6 Year Old Who "Leaks" in His Pants and Doesn't Seem Aware of It

Hi, L.. Have you checked with the doctor about this problem? I have a little girl in my care who does this. She is almost 5, and her doctor recommended having her practice stopping and starting when she is going to the bathroom. It will strengthen those muscles in case they are a little weak. He may be rushing to get done, and not get it all out. You might go in the bathroom with him and make sure he is finishing. I would stay as patient and calm as you can, as any stress in this situation can compound the problem. Good Luck!

if he honestly doesn't know he's doing it i would have his pediatrician check for a UTI (urinary tract infection) and maybe do some tests just to make sure everything "down there" is in working order. good luck!

You didn't mention if it's urine that leaks, or stool. I have a friend whose 6 year old would leak stool and not know it. She eventually took him to the pediatrician and they got an ultrasound. He had a large blockage of hard, dried stool in his intestinal tract, and the stool would leak around it. It took several weeks of Miralax, but it finally broke up and now he poops regularly with no leaking. It may be worth checking out with his MD. Good luck!

i work with a gal, wish i had her e mail adress,i remember her telling a story about her now adult son doing this. she said he had his urethra dialated, which seems like it would make the issue worse but it was nervre related and once they did the proceedure he was aware of the leaking so it resolved. she felt horrible as a mom bc just imagine how that felt for her little guy, but i would talk to the doc and ask. just make your husband be in the room and you be the one in the hall waiting to make things better. lol

My son didn't leak but our daughter did, one her bladder was to small and 2 when she sat on the toilet her legs were closed and the urine was going up into her vagina and the toilet so when she got back up and moved around a lot it would come out. I would check and see if his bladder is the size for his body. Our daughter is still small but is better with the bladder

When my oldest was about the same age, and had been potty trained since he was 2 1/2, he started "leaking".
After taking him to the doctor to make sure there was nothing medically wrong, we discovered that he was "leaking" because he was to interested in what he was doing at the time to take a potty break. It was something like watching t.v. or playing on the computer. He would not do it when playing with friends, because he did not want his friends to see. We started taking the priveledge of t.v. and computer time away and started a reward system and it finally started taking care of the problem.
Good Luck!

Hi L.-

My daughter did this same thing for the first two years she was potty trained. My doctor recommended incentive. He said that we might need to "retrain" her bladder. That she didn't realize going to the bathroom meant going before it showed up in her underwear. So I let my daughter pick out a toy that she really wanted and then we made a chart and picked out stickers. She had to keep her pants dry every day for three weeks. If she had an accident we would start the chart over. She only had one accident on the second day and then has been dry ever since. That was almost two years ago.

Your problem could be a sign of something more serious...but this might be something to try first. Hope it helps.

My girlfriend has a son who does this. After a lot of doc's and a couple urologists, it turns out the nerve that gives the sensation that you have to go went numb, and he never ever felt the urge. He would look down and just be wet. It just started one day with no warning. I moved away, so I don't know how it turned out. Get it checked.