3 yo pees a little in underwear before going to the toilet

[Anonymous]

DS turned 3 in March and I potty-trained him late last year. Once "trained", he had almost zero full-on accidents, but what I've noticed when I go to change him is that his underwear is always slightly damp. This is a daily occurrence so my guess is that DS pees a few drops in his underwear before he goes to use the toilet. I've told him that he shouldn't wait that long, that all of his pee needs to go into the toilet, but he's 3 and my words aren't getting through to him. What can I do about this? I do ask him "Do you need to use the toilet", but don't want to force him to the toilet.

[Anonymous]

our DC wasn't training until 4. You're doing great. Wish I had advice for you though.

[Anonymous]

Accidents happen. It’s perfectly normal. Be patient with him and remind he that he needs to stop playing and go to the potty.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:our DC wasn't training until 4. You're doing great. Wish I had advice for you though.

Thank you!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Accidents happen. It’s perfectly normal. Be patient with him and remind he that he needs to stop playing and go to the potty.

OP here. I agree that this is normal, but the issue is that I’m pretty sure that DS doesn’t see the little pee as an “accident”, but rather his routine. He’s my first boy and I have no idea if this is something he’ll naturally grow out of, or if I should be helping him figure this out gently.

[Anonymous]

He’ll get it. No one likes to pee their pants. I promise he won’t go to college having pee accidents.

[Anonymous]

Don’t worry, mine did the same thing. He was still figuring out the difference between “I have to pee” and “oh no, I’m actually peeing.” It lasted a few months when we first switched to underpants, and let him self initiate bathroom breaks, but then he grew out of it.

[Anonymous]

Mine did this every time for months, but then he just grew out of it. If it’s a problem just get the thicker training undies

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Accidents happen. It’s perfectly normal. Be patient with him and remind he that he needs to stop playing and go to the potty.

OP here. I agree that this is normal, but the issue is that I’m pretty sure that DS doesn’t see the little pee as an “accident”, but rather his routine. He’s my first boy and I have no idea if this is something he’ll naturally grow out of, or if I should be helping him figure this out gently.

He will outgrow it on his own. There’s no reason to be concerned. How damp are his pants? Is it actually just a drop of pee and barely noticeable?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Accidents happen. It’s perfectly normal. Be patient with him and remind he that he needs to stop playing and go to the potty.

OP here. I agree that this is normal, but the issue is that I’m pretty sure that DS doesn’t see the little pee as an “accident”, but rather his routine. He’s my first boy and I have no idea if this is something he’ll naturally grow out of, or if I should be helping him figure this out gently.

He will outgrow it on his own. There’s no reason to be concerned. How damp are his pants? Is it actually just a drop of pee and barely noticeable?

OP again. His underwear is pretty damp, a good inch or inch and half in length is pretty wet so it’s more than just a drop or two.

Also, it’s been more than a half year since he’s been potty trained.

[Anonymous]

Mine did that until she was 5. The drop dried before i caught it most of the time and she smelled a bit like pee sometimes. This issue went away on its own - 2 years. It's fine I noticed some of her friends smelled a bit like pee too, so it must be very common. She's 10 now and perfectly happy, smart, normal.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Accidents happen. It’s perfectly normal. Be patient with him and remind he that he needs to stop playing and go to the potty.

OP here. I agree that this is normal, but the issue is that I’m pretty sure that DS doesn’t see the little pee as an “accident”, but rather his routine. He’s my first boy and I have no idea if this is something he’ll naturally grow out of, or if I should be helping him figure this out gently.

He will outgrow it on his own. There’s no reason to be concerned. How damp are his pants? Is it actually just a drop of pee and barely noticeable?

OP again. His underwear is pretty damp, a good inch or inch and half in length is pretty wet so it’s more than just a drop or two.

Also, it’s been more than a half year since he’s been potty trained.

You can try having him wear training underwear for a little while. He can still go when he needs to but at least any accidents won’t get on his clothes.

[Anonymous]

I would bet that if you have him put on gloves and “wash” them himself, he will stop. If you want to change a behavior that you think is in his control, there has to be a cost to it. His brain will start to associate the act of peeing prematurely with having to do the chore of cleaning it up and he will stop.

I love kids and would never punish a kid for something that they can’t help, but I’ve never heard of this and I was a teacher of younger kids for many years. Also, reward him for not doing it.

[Anonymous]

Take a break and go back to diapers for a while. He will let you know when he is ready to try again?

[Anonymous]

I think it's happening because he is preoccupied with whatever he is doing and leaving it too late to go. It seems perfectly normal to me. Don't put pressure on him but just give reminders to go more frequently. Also just tell him to go don't ask because he'll say he doesn't need to go. Mine was like that - he would say he doesn't need to go but if i made him would go once in the bathroom.

He is doing great at 3 - so nothing to worry about.