6 Year Old Wetting Pants

My son is 5 1/2 and he still has not been potty trained -- meaning he has accidents almost every day. Anyway I would reccommend Dr. Kevin Feber. He has an office in Troy and Royal Oak (I think) -- Pediatric Urology. If there is something that is wrong it would be nice to know and set about fixing it. If not then you can work through that too.

GOD bless.

I recommend checking back in with your doctor as there could be an underlying issue as some suffer bladder issues.

Also - the kids laughing at him for one will indeed cause him undo stress. No one wants to be made fun of at any age or be disrespected.

My next question:
What has changed in your home or his school? Just know that it does not have to be huge to make an impact on a child.

My son also reverted in his potty training ways and the trigger was events at school.
There was an issue of not being able to have a permanent teacher. This turn-over before settling caused not just my son, but a few of the kids in the class to have accidents and revert on potty training.
My S-I-L decided to redo her kitchen: new floor, repainted the whole thing and new counters. This impacted my nephew to revert and do the same thing as your son.

Many parents tend to forget or do not realize that small stresses like this can affect their child. If they are used to a routine and it is changed, be prepared for the repercussions of that.

With my son, I always talk to him about things before we do them and include him to the best of our abilities so he feels like he has some control in our family. I am sure some others may not agree to this, but as I deal with stress as my job, I would rather avoid affecting my son. Plus, he enjoys it as he feels 'grown up'.

Another tool to find out issues: use a puppet or a beloved stuffed animal and have a conversation with your child. It works wonders! My son will grab his frog, bunny or ask me to dress up as character to chat about all things to vent and unload. (I even have a doll that my son calls 'mini mom' as it looks somewhat like me.)
This is one of the BEST things we have discovered and we have been using it successfully for over two years with our son. Whatever is bothering him will spill out to these inanimate objects - even tho he knows darn well we are the ones that he is really talking to right now. But his imagination takes over, as does the built-up emotions.

If it truly is due to being busy - then what I did, was have a potty break every hour and a reward system. But I still recommend you have your bases covered and research the issue as something could be stemming the problem.

Hi, my son started wetting at night and having to instantly pee during the day, several months later we found out that it was they very begining of diabetes. long before the tyical thirst symtom came up. if he gets moody and tired + wieghtloss ( even a little if he is not needing it ) are also early signs that we were unaware of at that time. Hopefully it is NOT that, but having gone through it, it is the 1st thing that comes to my mind. good luck, J. mom to 3

It could be that he gets so busy and forgets or he could have an issue. If your insurance will allow you without a referral, look into taking your son to a specialist. Good luck.

You may want to go back to the doctor about this it seems like more of a medical problem. My son was completely potty trained during the day but could not stay dry at night, he was going on 7, after bringing it up to my doctor several times he finially put him on a pill that worked wonders. He was only on it about 3 months but it did the trick in "training" his bladder to hold. I'm not saying this will work for you but that there are medical problems that can be helped.

Dear M.,

Wow! As I was reading your story, it sounds EXACTLY what we are going through with our own son who will be 6 in January!! I would like to be able to tell you that we have the magic cure that is fast and easy and we have it totally conqured, but not so!

What has been making it better for us is gumballs!! (His sister has a gumball machine and she was making her brothers buy any that they wanted.) Since he does not have any income, I told him that everyday he was came home dry from school that I would buy him 2 gumballs. That has really helped him to decrease the times that he is wet at school. Also it has been really helpful that his Kindergarten teacher has been wonderfully supportive! I keep an extra set of dry clothes in a ziplock bag inhis backpack "just in case", and if he does have an accident she makes sure that he is changing. She also has been giving him a reminder before lunch to go to the bathroom, since it seemed to be around lunchtime and recess that most of the accidents were occuring.

Things have gotten a lot better with the "gumball technique", but I'd be lying if I said that he hasn't had any more accidents. Now we are working with him to encourage him to stop whatever he is doing and go to the bathroom ASAP. (He has a tendancy to not want to miss anything, so he would rather have an accident than to miss something fun.) Also being in school all day everyday has been somewhat difficult, because he doens't want to tell an adult if he has to go. He says that he is embarrassed, or that he doesn't feel comfortable talking to certain adults.

