4 (nearly 5) YO keeps dribbling in his pants

[McNicola]

This has been going on for so long I've lost track of it. We potty trained DS1 at 2.5 years old and it took a while but we got there. He's now 4 (5 in July) and almost every time he goes for a wee he's dribbled a bit in his pants. He also has no ability to hold it for longer than a minute, absolute max. This has been going on for easily a year, if not longer, on and off. It's driving me mad! Any advice or tips?

Have you seen the GP? Could be a UTI and could definitely cause a UTI I'd have thought

Yeah he's been checked for a UTI and that was clear!

Small bladder. Have a look at the Eric site as it may be a medical. Might not be but worth a look

Have a look at the ERIC website for some advice.

My son did this and was referred at 5 after seeing the school nurse. Very small bladder and urgency. We had a few years of drinks charts, avoiding blackcurrant and drinking a set amount of drinks every day. He wasn’t dry at night until aged 10. We had an alarm from the NHS.

My son (similar age) experiences this when he’s constipated

This sounds really similar to my son! Was the alarm one of the bedwetting ones? My son still isn't dry at night in the slightest bit despite all efforts (no drinks at least an hour before bed, take him for a last wee etc). Who did you get referred to?

The GP will refer.

Mine was prescribed with tablets to melt under the tongue. Call ERIC. I was advised against the alarm so each child is different but it is likely to be a medical issue and best to sort before it impacts on confidence

Many thanks all, will call the GP on Monday. Have looked at the Eric website before and tried everything it suggested but nothing helped so you've reassured me it's time for some medical intervention!

My son did this but he was just lazy going to the loo. He'd settled down by the time he was 6.

Not being dry at night at 5 is entirely normal. It’s unlikely a gp will do anything until at least 7.

it’s a hormone that needs to kick in to stop urine production at night. It can’t be “trained”. Withholding drinks before bed can be counter productive as they need to learn the biofeedback mechanism that triggers them to wake on a full bladder.

my observation with boys is because it is easier for them to wee anywhere they aren’t able to hold it in the way girls can. We have to wait until we find a clean loo, boys whip it out behind a bin and never experience that holding until they can’t.

lots of drinks to stretch his bladder. Keep reminding him to empty completely and take his time.

I remember speaking to ERIC and having a proper chat. I think I rang when child was 6. When I was speaking to GP I was able to link the ERIC advice. It takes a while and lots of measuring fluids but in our case it was a medical issue and took a year of prescribed meds to sort.
Child still needs to go regularly to toilet and has to go quickly but it has got a lot better

Ugh this is bringing back memories of stressful times with my DS! He always had damp pants up until about age 8/9 and wasn’t dry at night until
his early teens. WRT daytime-he just didn’t really want to go to the school toilets at break time as he was having too much fun playing with his friends. He said he never felt the urge to go. He didn’t drink enough water during the day so his bladder didn’t have a great holding capacity. The ERIC website and helpline was great for advice. For nighttime wetting we tried everything-it was exhausting continuously having to wash his bed covers. Tried alarms, rewards, asking him to strip his bed (don’t do this-they are embarrassed and ashamed. We did this once and never again). Nothing worked. Our GP referred him age 7 to the enuresis clinic and he took desmopressin wafers every night and from then on was dry almost every night. They completely took the pressure off. He wasn’t able to stop them until he was about 11/12, can’t really remember.
He will eventually grow out of it but our experience is it might take some time.