Re: Bowel problems with my 4 yr old

Barring anything being physically wrong
like your son being dehydrated, I would
venture the guess that part of it is
the realization that he is no longer
the "baby" he was and as his comfort
zone shifts with other challenges and
opportunities that come with being 4
instead of 2 or 3, he may be reverting
just a bit. My own child had her own
issues, not wanting to take the time
to use the toilet and putting it off
until she had wet herself. What worked
for her was giving her a little note
book and stickers. She lived to stay
dry week by week since on a friday we
would do something special like go
get an ice cream cone. If you can
find some way to motivate your son,
at the end of the current package of
pull-ups, consider negotiating.

I had a girl friend once whose son
continued to wet the bed until she
was ready to wet her own bed with
tears of frustration. I asked her
to allow him to visit for one week.
At the end of the week, he had
slept through each night and had not
wet the bed once. She was amazed, of
course, and he was also pretty happy
and proud of himself too. She asked
me what I had done, and I did feel
a little sheepish when I admitted I
gave him a quarter every morning that
he had stayed dry. He carried those
quarters around with him like they
were treasure and as he had more
than a couple, I think it was enough
to motivate him to try to stay dry.
Anyway, a suggestion which is sort
of out of the box/pocket, but for
less than 2 bucks, all the stress
and frustration the child and his
mother were going through went away.
He did not go back to wetting the
bed and he was able to "see" with
his quarters, his progress.



best wishes,
Zoe

-_-