Am I Raising A Puppy?

[Gwen]

someone please tell me this is normal.

my son just turned 3yrs, he as been fully potty trained for about 3 or 4 months. just as he finished potty training he began having seizures and has been diagnosed with BRE, and is on meds and fine for now. anyway he, about a month ago and has been getting worse, began peeing on things. he will be sitting there doing something and then stand up, drop his pants and pee on something and then return to what he was doing like nothing happened. if i say something he startles and responds and gets upset so i don't think it is seizure related. my first thought when it started was that he was trying out his "new toy" look i can control and aim isn't this neat boy attitude. but now it's not even remotely funny, sometimes several times a day. he will tell me "peepee in the potty" so he knows and he does do it most of the time. it's getting to where no matter how hard i clean the room isn't that great of an aroma (he pees on the sofa, carpet, pillows, books, you name it). he has very few "accidents" and gets upset when he does. this appears to be concious and i don't want to tramatize him, but it has got to stop.

he also has what appears to me to be an unhealthy preocupation with his boy parts. and maybe it's not unhealthy. lol he has always prefered to be naked to clothed from a very young age, he as early as 9 months could manuver himself out the top of his diaper. he calms himself after fits or getting hurt or just falling asleep by touching himself. i really try not to make a big deal of it, if falling asleep or something i just move his hand and it's fine, if in public i ask him to raise his hands in the air (as i do it) and it distracts him without calling attention to the behavior i'm trying to curb.

i'm about at wits end, i don't know what to do. if anyone has any ideas i'm open to hear them.

[Josie]

My first suggestion is to talk to your family dr. Make sure there is nothing going on that you might not be aware of and see what he suggests

[shanstress70]

So he's been doing this for a month or so? I agree that you should tell his pediatrician about it to rule out anything medical. Otherwise, I would offer him rewards for peeing in the potty for the entire day. Talk to him and tell him you can do something special when he does not pee anywhere but the potty all day... maybe a trip to the dollar store for a toy, or a Happy Meal, etc. Mine did this a few times, so I don't think it's all that out of the ordinary, although I would have probably lost my mind if it went on this long! My kid LOVED to pee outside off the deck and when I was potty-training him, I asked him every hour or so if he wanted to pee off the deck. He always did bc it was fun, then he never was able to go in his pants. Sounds wierd and uncivilized, but it worked for us!

#2 was our problem - it took us FOREVER to get our son trained as far as that goes.

As far as the preoccupation, that's not unhealthy or unnatural... in fact, I think it would be unnatural if he DIDN'T do those things! In the case of my child, it slowed down quite a bit by the time he was 3.5 (he just turned 4). And I'm not a specialist on kids by any means, but every kid I've ever known has loved to be naked! This isn't abnormal, and IMO there is nothing wrong with letting them run around the house in the nude sometimes, as long as they don't have accidents! Children are innocent and IMO it is wrong to bring them up with the notion that their bodies are something to be ashamed of - after all, God made them for us.

Good luck... I would bet it's just a phase.

[StrawberryFields]

Almom,

Although I know people who have seizures I have never known anyone to have this behavior associated with them. Sorry to hear of your sons recent dx.

My first thought was one of attention. Is there a younger child in the house is gets attention when you need to change a diaper? I remember when one of my children would be potty trained and I had another child that child resorted back a little to get lost attention. The resorting back would be in the form of an accident in their pants and never what you describe. I like Shans idea about rewarding GOOD behavior.

Best of luck.

[shanstress70]

I like Shans idea about rewarding GOOD behavior.

And you didn't like the idea to let him pee off the deck?

It's really lovely, let me tell ya. Thankfully we have a fenced yard. :)

[Gwen]

i used peeing out side as part of potty training, we have a peepee tree in our yard. lol once they could predict and control they had to come in to pee.

i've tried to use verbal positive reinforcement, not used physical (toys etc). need to try that. i do have a younger child that is in diapers, i'm afraid that putting him back will make him further regress. he potty trained to begin with cause i was training an older brother and he wanted to be one of the big boys. i'm concerned that part of the behavior is convineance. a diaper is more so.

i do have a few ideas, one that is occuring to me now is to treat him like he is not potty trained, go back to the original method only for different behaviors this time. not necessarly back to diapers, just the method.

thanks all for letting me complain lol

[lannesackman]

Hi

Well let me first say that I am so glad that I am not alone! My son will be 3 in Feb. and we are in the midst of potty training. In alot of ways it feels like I am house breaking a puppy! Gotta love that "pee" aroma..

