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Parenting

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Reception child frequently wetting himself at school, should I be concerned?

4 replies

Feedingwondering · 09/06/2026 16:15

Wondered if anyone had any advice or thoughts/been through similar. My DS is in his first year of reception, young for the year, not 5 until mid July. Throughout the school year he’s sporadically wet himself on some days but this seems to have really ramped up the last term. He has had a change in teacher (old one left after Easter and new one started) and he’s had lots of change at home (me and his dad separated last year) but he’s very open with his feelings and able to communicate them and he hasn’t raised any major worries. He also absolutely loves school and we never have refusal to go. At home he is pretty poor at going to the loo when he needs it (puts it off until he’s desperate) but he won’t actually wet himself. At night time he will have maybe one night a week where he bed wets, but often I offset this by putting him on the loo when I go to bed. He drinks a normal amount id say, has plenty of energy and sleeps well. Anything I should be concerned about? When I ask him, he just says he forgets or doesn’t know it’s coming.

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Underthemagnificentbeechtree · 09/06/2026 16:19

A common cause of wetting is constipation. That fits with the “didn’t know it was coming”. A full bowel presses on the bladder so it always feels full and then very quickly it essentially loses signal as it becomes filtered out. My son had similar wetting pattern. It was constipation. It surprised me as at the time he was diagnosed he hadn’t gone a day without a bowel movement but he hadn’t been able to empty his bowel fully, but the scans showed he was impacted.

Shellyd2k1 · 09/06/2026 16:34

My ds went through this on and off....he was too scared to ask the teacher if he could go as he is soo shy!!!
Had a word with teacher, thankfully they have been understanding and prompt him to go before lunch/break!

Elisheva · 09/06/2026 16:39

My ds went through this too. His was because he was always too busy to go, e.g. if he was playing outside and didn’t want to stop. Had a very memorable moment when he walked out hf school and announced ‘Mummy, I am wearing Mrs Smith’s pants’.
I think it’s pretty common at that young age, and is why Reception have boxes of spare clothes.

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user293948849167 · 09/06/2026 17:30

If he waits until he’s desperate at home too it sounds like he just isn’t asking to go in school or asking too late because it takes longer to ask and get to the loo at school.
I would talk to the teacher about whether he asks to go in school (he may be scared/too shy), and whether they can prompt him to go at playtime. He definitely won’t be the only one in the class

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