He's still a work in progress... just like the rest of us! I hope I was able to at least give you an idea or two and let you know that you're not alone! (Also I'm curious to read some of the other responses... maybe there is something we could be doing we haven't even thought of yet!!)

Have a great day!
B.

Do you or Dad have diabetes in your family? It is easy to test for. I hope this is not it, and hope for the best for him. But if it is get it under control and educate yourself on it. As to the kids thinking it is funny when he wets get this to stop or he'll be known as a wetter try to convince him to stop now.

1. Unbusy him enough to get him to the john. 2. It's entirely possible that his bladder grows at a faster or slower rate than the rest of him. My middle son had nighttime trouble with this because most of him grew at one rate of development and his bladder at another. By 12 it wasn't a problem anymore.
Or it might be the pelvic floor. I'm 55 and I get physical therapy because of urgency issues. Like a short circuit. but with physical limitations, that's played a part as well in affecting the bladder muscles. I go to Healing in Motion in Ann Arbor and I kid you not, I have been seen/massaged by 2 different therapists and between them have noticed differences. Let me know if you'd like the number. Great place.

Sometimes boys will be distracted and not go to the bathroom, even though they have the urge.

I would say go with your gut feelings. If the pediatrician won't do anything, make him do something. Or find another doctor who will. Us moms know our children BETTER than anyone. Also age 3 for a boy to be potty trained is not that old.

What your son is experiencing may be physical but could be psychological too. Is he nervous about something? Is he shy? He will become the target of being teased if he continues to wet his pants.

Good luck with this.

You need tot ake him back to the dr. he has a issue with holding his urine. From what you have told me he has a urinary issue with not being able to tell his baldders full and going. Now my son just wets at night hes going to be 7. But he never has accidents during the day. There is medication that they can give him to help him out. Plus you should have him checked because there could be something wrong with the urinary track or bladder that makes him not be able to feel hes full or even his kidneys I don't mean to scare you thats not my plan. I just very concerned for you and your son. If the pediatrician is not willing to do something than request a urinary specialist to look at him and see a different pediatrician.

I would monitor how much he drinks. Maybe on a dya that you are mostly home really pay attention to how much he drinks and how often he goes to the bathroom..

see what is actually going on.. If you are like me you get busy with general household chores and dont really notice things like fluid in and fluid out...

If something seems wrong you migh consider taking him to a urologist to see if there is a medical reason for daytime wetting.

Yes, there could be a problem... So keep your eyes open and monitor it...

MOST boys are not potty trained until 3 or closer to 4.

Some people do go more than others for what ever reason.
I am married to a very healthy physically active man that NO MATTER how little he drinks he still goes about every hour on the hour. He gets up on average of 5 times a night. He has been checked for diabetes many times and has been told that that is just him. His one sister is the same way... His other 2 siblings are not. He typically HAS to drink the recommended 8 glasses of water or he feels dehydrated. He also has tried NOT drinking as much and STILL goes that much...He can empty his bladder and go back to the bathroom 15 min later and pee just as much as he did the first time. But he can also hold it for a few hours when he needs to.
Me on the other hand has the nick name of "cast Iron bladder" in his family. I can drink like a camel and hold it for hours until I am near a bathroom.

My one uncle was 14 before he didn't have night time accidents any more. Now his kids have the same issue... His was a medical issue that his bladder was not waking him up to go when he had to... But this guy could also sleep thru a bomb. It took ALOT to wake him up and get him moving in the morning.

It could be developmental or a health issue. Keep bringing it up to his dr and if it continues maybe try to get them to do bloodwork to rule things out.

Get him a watch that has an hour alarm on it. Tell his teacher that he should go WHEN IT BEEPS... Even if he's saying he doesn't have to. He should at least try.

Yes, it may be an inconvenience for them and him, but in the long run its better than being made fun of for wetting himself. Kids can be VERY cruel.