I think I have got him pretty well going in the potty as long as he is naked... Getting him into underwear is the next step... This is so much not fun!

My son also has a fasination with boy parts but I am pretty sure this is normal....

Good luck and happy cleaning!

Lindsay

[Maureen]

Hi ALmom,

I'm curious, what is BRE?

M.

[Gwen]

Benign Rolandic Epilepsy, he's had me worried on more than one occasion. but he remindes me daily, "mommy, i'm superman; or mommy, i'm strong" when he is playing of carying things (i usually don't want him to carry). he is tough and as soon as i can get him to understand proper social protocol he will concor the world. lol

lol, the nudist thing is wonderful, we barely have him staying clothed all day and i think really that was cause it got cold so i don't really know what to expect come this summer. lol well, i didn't have to pull the buying toys, but i did over christmas holidays get him to pee in the bathroom. notice i didn't say toilet. lol he tries, but suddenly somone with great aim to hit things in the living room now has none and is all over the bathroom. but at least we are focused on tile rather than fabric. so i'll take what i can get.

thanks for the support and good luck to you Lindsay

[mom_of_jcchlsm]

Epilepsy, night terrors, sleepwalking and bedwetting are very closely linked. My 7-yr-old has epilepsy and is a sleepwalker. Her great uncle would sleepwalk and urinate in strange places when he was young (he still may - my mother-in law only knows he did until he moved out of the house at age 18). It is probably epilepsy-related behavior and not a potty-training issue. I would talk to your pediatric neurologist. You may be able to avert unpleasant urinating incidents by making sure he empties his bladder frequently and by being alert for mild seizures (and ready to step in with a plasic-lined trash bag if he decides to pee). My daughter has grown out of severe seizures. Though she will be labeled and epileptic for life, and has a much higher risk of seizures with fever or trauma, she is now leading a happy, normal unmedicated childhood, for which I am greatful. She does require much more sleep than other children (she sleeps 10-11 hours a night, plus often a 1-2 hour nap). Some doctors believe epileptics need more sleep because they have a hard time switching over between sleep phases (or levels), and so their sleep time is not as productive/restful. It is also right at these switching points that night seizures, terrors, walking and bedwetting occur. Daytime seizures often fall in the same places (extending the sleep cycle curve over the rest of the day).

[Gwen]

Epilepsy, night terrors, sleepwalking and bedwetting are very closely linked. My 7-yr-old has epilepsy and is a sleepwalker. Her great uncle would sleepwalk and urinate in strange places when he was young (he still may - my mother-in law only knows he did until he moved out of the house at age 18). It is probably epilepsy-related behavior and not a potty-training issue. I would talk to your pediatric neurologist. You may be able to avert unpleasant urinating incidents by making sure he empties his bladder frequently and by being alert for mild seizures (and ready to step in with a plasic-lined trash bag if he decides to pee). My daughter has grown out of severe seizures. Though she will be labeled and epileptic for life, and has a much higher risk of seizures with fever or trauma, she is now leading a happy, normal unmedicated childhood, for which I am greatful. She does require much more sleep than other children (she sleeps 10-11 hours a night, plus often a 1-2 hour nap). Some doctors believe epileptics need more sleep because they have a hard time switching over between sleep phases (or levels), and so their sleep time is not as productive/restful. It is also right at these switching points that night seizures, terrors, walking and bedwetting occur. Daytime seizures often fall in the same places (extending the sleep cycle curve over the rest of the day).

we will see the neuro in feb. it's on my list of things to discuss. that another behivor issue i'm concerned about. he is getting better though. trying to control when and where, more pants accidents, less carpet and furniture. lol so i consider it improvement.

[Guest lidia sarahi]

hello

how old are you??

are you married????????????????