My daughter, almost 6 comes home from school with wet underwear and sometimes even pants everyday. She says she doesnt realize when she needs to go and doesnt feel the wetness in her pants. I have tried rewards like stickers and charts, given her ideas of visiting the bathroom before/after an activity but nothing has helped. She is embarrassed about it but seems to lack the will power to do something about it. She usually has difficulty stopping an activity just to visit the bathroom. She also wets the bed almost everyday. She has been treated for UTIs but still the problem continues. We will be seeing a urologist soon but was hoping if anybody could give some other ideas. Thank you.
Thank You everyone for your thoughts. There is an element of constipation there as I have observed she has less control when she doesnt clear out completely. She can have control when she tries like at a hotel, someones house or on a flight, there is NEVER an accident. Thats why I think it is a behavioural issue. On the medical side she has had a USG and that was normal which says that there is no anatomical defect. Anyway we see a Urologist in August and will post any suggestions.
My cousin had to have minor surgery (this was yrs ago) when she was about this age because of a defect either in her urethra or bladder. I can't remember what was causing the problem, but I do know that she was also having issues with leakage. I hope the urologist is able to provide some answers.
When my son was in 1 or 2nd grade and he too had this issue. Mostly when he was in the outfield at baseball. :( Thank goodness the coach was descrete. Come to find out he had intestinal blockage.
Don't know if that is the case with your little one, but something to consider.
Have you looked into constipation? My daughter when in Kindergarten was having accidents and it wasn't like her, turned out she was backed up.
My friend (who is an adult now) had this issue of bed wetting as a child around the same age. Though her parents were convinced it was some kind of emotional issue or just a lack of control on the kid's part, it turned out she had a major issue with her urinary tract - this was not a mental issue it was merely a physical one. It does seem odd that your 6 year old would get so many UTIs - so perhaps she has an issue with her urinary tract. I think seeing a urologist is the way to go. My friend required surgery (hopefully that won't be the case for you!) but once the surgery took place the bed wetting and lack of control issues went away.
My son is 6 and has that kind of thing happen occasionally (and uses Goodnights at night still). Can you get some type of pad for the short term until you see the urologist? I know they make them for adults that have problems with urine leaking. I imagine it is frustrating but why punish her if there is a physical problem (or until you rule it out).
Definitely get her evaluated by a urologist.
I went to school with a girl in the 5th grade who had no bladder control. She couldn't help it. When we were in the 6th grade, she had a surgery to correct the muscles or the tension in her urethra and it made all the difference for her.
I won't give away my age, but this was many years ago and they waited for her to be a certain age in order for her not to have to go through more than necessary. It's my guess they have made great strides in expertise in this area since then.
Get her evaluated. It may be a control issue that she simply can't help.
Best wishes.
