posted 01-01-2003 02:52 PM            

The first time he was only 4 and he saw a urologist and he said his muscles weren't develeoped and that he doesn't completely drain his bowel but, not to worry until he was 6 as the only options were medication and muscle excercises. This went away after 2 months and he was no longer having problems during the day until now.

He started having accidents over 2.5 weeks ago and they started being more frequent after 1.5 weeks where he was having 4 to 5 a day. He also started to complain of it hurting mildly in his hole. We assumed a UTI and took him for tests at a local hospital (we were away on vacation and this took a whole day) and they all came back negative. They did a urine culture, an U/S (his bladder was 25% full after having just urinated), and a blood test and everything came up negative. No UTI, no diabetes. Told us that he should see a urologist again and that it was not normal but, they couldn't find anything wrong.

Anyone else have any ideas of what could be causing this? He appears healthy otherwise. I don't want to go to the urologist to again be told to wait till he is 6. It is bothering my son too and he is extremely embarrassed. There have been no other psychological or emotional issues that we know of either.

posted 07-17-2003 10:40 AM            

Sometimes it is developmental, all kids develop at different rates. Sometimes it is physiological requiring medical attention.

My 64 year old mother leaks urine. She is very frustrated and embarrassed about it. In her case, I think her bladder fell or something like that making it difficult for her to hold the urine. I think she also has weak muscles. That happens when you age. It can also happen to young people if there muscles aren't developed or loose tone.

In my Moms case, she requires surgery but doesn't want to do it because she has problems with anesthesia. She doesn't wake up well. They need to reposition her bladder and "tack" it back into place.

My 6 yo recently started making it through the night without an accident. But that is only because I wake him to go before I go to bed. If I forget, I am changing sheets in the morning.

I do encourage all of you with children that have day time wetting concerns to seek medical attention rather than turning it into a disciplinary situation. They are likely already embarrassed. Turning it into a disciplinary situation will likely only make the accidents more frequent because the child becomes scared and has even more difficulty controlling him or herself.

Regarding medical issues; it could me muscular control, autonomic dysfunction, a symptom of a more severe neurologic issue, UTI, developmental, etc. There are a whole host of things that could be the cause of the wetting and leaking.

If the problem is extreme enough, put panty liners or pullups on them until you find out the source. That is what they are for. I would encourage you to find a positive way to approach it, though. Maybe, "We are going to ask the Doctor to help us find out why your brain and bladder aren't talking to each other very well. So you aren't embarrassed the next time you leak, why don't we put liners in your pants. You tell me when you need it changed."

My 6 yo was very upset that he had to still wear pullups for so long when his friends could make it through the night. I told him his brain and his bladder needed to mature enough to where his brain woke him in the night before he wet himself.

Good luck.