How to Help My 6 Yo Son Successful End His Accidents

It's likely that daytime isn't really the problem. Nighttime enuresis, or bedwetting, is fairly common for boys...sometimes up until age 8 or 9. It has nothing to do with laziness and is very developmentally normal. Basically, his central nervous system has not yet developed the ability to signal him at night when he needs to go. There's not a thing you can do differently. Over time, he will develop and be able to hold his bladder no problem. Just be patient, have a good mattress cover, some protective pants or a pullup, extra sheets and clothes, and continue to encourage him to use the bathroom before bed.

My oldest had this problem until he was about 8. For awhile it was nearly every night. Over time it lessened and then it stopped completely. He just needed to grow a bit.

If this is just at night, it is actually more common than you would think. Many kids are not able to stay dry overnight until they are 8 or 9, and some not until they are 11 or 12. I have a 3rd grader, and I know of a few kids in his class (he doesn't know this) that still wear pullups at night.

So, if it's just at night, just let him know that it's ok and that he will stay dry when his body is ready. Please make sure he knows that you don't think he is doing anything wrong. Nighttime dryness comes when it comes. It is not something he can control.

If he feels at all like he is doing something wrong by not being able to stay dry at night, that could actually affect him during the day (because it's upsetting him). If you are able to help him relax and night and not feel like he's doing something wrong, it could make things better during the day.

Hang in there! He'll get this!

My son had accidents all the time. He would be too busy concentrating on what he was doing to notice any kind of boy signs.

So assuming there aren't any real health issues this is what I did:
-made him go pee at home before running any errands & before we left for
school. So that's pee right after wake up AND right before leaving for school
just to ensure bladder was emptied.
-talked to him before school started to "ask the teacher" when he needed to
go the bathroom by raising his hand to ask permission to go.
-packed an extra set of underwear & shorts or jeans in backpack. This worked in case of accidents but also one time when he had a stomach bug.
We didn't know as it hadn't manifested itself yet & he had a diahrea accident. Came in handy.
-always remind him when you drop him off or walk him to class to pee at
recess or lunch. Make sure he knows where the bathrooms are.
-put non noisy plastic mattress cover over mattress under sheet. When he was really young, I'd layer mattress cover, fitted sheet then a towel w/another fitted sheet so if he wet himself at night only had to clean him up,
have him go pee & rip off one set of sheets. Underneath was dry. That prevented all of us from being tired.
-when we run errands, we always pee before we leave the house then if out a long time, I take him to the bathroom & we both pee.

Nighttime accidents are incredibly common - my son was well past this age of 6.

If he's having them during the day, my first guess would be a UTI. You mention the doctor notices no "physical oddities" - I assume you're not just talking about anatomical defects but that someone has actually checked for infection by running a urine test.

The fact that he denies he's wet doesn't surprise me. The fact that he can't tell if he's wet is something I would talk to the doctor about - sensory issues, for example.

There is a medication called DDAVP that has been given to kids (especially boys) for decades to help them through the night without peeing - they need the sleep as much as you don't need to be doing laundry. My son took it for years. Normally I'm not all that pro-medication especially over the long term, but this was a lifesaver, allowed him to have sleepovers and go to camp, and so on. He took it from age 6 to age 12, but the doctor said he had kids as old as 18 on it if needed. We experienced zero side effects.

But your son's problem is also during the day. So I would say to consult a pediatric urologist (the pediatrician can refer you). If that doesn't yield any results from a medical standpoint, you might also consider talking about some short term therapy to find out why he is denying things and unable to feel the wetness, and to see if there's a reason he may be avoiding the bathroom until it's too late.

i wouldn't even make a big deal about it. lots of boys his age deal with this. i'd let him wear pull-ups to school for now and let him mature a little more.
khairete
S.

I work in a pediatric chiropractic office and have seen bed wetting and "accidents" go away fairly quickly. As soon as the communication path is clear and the neurological system is working at its optimum level, good things happen! If you don't know a good one, go to icpa4kids.org and find one in your area.

God bless,
M.

It is SOOOOO normal for kids this age to have a bunch of accidents. I have a lot of years in child care and this is NORMAL. I think they have a growth spurt around this age and their bladder just can't keep up for a few months.

This is just something that happens. That little bladder fills up and it's suddenly full. They often just can't make it to the bathroom in time.

In Kindergarten they always ask for extra clothes. Sometimes it is in 1st grade when they have accidents and go through this stage.

We just dealt with this exact same thing with my son. Going through the same thing of ruling out UTI/diabetes and the like.

After a lot of hair pulling, we stumbled onto what I'm pretty sure is the problem with my DS. It may be worth looking into it for your boy, as it sounds like a mirror situation to what we're dealing with.

http://medical-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/pollakiuria

"Pollakiuria , also called extraordinary daytime (or nighttime as well, per our urologist) urinary frequency, is a benign condition defined as frequent small voids in a previously toilet trained child with no polyuria or evidence of infection. The condition is self-limited with an average duration of 7-12 months.