Three Year Old Urinating on the His Floor and Bed

Updated on April 23, 2008
R.C. asks from Goldsboro, NC
13 answers

I have a three year old son who has been potty trained for almost 7 months. When he decided he was ready to potty train he learned quickly and maybe had one accident after trained. All the sudden in the last two weeks he will urinate in his bed while laying down for a nap, but not asleep. Or if his underwear are off will pee on his floor. I dont know if he is just acting out? or if I should be concerned and take him to the doctor. Has anyone else had this problem or any suggestions on what to do?

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So What Happened?

I just wanted to say "Thank You" to everyone for your responses. I had thought this was just a case of behavorial attention, but I decided to take my son to his Doctor just to make sure he didn't have a UTI. The urine sample did not show a infection but it did show a large amount of blood. The doctor sent the sample off for some more test and a culture. He said they will know more when they get the results back next week. But my son's problem could range from dehydration to kidney problems.
Just a note to all other mother's who maybe having this problem...Please see a doctor just to rule out any medical problems!
Again thanks to everyone for your thoughts and help!
R.

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R.S.

answers from Huntington on

Did he start preschool or daycare? Maybe one of his friends told him that he pees on the floor all the time and it's fun to see mom blow up, and so he thinks it's cool. Seems like if he had an infection or couldn't control himself, he'd sometimes pee in his pants, too. I'd ask him if he knows why.

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J.L.

answers from Lexington on

My son did the same thing. I was due with my daughter on his 3rd birthday, and the only thing I wanted was to have him out of diapers by that time. We started a few months before he turned 3 and within two weeks he was trained. It was amazing and too easy. Everyone kept telling me he would regress about two months after the new baby was born. He did great up until my daughter turned 3 months old. He started to wet the bed at naps and at night. During this time we were traveling quite a bit so I thought it would get better after we got settled into our normal routine. It didn't, he actually decided not to aim when he went in the toilet (got on the walls and floor) and he also thought it would be neat to aim it into the tub. That didn't last too long due to time-outs. So on my daughters last well-baby check I asked our ped about it. He said it was perfectly normal. That they are now getting into the phase that they are sleeping deeply and are not waking up as easily and that while awake, they don't want to take the time to go to the potty. He said to make him go every 2 hours, and to put pull-ups on him at naps and at night. He also said to watch and make sure he is having normal BM's due to the fact that they don't want to take the time to do that either and will get themselves constipated. We aren't having any problems with that thank the Lord!! So, I would say that your son is just as normal as mine!!! At least by my ped's advice!

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E.J.

answers from Clarksville on

I had a similar problem with my son when he was around 4. He was completely potty trained at 2 and regressed when his little sister was born. I bought 1 convience box of pampers(years ago) everytime I changed him I sent him to the potty and he would urinate in the toilet. The when that box was empty I told him he had to go back to big boy pant because we didn't have anymore diapers his size and he did. But at 4 he started have accidents 4 or 5 times a day. I took him to the doctor for fear he had some type of bladder infection. She checked him out completely. Tye wise old sages' verdict was that he was a boy and didn't care if he was wet or not. They get busy play and don't want to stop and take the time to go to the bathroom. After that I would send my son to the bathroom every hour. He asked me once how I knew when he had to peepee. My answer was I'm the mommy. I gradually went to longer periods of times before sending him. That took care of our problem with the day time accidents. So I suggest you do the same. Make sure there is nothing physical causing the problem. Then do something similar to what I did. It worked for us.
We had to work on the bed wetting for years. What worked for us might not work for most people though. We would not let him have any liquids after 8. Then we would make sure he went to the restroom right before he went to bed at 9. Right before I went to bed I would wake him up enough to walk him to the toilet and tell him to pee. Most of the time I had to hold him. He would then I took him back to bed. My husband has never slept well and would almost alwas go to bed before me. He always wakes up in the middle of the night and goes to the bathroom. He would get him up also. Most of the time that would work. But there were still mornings that his bed was still wet. He has alway been a very sound sleeper. So between that and the fact his father had been a bed wetter we just excepted it as a part of our night time routine. He is now 25 with two boys of his own. The oldest is 4 1/2 and the youngest will be three in a couple of weeks. The oldest is a bed wetter and the youngest rarely wettest. My son's wife sleeps almost as soundly as he does so they can't do want we did when he was little. So both of my grandson's were the nighttime pull ups. They call them their night time big boy sleep pants. They are now making time that are large enough to fit up to 125 pounds. So you might want to try those at night if it is not practical for you to have the same night routine that we had. Good Luck

