6Yo Boy Still Peeing His Pants

Try talking with your pediatrician and ruling out any medical reason. I KNOW it's easy to assume he is being lazy and just not taking time to go to the restroom but you never know. I had to see a urologist as a kid (not the same issue you are experiencing but had a bladder issue nonetheless).

Hoping it's not medical, your pediatrician is well versed on these issues and can provide some help/advice.
My daughter wet her bed til 7, she couldn't help it and grew out of it, same thing with my niece.

If he can't control it, you can understand that you wouldn't want him to be ashamed of himself for something he can't control. You know your son best so it's hard to tell if he is just being a bit lazy about taking care of his business or if he really can't control it. Sometimes childrens bladders are not "up to speed" with the rest of their body. Very normal.

Similar issue to my DS, 5 yo. What seems to have worked for us is explaining to him over and over that if he waits until the last minute and has an accident, then he takes even LONGER to have to go get changed (himself) than if he would have just gone to start with. But that was only one part of the equation.

We also had to start telling him to go to the potty before he played. Like this:

M: A, time for the potty.
A: I don't want to (full blown scream fest sometimes)
M: (matter of factly) no potty, no play, A.
A: ARRRGHHHHH, the end of the world is upon me!!!!
M: (still matter of factly) that's fine, but no potty, no play.
A: ARRRGHHHHH, woah is me!!!
M:(matter of factly) that's fine, but the longer you complain about it, the less time you have to go play. No potty, no play.
A: (disappears around the corner and does the fastest long pee I have ever seen)

We used this tactic for about a week before he stopped freaking out everytime we imposed the no potty, no play rule. Now, he is doing really well and only has accidents every now and then (instead of the daily we were dealing with before).

I do occasionally have to argue with the old rule when I know he hasn't gone, but for the most part, he is self-stopping play now and taking himself without too much reminding and arguing!

BTW, our DS is not potty trained at night either. Still in pull ups, but not worried aobut it. He wakes up dry some mornings, I take him every night around midnight before I go to bed and that seems to be getting better gradually as he is getting up some now and taking himself too, usually earlier in the evening.

HTH and good luck! I KNOW how frustrating it can be!

My youngest had a few slips like that, he was always too busy playing to go pee.
I never punished him for it but I would say "hey dude, you pissed yourself... get to the bathroom and finish up".
All he really needs is for one of his respected peers to make fun of him one time, and he'll probably cure his daytime problem.
Can't help with your night thing tho.... I'm sure that's a pain. I'd try to detect at what time of the night he wets himself and maybe take him to the bathroom before he does the deed.

My 5 1/2 year old grandson is having similar issues. I was so mad at him for so long. My house was starting to smell like pee, he would hide his clothes when he got them wet, he would not tell us when the carpet got wet...it was pretty nasty.

I was trying to get him in the car to go to the Y for swimming, a really fun activity for him. He ran into his room to get his swim shoes and I was right behind him helping him. He started crying and turned around. He had wet, he had been to the bathroom just a few minutes before. He had no idea he that he needed to go. He was devastated and thought he was going to get into trouble and not get to go.

I realized in that moment that he's still a little boy and he is going to have accidents. He is still just a very few months old compared to an adult. He's what, 60 something months old.

That day I decided to start rewarding him for staying dry. If I notice he's dry 5 minutes after he went to the bathroom I tell him good job staying dry and give him a high 5. Many times through out the day I do this, sometimes I give him a bite size candy bar or a Hershey Kiss. Something to let him know I know he is trying. It's to build his self esteem and self worth.

He needs to be encouraged, to feel capable and worth trying. It seems to me that punishing and punishing him did no good at all. Perhaps you can try to think of this in a different way. He is growing and his bladder is not keeping up. He has no interest in being wet with pee. He wants to stay dry. Punishment is not working, try something else.

It needs to be immediate not something that takes time. A hug, a high 5, a piece of gum or candy, a few M&M's, something that is an instant reward. It will make him feel good about himself and he will instantly associate that reward to being dry and perhaps he'll pay more attention to the urge to pee and be able to get ahead of it leaking out or a full stream.

Daytime and night time pottying are 2 different things and timelines.

