6 Yr Old Son and Peeing Accidents

My son is almost 5 and this has been constant for us since the days of potty training. My behavioral therapist suggested this. When he has an accident (either before or after he cleans himself up - your choice) have him "practice" going to the bathroom. So have him go back to what he was doing before the accident for a few seconds then have him go sit on the potty for a few seconds, flush, wash and move on. Have him do this 5/10 times in a row right after the accident. This is suppose to help him remember that it is much faster to take a break to use that bathroom than it is to clean himself up.

Hi K.,

My son is almost 8 and went through the same situation from age 3-7.
The good news is he has only had 1 daytime accident in the last 6 months.

We worked with our pediatrician for years trying to tackle this problem. My son had multiple accidents daily for years as well as wetting the bed. I finally took my son to a pediatric urologist at Primary Childrens in SLC. If you have not done this, I would suggest doing so. My pediatrician was truly clueless and unfortunately the medications and suggestions he gave us not only did not help but actually made the problem worse.

The urologist put him on a voiding schedule, every 2 hours. We had to remind him every 2 hours to go to the bathroom, no matter what. We had a chart by the toilet so he could mark off each time he went. If he went at each appointed time that day, he got a treat. the doctor recommended a daily reward and suggested that at age 5-7, they are too young to be motivated by a long-term reward. She also recommended no punishment. If he had an accident, just remind him to change clothes is all.

This is a medical issue, in a nutshell the child has "held it" for so long and so many times that the bladder muscles bulk up. over time, the bladder wall may reach 2-3 times normal thickness because of the enlarged muscle fibers. it now becomes difficult for the child to hold back such a powerful bladder. the voiding schedule not only helps avoid accidents and reminds them to take time out of their busy play schedule, but also helps relieve those bladder muscles so they can start getting back to a regular size.

We bought a 10.00 watch for my boy and taught him how to set the alarm for every 2 hours, also talked to his teacher so she knew he needed to be allowed bathroom breaks whenever needed, and i requested a classroom schedule and told him over and over at what times he needed to go to the bathroom each day. This changed from 3-4 accidents daily over the last few years to maybe 1 accident every 2-3 weeks and now finally 0 daytime accidents. He still wets at night but I have been told this is a separate issue and also that about 75% of the time once the daytime issue is resolved, the nightime accidents will go away in their own.

I should also add that the medications (oxybutinin) my pediatrician had him on apparantly do more harm than good in this particular situation. Oxybutinin is good for children who are experiencing "urgency" as it makes the bladder less sensitive, however this is NO GOOD if the problem is your child cannot actually feel when he or she needs to use the bathroom!

Please feel free to message me if you have any questions. BTW I saw your profile and i was raised in West Jordan and our family lives in Idaho. :)

My youngest peed his pants pretty regularly at that age too, it's sort of a phase. Mine would be so wrapped up in playing he just plain wouldnt take the time to come in the house or stop what he was doing long enough to go pee. The minute he peed himself tho, once it got uncomfortable, he would be changing himself and I always made him toss the peed pants into the garage. It lasted a couple of months and after several firmish talkings to about "please go pee in the toilet and not in your pants", he finally learned to break away and use the bathroom. I think they think if they stop what they are doing long enough to go pee that what ever it is they are doing might not be there when they get back. It's pretty normal, especially with boys for this to happen.

Hi--
This happened to me when I was six years old because I had had a major change in my life. My mother got remarried and we moved. So my question would be has there been any major changes in his life lately? New School? Bully at school? Sickness? Etc.... Anxiety is often a trigger for this in kids his age. Deal with the anxiety and the symptom (peeing his pants) disappears. You could try giving him Bach's Flower Rescue Remedy to help.
J.