At my wits end - please help - 6yo wetting

[luckyJess]

I am at my wits end with DS age 6.

Bit of background info he potty tained at 2.1. No problems, very easy to train and very few accidents. He is completly dry at night and has been since 2.3ish.

But 18 months ago he started having small accidents. He very rarely wets himself completly, but is pants are contantly wet, sometimes saturated. Over time this has gradulaly got worse and now he is wet every day after school (and i mean everyday..for all yr1 and now yr2) and then wet again by bath time. At weekends he remains dry, only if we send him to the toilet regularly.

We have been backwards and forwards to the doctor, who says there cannot be a medical problem beacuase he is dry at night. He has no other behavioural problems and on the whole is a really good boy. He is happy at school and home.

We have tried: Star charts, telling him he will smell etc, ignoring it, punishment (no tv or computer if wet). Nothing works and I am begining to feel really down about it.

The general opinion is that he is just too busy and doesnt make it to the loo in time. But to me it seems that he gets the signal to go very late. He cannot hold a wee at all, if he needs to go, he has to go straight away.

Everyday is says he will try his hardest to be dry and he does feel upset when he is wet. But he doesnt care about being uncomfortable or smelly.

Please help someone... added to this i have a DD who witholds number twos...I am at my wits end.

Do I demand medical tests?

i would demand tests yes.
because if nothing else it will rule that out and let you focus on figuring out what you can do to help him.

can you talk to his teacher and ask if they can send him to the toilet more frequently at school? i know they don't like that too much but tbh they 0ought to be able to see that it isn't fair on him to be constantly wet

a little girl i know was like this, but also had poo issues and she had food allergies. once they changed that the wetting and soiling stopped completely. I wonder if he could be eating something that's affecting it?

it seems odd that it would suddenly start if he was fine before

Thank you for quick response.

I have spoken to his new teacher and she sent him to the loo for a few days. But he says she has stopped.

I hadnt thought about allergies. I will investigate that.

I just feel really sorry for him

Perhaps ask to be referred to an incontinence nurse. They would at least have some ideas of other things to try.

Could he be constipated as this can also lead to urine leakage?

Does he drink lots? Perhaps he needs to drink more so that he gets stronger signals that he needs to go. Or maybe he does not empty his bladder fully when he goes to the loo?

He doesn't drink alot, especially at school. Infact sometimes he is wet, but has hardly had anything to drink. Interesting idea that he may need to drink more. Will try that one. Thank you.

Dont think he is constipated as he goes everyday, and have never had problem with that(unlike DD!!)

It does sound as though it is worth giving more water a try.

It's not something I am an expert in but does make sense in a round about way.

Have you heard of the ERIC website?.

They have a helpline which is apparently very good.

Let us know how you get on

Have you had any contact with the school nurse? I've found the school nurse (who referred me to the paediatric bladder specialist) to be more helpful and experienced in this area than the GP.

DS was recently diagnosed with something called irritable bladder which means his bladder will contract by itself meaning he has little time to get to the loo which explains his 'urgency' to go and also the frequency. Not sure if your DS would be dry at night if he had this but worth investigating.

Also you could try the ERIC website for advice.