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Avatar universal

My 8 year old pees her pants during the day

My 8 year old daughter frequently wets herself because she does not want to stop what she is doing to go to the bathroom.  She has done it at school, at home, at friends homes, pretty much anywhere she is.  It does not happen all the time.  When my wife and I question her she says she just couldn't hold it.  Any suggestions?
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Avatar universal
My advice is to shop around for a doctor that will prescribe Oxytrol patches. We ended up going to a urologist, but the paediatrician or maybe even a GP would be able go prescribe it too. Don't put up with doctors telling you that they cannot find a physical cause or that she will grow out if it. Just smile politely and immediately book an appointment with another doctor!  Not feeling when you have to go is not normal and is not psychological.

After the Oxytrol have worked for a while, it is advised to let the child do 'bladder' training. Most incontinence clinics and similar will be able to help with that. But I strongly advice you don't yet go that route until you have seen some results from medication. I made that mistake with my daughter and it put ask the reponsibilty for solving the problem back on her and was very damaging for her self esteem and confidence when it didn't work. The urologist told me that kids under 7 are too young for bladder training and also that you shouldn't do it if the bladder is likely to be 'irritated',  which is apparently what happens with this condition without treatment.

Good luck. I know what it's like and am very relieved it's now behind us.
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Avatar universal
I too have a daughter 8yrs who pees in her pants and not even know it.  When asked, will either deny or my body did not tell me I had to go.  I'm at my "wits end", all her accidents happen at school and at home.  Were you able to find a solution for your daughter?
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Avatar universal
I do not believe that this is not a medical problem. The most likely reason why she seems to not care is because if she would allow her to feel embarrassed each time it happened, she would be an emotional wreck by now. It is self preservation.

An under-developed bladder is very common in kids. There isn't much to show for it. Usually the only give away is that the bladder appears small for the child's age.

And not all medication was created equal. We tried Ditropan with no noticeable effect. But when we switched to Oxytrol patches, the effect was immediate. My daughter used them for about 6 months and after that she stayed mostly dry, except for at night. We started using a bedwetting alarm for that, but that's another story.

We were advised by a urologist to see an incontinence specialist regarding bladder training too, but after the Oxytrol course there was no need for that anymore. It is vital that you allow the bladder to "calm down" for a while after starting Oxytrol before you do anything else. And it is very important that your child knows that you accept it is beyond her control. That is the first step in gaining her cooperation to take steps towards treating it. She needs your trust and help.
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Avatar universal
I have a 7 year old girl who will literally go through 6-8 panties a day. We put her on a fluid regiment and by her drinking more she will feel the larger amount of fluid and won't want to pee all over herself and everything else. So far we have seen a very positive reaction. We are down to a change here or there if we forget to keep her drinking. She does get irritable with our constant reminders but 1,2,3, is good for that. Hopefully one of the answers below will help. Good Luck God knows it is a pain on their *** if they don't change.-My bad attempt at humor.


Treatment for daytime wetting that is not caused by another medical condition may include:

•Medicine. Oxybutynin (Ditropan) may be used to treat daytime wetting in children and adults. It helps control the bladder muscle that releases urine. See the Medications section of the topic Bed-Wetting for more information.

•Surgery. If the child has daytime wetting that is caused by birth defects within the urinary system, surgery to correct the defect may be needed. But sometimes the surgery does not make the accidental wetting stop.

•Counseling. Sessions with a counselor may be helpful for the child who has accidental wetting that is caused by emotional stress. Counseling may involve psychotherapy or hypnosis (hypnotherapy). The goal is to reduce or help manage the stress or to prevent stress.

