Potty Training regression

[Indiana Suzie]

My daughter just turned 4 and is having serious potty training regression.  She was trained for over 6 months when last September she started having accidents.  I took her to the Dr. a couple months after it started and had her checked for bladder/kidney infection ~ which came back negative.  My Dr. said it was probably because she started Preschool for the first time in Sept. and it was a phase that would pass.  It's now been 6 months and she's still doing it. She first started out just having accidents at home, because she was playing & she'd wait till the very last minute to go. Lately it's gotten much worse.  She now has accidents daily - and not just one a day, it's usually several. She's been having accidents every where - at preschool, in the car & the babysitter's.  I've tried the sticker chart, praise, dicipline, reverted back to pull ups for a while and even recently bought her something to "incentivise" her.  (ok, bribe her!)  Nothing has worked.  She also has a tendancy to go very often.  Some days by 9am she'll have an accident and has only been up for 1 1/2 hours & has already went potty twice.  She doesn't drink an excessive amount of fluids & doesn't complain of pain (unless she's gotten a rash from sitting in wet panties). And if the accidents are bad enough, she's developed this horrible odor about her. Not just your normal old urine smell, it's more like dead fish.  Please help!  I'm so frustrated I'm not sure what to do.  Thanks....

[Kellymom]

Be sure to ask the doctor to check her blood sugar.  When my son started wetting the bed & wetting his pants frequently, it turned out to be a symptom of diabetes.  Not to scare you or anything, just be sure to have everything checked out.

[Kevin Kennedy, Ph.D.]

If she hasn't visited the doctor lately, have her do so. The situation now is different than it was in Sept., and it may well be that she has contracted an infection (which would explain the exacerbation of the enuresis, as well as the odor). The doctor will likely order a culture and see what's going on. Particularly in girls such infections can be quite persistent. In short, I'd pursue the medical avenue before anything else.