7 yo having accidents

amother

Sun, May 02 2021, 10:06 pm

My 7 year old daughter has been having accidents almost daily, for the past 6 months or so. I believe it comes from laziness, and running to the bathroom at the last minute. When we bribed her, she was dry for a week (or so we think).
Is there anything I can do? Bribing her doesn't work that great. My husband thinks I should bring it up to the doctor, as maybe there's something wrong. He said it can't hurt. Her next well visit is in 3 months though. Should I just wait until then and if the problem persists, I'll bring it up?

Stars

Sun, May 02 2021, 10:11 pm

It’s definitely not laziness. Look into pandas or backed up colon.

Do not wait three months. Take her to a pediatrician but not one who’s known to wave everything away. Make sure they do a deep dive into her health and get a referral from them on which kind of doctor to go to next.

amother

Denim

Sun, May 02 2021, 10:28 pm

My son had this and I posted about it on imamother. You can search for a post about urine. Basically it comes from a back-up of doody that builds up and squishes the bladder. It’s actually pretty dangerous to leave it alone and not help it empty out. So I started doing enemas for my son and giving him Miralax every day (one capful in some Sprite). I did the enemas once or twice a week if he came home from school wet. After doing this for a while he finally started to make doody on his own. It’s much better now (he had accidents for 3 years).

amother

Sun, May 02 2021, 10:33 pm

amother [ Denim ] wrote:

My daughter only has wet accidents. Sounds like your son had dirty accidents, if I'm not mistaken? Eta: I read it again, never mind. But was your son not able to go dirty? My daughter can and has no problem with that.

amother

Cyan

Sun, May 02 2021, 10:46 pm

Wet accidents often are a result of constipation because the bladder is being squished and can't hold urine. I would take her to the pediatrician and treat her for constipation.

amother

Bronze

Sun, May 02 2021, 11:24 pm

My son is 7 and we are dealing with the same issue. His underpants are wet at the end of the day and he still sleeps in pull-ups. We just took him to the pediatric urology clinic at the local children's hospital (at the recommendation of our pediatrician). They tested him by having him pee into a special toilet, which showed that he was not fully emptying his bladder. They also asked about his bowels (which he described as being fairly soft and regular, though as the post above stated, constipation is often a factor.) Basically, we were told to make sure he's using the bathroom every 2 hours and when he goes to try twice.
Bottom line -- do NOT ignore this. It is most likely not in your daughter's control and can be potentially damaging to her emotionally and socially if not treated.
Hatzlacha!!

amother

Pumpkin

Sun, May 02 2021, 11:37 pm

Even if the stool is soft and they go every day they can still be backed up. You need a X-ray to check. Yes it causes a lot of pee accidents. No child that age wants to wet themselves daily. It’s not a laziness issue.

amother

Firebrick

Mon, May 03 2021, 8:14 am

I've had success helping children with this issue using primitive reflex integration techniques. You can look for an OT in your area who is trained in this method. It's not a quick fix though, it takes several months of therapy.

amother

Aquamarine

Mon, May 03 2021, 8:19 am

We had this issue and it turned out to be epilepsy, specifically absence seizures. Just something to keep in mind if you've exhausted all other possibilities.

amother

Gray

Mon, May 03 2021, 8:47 am

amother [ OP ] wrote:

If she was previously night-trained and then started wetting again, it is definitely not laziness.

You should absolutely discuss this with your doctor, since there may be a physiological cause. If she was able to be dry for a week, maybe the cause is not physiological.

Has anything else changed in her behavior?

amother

Gray

Mon, May 03 2021, 8:49 am

There are a lot of good ideas here, so one that hasn't been mentioned is that she is being sxually assaulted or has suffered some other trauma.

But before you jump to that conclusion, get a full physical examination and testing.

amother

Mint

Mon, May 03 2021, 9:20 am

My neice went through such a stage. She would play on the floor and just pee. Or when she would be walking she would pause and just pee. She didn't do it in school because she was embarrassed, she did it at home. She said she doesn't have patience to go to the bathroom. My sister took her to get checked out, everything was fine. There was no issue. She did it out of laziness and it eventually passed with alot of incentive. It was through the summer, she was lazy to go inside to use the bathroom. It was easier for her to just pee wherever she was.

amother

Pearl

Mon, May 03 2021, 9:49 am

Strep or another infection is putting stress on his autonomic nervous system. Find and treat the infection, and supplement with vitamin b1 and magnesium to support autonomic function. Also, take a look at his blood sugar levels.

amother

Peach

Mon, May 03 2021, 11:11 am

Let her doctor check it out, but I would also maybe schedule her a consultation with a therapist. It can be psychological being cause by real trauma

Speaking from own personal experience, I dealt with this too all the way into high school. I didn’t know what it was from but was too embarrassed to talk to anyone about it. It started around the same time my s-xual abuser moved closer to me (and saw me more often). I was too young to understand this but found out years later it was my body’s response to the trauma

amother

Gray

Mon, May 03 2021, 11:21 am

amother [ Mint ] wrote:

That's different than when it happens at night. No comparison.

FranticFrummie

Mon, May 03 2021, 11:43 am

Have your child evaluated for ADD. Ignoring body signals because of single minded focus (playing with friends, video games, watching movies) can cause this.

People think kids with ADD are "scatterbrained", but that's not always the case. When they get locked into something that really grabs their attention, NOTHING else matters.

FranticFrummie

Mon, May 03 2021, 4:08 pm

OP, I just found this article, and I think it will be very helpful for you.

https://www.janetlansbury.com/.....dges/

and this website, from the author. https://www.bedwettingandaccidents.com/