ALL of my daughter's Teachers, from Preschool to Kindergarten to 1st Grade... all unanimously said: that kids these ages have accidents. They do not make a big deal of it. The school's health room, even has extra clean clothing/underwear for the kids that have accidents. AND the kids, per Teacher request, also bring extra clothing/underwear for each child, to school.

My daughter, per night time: she was not dry at night, even at 7 years old. And she had accidents.
This is normal.
Night time dryness, is not something that is attained even up to 7 years old. It is a physiological development. The body... has to mature. Their organs.

Get: a few waterproof bed pads to put DIRECTLY under your child at sleep. My kids' sheets do not even get soiled, because I have these waterproof bed pads under them.

Please do not punish him anymore for this. This is more than likely a medical condition called Enuresis. It happens mostly with boys. It can last as long as age 10-12, usually ending when puberty starts. My oldest son had this. It stopped completely at age 10... with puberty. With every year they get older it gets lessoned. Parents think the child is holding it until the last minute when in fact it's the child not sure if they do need to go. They don't have the same sensation to go as other children. This is why they appear to look like they're waiting until the last mintue. In fact, they're just not sure of the sensation. It's their muscles down there that are not developed yet. It is absolutely a physical medical condition. So please stop punishing him. You can limit drinks after dinner, have him sit down every 1-2 hours, have him change himself when he has an accident and keep a box of flushable wipes in the bathroom so he can wipe his front when he changes. Keep fresh clothes in the car. Do not punish. The only time we punished our son is when he wouldn't clean up after himself. He was lazy in that department with cleaning anything, lol. So if he didn't clean up or change himself then he'd get punished because it just wasn't healthy to sit in urine. You'll want to take him to the doctor to get a diagnosis and then you'll understand it's a medical condition, not laziness. When and if it happens at night, do the same thing. Potty him, use waterproof pads, etc.

K. B
mom to 5 including triplets

my son for the longest time would wet the bed. His poor little bladder just wasnt big enough and he was sleeping so hard that he just never woke up. It sounds to me like he might have a small bladder and/or weak mussel control. I was upset buy it and thought it reflected something I was doing wrong as a mom. I had the poor little guy suffer until I got out of my own way (Not saying this is whats happening with you) and took him into the doc.
His Doc was wonderful. She thanked me for bringing him in now. She said that she sees this issue with boys clear on up into there early teens. The fix was pretty easy and painless. She ordered a bed time wetting alarm for him, and our insurance payed for it. With in 2 weeks he was dry though the night!! YAY!!
Take your little man into the doc and just explain whats going on. They can tell you if its a medical issue and help give you ideas about how to help. Even if its not medical, they can still give you some ideas on what to do better. But if you ask me I think poor little man has a weak bladder. I will always swear by the bed wetting alarm. It truly worked wonders for us!!
Try not to be upset with him sweetie, he might truly not be able to help it. DO you know if his dad had wetting issue when he was little? Just thought I would ask.
Hugs and keep the upper lip stiff!!!

Have you had him evaluated to see if he has a small bladder? That may be his problem. Good luck!

I agree with others that you should talk to the pediatrician right away.

Have you tried making him go to the bathroom about every 1 and a half hours?

Please talk to your pediatrician about this right away. Punishing rarely corrects this sort of situation, from my experience. If this is something he can't control, punishing him is only going to be more upset and humiliating. But it likely won't change what's happening.

What I would do in this situation: send him to the bathroom every hour, on the hour. It seems excessive, but you are wanting to stop the accidents before they happen.

If he was doing fine before (rarely wetting himself during the daytime), then my approach would be to let him do all of his own cleanup. "Looks like you are wet. Go to the potty and finish, then get yourself changed." I would expect him to take his clothes to the laundry himself as well, but no "I told you so's", no "Why can't you just....?" Basically, no attention at all other than being completely matter-of-fact about what needs to be done. Sometimes the negative attention feeds an endless cycle of wetting or pants-messing, because that's what they have learned *works* to get our attention.

Still, discuss it with the pediatrician. I would, if I were in your situation.

I wonder if he is so into what he is doing that he it does not register in his mind that he has to go. I am still struggling with a 6yo grandson pooping his pants and not saying anything until he has too (like when wecan smell him or when he gets uncomfortable having it on his skin. the Dr. says to try to get them to go at about the same times daily,if it keeps on have your ped do some tests it might be medical