A mom writes in asking for advice about her 5-year-old stepdaughter. She says her stepdaughter has started peeing and pooping on the floor of her room during the night. She gets out of bed and goes to the bathroom on the floor. This mom as attempted to speak with her stepdaughter to learn more about what’s going on but has been unable to get clear answers. Counseling is already on this mom’s mind as a potential solution, but the pandemic has complicated following through on that plan.
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A member of the community asks:
“My stepdaughter has been peeing and pooping in her bedroom at night: Advice?
My five-year-old stepdaughter is starting to pee and poop in her room at night. I mean she gets up out of bed and pees or poops on the floor, and when we ask her why, she says, ‘because I didn’t want to’ or ‘because I wanted to use the toilet.’
We tell her if she didn’t want to, she wouldn’t do it, or if she wanted to use the toilet she would… and she just keeps acting out. Someone help this mama out, plz; we have thought about counseling, but with this COVID 19 no one is doing face-to-face meetings at this time, and they don’t think video chat will help with this situation.”
– Mamas Uncut Community Member
Community Advice for This Mom Whose 5-Year-Old Daughter Poops and Pees on the Floor of Her Room at Night
To see what advice the Mamas Uncut Facebook community has for this mom in need, read the comments of the post embedded below.
Advice Summary
The community offered this mom in need a lot of great advice. Read some of their responses below.
“Be kind to her! Sounds as if she might be stressed!”
“I suggest a potty seat in her room. She may be too scared at night to walk to the potty.”
“From experience working in a mental hospital, there were some kiddos that would do these things out of the blue because something bad had happened to them. You might do some more investigating. Other things could be a new house so she is afraid to go alone in the dark. Try leaving a closet light on and the bathroom light. But regardless don’t freak out on her. There’s a reason she’s doing this. Kids don’t usually become potty trained then poop and pee on the floor for no reason. Hope you figure out what’s going on with your baby!”
“You need to dig deep. From experience, I can tell you that these kinds of things happen because of mental or physical trauma. She needs a safe place to be able to tell what her real problem is.”
“At 5, it’s probably that she’s scared to leave her room in the night. Do you leave a light on in the bathroom or hallway at night so it’s not pitch black? That could help. Or a night light or torch. Maybe put a potty in the room.”
“I was deathly afraid of the dark but my parents would not leave the bathroom light on for me to be able to see so I wet the bed a lot. Do whatever it takes to make her feel safe, something is scaring her.”
“I know you’re a stepmom, and don’t take this the wrong way… But maybe she needs a one-on-one with dad. Because she’s 5, not 2 or 3. In situations like this, she’s either scared of something or something is bothering her.”
“Try a potty chair in her room. Maybe with everything going on she’s afraid to leave her room when it’s dark?”
“Sounds like she may be scared at night. I remember when I was a kid I would hold it in all night and refuse to go because the hallway scared me even though the bathroom was next to my room.”
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