My son is 4 and potty training has been a horrid nightmare. Well, I am starting the nightmare again and my son literally pees every hour sometimes more often! Here is our deal:
Pee in the potty and you get 30min video games
Poo you get 45 min video games
Both and you get 60 min video games
Worked well for us over all today except he used the potty sucessfully but had equal accidents. The idea came to me along with the will to try again around 10am and we were successful ... he got to play, then about 20 min after he finished his 30 min he already had an accident ... and this continued thru the day ... we have been thru soo many underwear changes I have to wash them all tonight just so we will have enough to do it again tomorrow. Not really my concern at this moment ... my main concern does he have too much pee? He has only had a total of 8oz to drink plus a bowl of ceral with 1/3 cup of milk and a 8oz serving of mandarin oranges, drained for known liquids. Is this just too much, and I am asking for this much urine? he has been tested for diabetes so that does not appear to be an option at this time.
he does also have severe ADHD and sensory processing (he likes the feeling of peeing himself eww) ... but is that a typical amt of urine for a 4yr old or is there something else that could be there?
Thank you Denise S. for responding to my true question ... I agree that it may be a bladder infection after talking to my mom and reading some other info online and your short and simple post just put the cherry on top. I called the Dr. this morning and we are getting a urine sample and testing to see if he as an infection or if there is something else going on.
That does seem like a lot of liquid to give him at once. Perhaps give him 2 oz at a time and make him ask for more?
My kids did best when the potty was in the room with them. So I carried it to the playroom if we were there, and to the kitchen if we were there. Maybe not the most appetizing thing to see, but the idea "to go" would only come into their head when they really ready to go. So having it close by helped. Perhaps he simply is not ready yet. I would praise him for his successes and perhaps put him back in pull-ups or some kind of padded underwear that looks more cloth like and has those absorbent pads in them. I believe Gerber makes some. My daughter wanted to be in "big girl underwear" but I would ask her if she had to pee and she would look at me and say no, and literally 10 second later she would pee in her pants. I went back to diapers for 6 months with underwear over it and when we tried again she got it in about 3 weeks. Good luck.
What you described is a lot of liquid for a 4 year old to hold in their bladder. My son is 2 1/2 years old and he can go an hour or more without using the toilet IF and ONLY IF he hasn't had anything, or much, to drink or any foods with a lot of liquid. If he drinks something or has cereal with milk or a fruit with a lot of liquid then I will make him go to the toilet more often until he has peed about 3-4 times. I will usually make him go to the toilet every 20-30 minutes or we will have an accident. You have to remember, their bladders are much smaller than our bladder and they've not had as much experience holding urine like we have. Their mussels are still weak.
at four, if he is having trouble it is because it is a control issue for him. this is one thing you CANNOT control. You will lose this battle if you turn it to a fight. so don't make it into a fight. the best thing to do is act like it's not a big deal, but seeing as how you're not the who peed in the underwear, you shouldn't have to clean it up. have him do it, but DO NOT SHOW ANY ANGER OR FRUSTRATION. be like "oh, you peed? here is a baby wipe, clean your self up and get new underwear on. there is a sink and there's the soap, you have to wash it or you wont have any underwear for later." or "you have to rinse it our or it will be really stinky." If it is poop, have him dump the poop in the toilet, if it falls out, then he'll have to wash his hands really well along with the floor. then have him rinse out the underwear int he sink and put it in the washer. all on his own. with no help from you. this will work, it's called natural consequences. i promise you he will not go to kindergarten in pull ups
I certainly don't think that he had too much liquid in his diet for the day...if anything maybe too little. My first thought was the same as Elizabeth C...this is a power struggle. It sounds like your little guy loves his video games ALOT and the best way for him to get game time is to go in the potty. Maybe he isn't emptying his bladder in hopes of returning later to get more game time? and then once he is playing and super involved in his games he doesn't want to get up to go...and because he is ignoring his body's signals he may start to get confused by them or just lazy when it comes to responding to them. My 5 year old boy constantly puts off going to the bathroom until the last minute when playing...he even still has accidents. I don't make a big deal out of it but he does have to deal with them immediately and on his own. My son also cannot stay dry at night yet and for that we just use pull-ups. Hope you find the solution for you and your little guy!
bladder infection or kidney infection
Um.. not an expert with adhd, but i'd set a timer...about 45 minutes from last pee and then when alarm goes off, it triggers him to remember to go pee or at least try. Helps make you more aware too. I found if I was out & about my kids never had accidents, but at home they did. Out & about I took them more often to avoid accidents, I got lazy at home & so did they. As far as too much or not enough etc....I just always provided fresh cold water at all times & I never really regulated liquids, I let them do that, I just make sure what I offer is healthy. Hope this helps.
As I understand it, he had about 10 ounces of fluids all day? And this is every day? He is more likely dehydrated and that's causing it's own issues in the urinary tract. He needs at least double that amount of fluids.
Put some pull ups on the child, take him to a Pediatric Urologist and talk to his doc that did the ADHD and Sensory Processing testing and find out if he's even cognitively able to fulfill this goal of doing this right now.
I feel bad for you about the laundry but that is not a choice I would have ever made. I don't want my house smelling like pee or have to keep wandering around looking for wet spots on the carpet to clean them. If our guys wets more than once he's in a pull up the rest of the day.
