/25/2011

reward her with a healthy treatt and really praise her up every time she goes to the toilet night time either put her back in nappies or get a mattress protector i suggest 2 one wash one on the bed you may have to steam the furniture i would suggest taking her to the doctors first to see if there is a medical problem