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Suggest Treatment For Bed Wetting

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Posted on Tue, 22 Apr 2014
Question: My granson is almost 4 years old (end of April). He was fairly easy to train and at a pretty early age (before 2). However as time goes on, he is more and more often wetting his pants. At daycare sometimes, he'll wet himself as many as 7 times in a day. He likes his daycare provider. Between my daughter and his daycare lady, they try taking him to the bathroom every hour and he still manages to wet in between. My daughter has tried taking things away as a consequence, such as his favorite blanket for a day, but that didn't work. She tries rewards (maybe an extra 1/2 hour before bedtime or a trip to the wellness center pool) but none of that has worked either. She has had him to her pediatrician several times to check for UTI's or something else and since nothing has been found, she believes it is "behavioral" but does not tell us what we can do about that. Should he see another kind of specialist, maybe even a psychologist? Otherwise he's a very intelligent little boy, very vocal, very happy and fun-loving. My daughter does worry somewhat that he may be getting picked on at daycare, but the lady says that does not happen. She has a small group of kids in the basement of her home, basically one room, so she can observe throughout the day. We are at our wits end. If you don't think you can help us, could you please recommend where we can go to get answers to this. My daughter lives near and works in Sioux Falls, SD. I'm not sure if this has aything to do with the wetting problem, but he also will not sleep in his own bed - he used to crawl in with his parents during the night, but when they put a stop to that, he will sleep on the floor beside their bed. He was always a good sleeper and would go to bed without an argument. For his 2nd birthday, they got him a new "big boy bed" - a bunk bed with the shelf on one end and a desk at the other. They have tried music playing softly, a small light on the desk, a fish tank on the shelf beside the bed so he has more light, but also the soft hum and something to look at to help him become tired. This is a nightly problem. My daughter is almost at a breaking point and I live over 100 miles away so cannot help out very often. My son-in-law simply says "he's just a kid, and a stubborn one, but they all go through it" so is no help whatsoever. Please help us!!!!! Concerned grandma
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Answered by Dr. Eric Goldstein (24 minutes later)
Brief Answer: Wetting Detailed Answer: Hello. Thank you for your question. This is very common and therefore nothing to panic about. It is not usual for kids to take a step backward every once in a while. When I encounter this in my office the first thing I do is check the urine. Your pediatrician already did that. So we can be reassured that there is nothing wrong there. The next step is to be evaluated by a pediatric urologist. A urologist will probably also examine a urine specimen but might also choose to do an ultrasound to make sure everything is normal anatomically. This is a painless test that women usually undergo when they are pregnant. If something is wrong on the ultrasound, the urologist will be able to address. If not, and we hope there is not, the urologist will be able to help you with behavioral techniques to alleviate the problem. In any case, this is not anything to be overly worried about.
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Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Yogesh D
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Answered by
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Dr. Eric Goldstein

Pediatrician

Practicing since :1999

Answered : 1303 Questions

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Suggest Treatment For Bed Wetting

Brief Answer: Wetting Detailed Answer: Hello. Thank you for your question. This is very common and therefore nothing to panic about. It is not usual for kids to take a step backward every once in a while. When I encounter this in my office the first thing I do is check the urine. Your pediatrician already did that. So we can be reassured that there is nothing wrong there. The next step is to be evaluated by a pediatric urologist. A urologist will probably also examine a urine specimen but might also choose to do an ultrasound to make sure everything is normal anatomically. This is a painless test that women usually undergo when they are pregnant. If something is wrong on the ultrasound, the urologist will be able to address. If not, and we hope there is not, the urologist will be able to help you with behavioral techniques to alleviate the problem. In any case, this is not anything to be overly worried about.