Any experience with healthy child wetting in daytime?

Alleycat

Hi all,

My daughter who will be 6 in January has been wetting in the daytime for around a year or so. It has become increasingly frequent and is currently at least once a day (today it was 3 times). She has been dry day and night since she was coming up to 3 years old. We have explored possible behavioural problems such as stress, forgetting to go, worries etc but none of these seem to be the cause. We have also spoken with the school nurse and GP and tried increasing her bladder capacity but to no avail.

We now have a referral to a specialist clinic at Chelsea and Westminster clinic but the appointment is not until the 25th February 2011. We have also spoken on a couple of occasions to DD's class teacher. Yesterday I spoke again to her about making sure she goes to the toilet regularly throughout the day to try and pre-empt her need to go and yesterday it worked but today she wasn't reminded all the time and had three accidents.

The accidents were initially just little dribbles so her pants were a bit wet, but for the last three months or so it has got heavier and saturates her pants and goes through her clothes. She's getting better at telling her teacher and we put clean clothes in her bag but like today she had one accident that she told the teacher about and so was changed but had a further two that she did not mention. She had a playdate after school and when she got home I checked and realised she had wet but am worried that she had spent at least three hours in saturated pants.

I am considering getting her some special incontinence pants and found some online that look like real knickers but with built in absorbancy (a bit like reusable nappies). This I think would be good as they look like normal knickers so she is not embarrassed when the kids all get changed for P.E. which is twice a week, playdates and getting changed for swimming class.

Apart from the above, she is a healthy child with no other issues. I have struggled to find any support online as it is mostly tailored to children with physical or learning disabilities.

I'm just wondering if anyone else has experienced the same or similar with their child and can offer any support or advice?

Thanks, Alice

whitewing

Have bladder or kidney infections been ruled out?

http://www.netdoctor.co.uk/ate/childrenshealth/203694.html

jackieb

Has she been tested for cystitis? Some little girls can be prone to it.

Or could she be constipated? My daughter used to wet herself a lot during the day but she has very bad constipation and I guess this is something you would have already known about.

Whatever it is I hope you get it sorted soon. x

Alleycat

The GP took a urine sample to test for *I think* bladder infections and nothing was found. This was about two months ago. I don't know if they tested for kidney infections though. Also, she doesn't seem constipated. She is regular as clockwork!

whitewing

Maybe she's just so absorbed in what she's doing that she doesn't want to miss anything. 6 year olds love learning. And if no one's making a big issue of it there may be less incentive to change? Maybe a sticker chart for each period of the day that's she's dry (eg before break, before lunch etc) If nothing else it may help pin it down to a specific time of day or activity.

jackieb

Have you asked to see a health visitor? When my daughter was having problems our doctor arranged us to see one. My daughter must've been about 10 at the time. We used to see her every 2-3 weeks. She told me not to put her in pull-ups so I stopped. Didn't make any difference though - just made for more washing. But you might get advice that's helpful to you. Chances are you'd get to see one before your February appointment.

Alleycat

Thanks again for your post whitewing. We've already tried all that and no joy unfortunately! It is happening at home, walking along the street, at friends houses as well as at school. From what we have managed to deduce, her body doesn't seem to be telling her that she needs to go until she is absolutely busting but by that time it is either too late, or she has to get to a toilet immediately. Today I think it was more frequent because the girls toilet that is close to the classroom is out of order so she just couldn't get to the other one quickly enough. Her teacher has given her permission to go without asking as she knows she is a sensible girl who won't mess around in there like some of the kids.

The only thing I've managed to find is possibly an overactive bladder.

jackieb

Is she wet through the night?

Alleycat

Jackie, how did things get resolved with your daughter? Was it noticed by other kids at school? I have been thinking about using something like the pants so she doesn't need a complete change of bottoms and avoid the embarrassment in front of her peers. Also I worry about infections etc as this evening her pants smelt really strongly as she had been wearing them so long. She always says sorry and looks really upset but I reassure her that it isn't her fault and that I am not cross. I must admit though I did used to get frustrated with her thinking it was behavioural until we realised that it really doesn't seem to be in her control.

Alleycat

jackieb wrote: »

Is she wet through the night?

No, thats the strange thing! She does go to the toilet about 11pm-12am as I either see or hear her. I think though that she is waking up needing to go and as it is night time the bathroom is free and there are no obstacles in her way so even if she were desperate she would easily make it in time.

jackieb

It was noticed by children at school but my daughter had soiling problems (she was constipated and would leak (encoprisis)). She used to wet herself because of her constipation and pressure on her bladder (which seems different from your daughter's problem ) Also, because she often used to be dirty it caused a lot of urine infections, which also resulted in her wetting herself. She's 14 now and doesn't wet herself during the day (still wets the bed sometimes) but her constipation is kind of under control now.

You're doing the right thing by not making a big fuss of it and not making her feel bad about it. How about using tena pads as a stopgap measure? I know it's not ideal but isn't anything better than her being embarrassed in front of her classmates? Make a little girly bag to keep with her and put a few nappy bags and pads in it for when she goes to the toilet? It's hard to deal with something like this. Does she mention how it makes her feel or isn't she that bothered about it?