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L.E.

answers from Nashville on

R.,
I have a 4 yr. old daughter and she was the same way. She potty trained easily and never had a accident until recently she started wetting while playing. We are trying her on Miralax. I was concerned about bladder infections so I took her to the Dr. Her Dr. thinks she is constipated and it is pushing on her blatter causing her to urinate uncontrollably. She said it could take up to 6 months to retrain her bowels to push through and not stay constipated. While on Miralax the wetting has stopped but it is still an ongoing process. I hope this might help.

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C.P.

answers from Norfolk on

I have to say you just described my son to a tee!! When he was 3-4 he did the exact same thing. My little man was distracted and didn't want to leave what he was watching or playing with to go into the bathroom and potty. It took us a while to get him broke of it but eventually he started to go in the bathroom. A few suggestions... put him on the potty right before nap time. While he is up and playing, have him take a potty break once an hour. We even went as far as putting a portable potty chair in his room to he could go in that instead of the big scary toilet. haha!! Once he got used to going and understood the urge to go, everything fell into place and its been great!!! I hope this helps you out and good luck!!

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C.P.

answers from Rochester on

My son is also three years old. I just recently gave birth to my second son. During my pregnancy I was put on strict bed rest. My son had a hard time adjusting to this and began to purposely act out by using the bathroom where he shouldn't. We tried to be understanding, but that didn't work. Finally, we began to take away his toys and he'd earn it back by doing his business in the toilet. After doing this three times, we've been accident free again!

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E.C.

answers from Memphis on

Take him to the doctor and make sure there is not a medical reason for his "accidents." You will feel better about curbing this behavior if you know that there is no underlying medical cause. I am overly cautious because when my daughter started wetting the bed again there was a medical reason.

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E.H.

answers from Greensboro on

It sounds like he's regressed, which is perfectly normal. Just take the extra time to remind him that his pee goes in the potty not on the floor. Have him help you change his sheets when he wets on them and clean up any mess he makes on the floor. Reassure him that the potty is his friend and it's ok to go even when he's laying in his bed for naptime. If he thinks he has to stay in his room during naptime, he won't make the effort to go potty when he needs to go. Let him know that it's ok to come out and go potty whenever he needs to go.

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S.S.

answers from Lexington on

have you asked him why this is happening? he may know. he may also have a uti or bladder infection. they are less common in little boys than girls, but they do get them. if he does, it may hurt to pee, so he holds it. then when he is relaxed before a nap he just cant hold it any more. also when he takes off his underpants, the cold air can make it hard to hold his urine any more. has he had a fever at all? all they have to do to check for a uti at the pediatricians, is to have him pee in a cup. hope this helps.

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A.H.

answers from Charlotte on

I have a six year old son. He still has accidents because he waits too long to go. He also does it when he sleeps. But he sleep walks and sometimes thinks he is in the bathroom when he's not. Just ask him to go before he lays down even if he says he doesn't need to. It can't hurt!

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K.M.

answers from Knoxville on

My son was also potty trained but would have the occasional series of accidents. He was sick.There was something called Eury . . . wrong.

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V.C.

answers from Wheeling on

1) It's fun.
2) It's interesting.
3) It's 'out of the ordinary'.
4) It gets your attention!
5) It may even get him LOTS of attention!
6) Did I mention that it might get him some extra attention! LOL (Kids LIKE attention!)
Probably a little reward system to reinforce his former good habits is in order. I wouldn't think it's anything serious if everything else seems 'normal'. (I'm a 50 yr old mom to 4 grown kids and 'Mom-Mom' to 3 little ones -- 2 of whom I've helped potty train. The youngest is only 8 mo).

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J.D.

answers from Greenville on

have you changed anything with his routine?

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