Home treatment

Home treatment may be all that is needed to improve daytime accidental wetting, especially if the wetting is not due to any medical condition or stress. Try the following:
•Encourage your child to go to the bathroom whenever the urge happens.
•Reward your child for being dry. You may use hugs, stickers, or special treats as rewards.
•Teach your child special exercises to control the bladder muscle that releases urine. See exercises to help a child gain bladder control and bladder-stretching exercises.
•Don't make your child wear a diaper. Wearing a diaper may make him or her feel babyish. Also, it may be hard for a child to get the diaper off when using the toilet. Wearing disposable underwear, such as Pull-Ups, may be helpful. But it may also make the problem last longer because the child may have less motivation to learn bladder control.

If your child delays going to the bathroom and holds on to urine until he or she loses control and wets, try the following:
•Encourage your child to use the toilet when you notice signs that he or she may need to go, such as squatting, squirming, crossing the legs, or standing very still.
•Offer more liquids to drink. Drinking more liquids will increase the amount of urine in the bladder, causing your child to need to go to the bathroom more often.
•Have your child go to the bathroom every hour during the day.
•Encourage your child to take extra time on the toilet so that he or she will be more likely to empty the bladder.


Let me know!!
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Avatar universal
Wow. I started this google search thinking that there would probably be no one out there that had to deal with a child like mine. I'm so relieved and devastated at the same time to hear so many others are going through the same thing and I've read from the beginning of the thread to 2009 and no one really seems to know what causes it or how to fix it. A little about my story. My daughter is turning 9 on Thursday. This should be a happy time but it's not. I'm so fed up with the multiple daily wetting. I've literally done everything. You can ask my dad who is a therapist I've done it all. I've tried encouragement, heart to hearts, punishment, potty charts, allowance, taking away tv, taking away toys, boxing up all her toys, having her do the laundry, buying toys/books, scheduled bathroom breaks, going to the doctor, going to the urologist, xrays, ultrasound, VCUG (insert catheter, insert camera through the cath and watch her pee...very painful), I've ignored it and explained it to her, prayed,and of course the miralax (got up to 3 capfuls 2x daily), I've even tried to embarrass her out of it and NOTHING! Nothing has changed. She doesn't know why she does it. She doesn't care that she does it. And in the last four years that it has happened there has only been 1 time she showed she was upset and embarrassed about it. That was last week. Since last week the wetting has hit its all time high. Some say it's stress. She's a kid in the summer. Her biggest stress is choosing which tv channel to watch or what toy to play with. I've heard some say they are single parents and so am I (the father left before she was born and never came back). So maybe that's it but not everyone on here is single parents. So I'm begging to have someone please hit REPLY and give me the key, the golden ticket, the answer to make her stop. I thought that it was a temporary problem and it's been four years. Potty training as a toddler was easy. This has not been. There's actually been a couple of times where she went to the bathroom on time and before she made it to the toilet she peed her pants cause she stopped to pet the cat or check herself out in the mirror. Really?! Thanks for the help in advance!!
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1 Comments
Omg exactly the same story with my 6 year old.. to the letter... hang in there. We are starting detrusitol today. I will let you know if its any help if you havent tried it already... I avoided medicating my child but it is getting so embarassing for her especially at school. She told me yesterday she went alone in the bathroom to chamge and stayed there crying. Thats it ...I am trying this medicine.  
Avatar universal
It is common. I believe at age 6 one in 10 kids struggle with daytime wetting. That's 2 in every average class! The numbers go down with age but it still isn't that uncommon for it to continue till age 12.

If your doctor says it isn't a medical issue, see another doctor. Find one that will prescribe Oxytrol patches or similar. Don't accept oral drugs, they are nowhere near as effective. The patches are super easy to use and kids don't find them much of a hassle at all. They worked for us, reducing the accidents from at least one or two a day to one every week or 2 weeks.

Our urologist recommended using them for a while and then to start my daughter on a bladder training regime after she turned 8. But we stopped the patches, after using them for about a year and she stayed dry. Still have the occasional accident when she can't get to a toilet easily, but nothing to worry about really.

Then we started using the bedwetting alarm recently - 6 months after we stopped the Oxytrol. This method is really mostly psychological so the child has to be motivated. But it is working quite well for us.
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