Dr Catherine
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Girl
4-7 years

Hi Robert, a return to daytime accidents can sometimes result from stress and starting school can be an incredibly stressful experience for young children. Speak to your sons teacher to see if she has identified any other behaviours in the classroom that may indicate your son is stressed or upset at school. At times of stress or significant change it is important to provide additional support to children as well as trying to keep other changes in their life to a minimum, this may mean not starting a new sporting activity. Remember young children take great comfort from the familiar, so keep things as constant as possible. Another possibility for his accidents may be that he is too scared to ask the teacher to go to the toilet or is too absorbed in playing with friends to stop and go to the toilet. Talk with him and check if this is a possibility; if it is the case have a chat with his teacher so that he or she is aware of the situation and can help him by reminding him to go throughout the day. Sometimes school toilets can be a scary place to go, they can be full of much bigger kids who are noisy and simply big! Occasionally when children start school they forget to drink throughout the day and are therefore more prone to becoming constipated, constipation can cause accidents so it would be certainly worth having this ruled out by your GP. All the best! Regards, Dr Cathrine