EDITED TO ADD: I am 99% sure that the accidents are unrelated to the babies-or any other changes around here. This started months before I was even pregnant and I can't think of any incident that might have triggered it. It's been going on for well over a year but the doctor dismissed it as not being a concern because he has no other physical symptoms. I am going to try using the timer idea. Right now he sits there shaking his legs and very obviously holding it in so I know that he could make it in time. I'll make another doctor's appointment too and see if they'll do a blood test to rule out diabetes. I have no idea what else it could be...
The Q & A post is coming but first I have to ask you all a question.
Joshua is 4 years old. Almost 4 1/2 now.
Last fall Joshua started to have to pee very frequently. I specifically remember our trip home last Thanksgiving when he peed 12 times on the 9-hour trip. And he hadn't had a drop to drink in the van.
I made him a doctor's appointment just to be sure it wasn't a UTI although he had no other symptoms to note. The doctor talked about diabetes but again, no symptoms other than the peeing.
Fast forward a few weeks and J started peeing in his pants. At first it was rare. Then it was once a day. Now it is several times a day, everyday. Although today he only did it once so go figure... It seems that he can hold it because when we are out he doesn't pee in his pants. But when he gets the urge he has to go immediately. As a result we are constantly pulling over on the side of the road, in parking lots, etc.
Joshua has been out of diapers for 2 years. He has always wet the bed at night and still does. Matthew wet the bed until just after his 4th birthday so I'm not concerned about that part. J's constant accidents are getting old though! The other day I actually put him back in diapers and he was fine with that. Usually he is wearing training pants but they were all in the wash.
My sanity cannot handle 5 children in diapers all day. Please help! Suggestions? Advice? It seems that he has frequent urination but I don't know what could be causing it. And I suspect that he is just too lazy to stop playing to go as frequently as his bladder needs him to go. Have any of you experienced this before?
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I would have him tested for diabetes. Although it makes me wonder if part of the problem is that he is now getting less attention then ever before because of the twins. Unfortunately, at that age it's going to be hard to find out for sure. But i would test him. My nephew is 2 1/2 and they were changing his diaper 14 times a day...finally had him tested...and sure enough...
yeah my first thought is diabetes
.good luck
Here's what I came up with in Google.
http://pedclerk.bsd.uchicago.edu/pollakiuria.html
And this one:
Pollakiuria: Mostly affects children between the age of 3-8 years, and causes frequent daytime urination, sometimes up to 10-30 times a day, usually with very small amounts of urine being produced at each time. Children with pollakiuria usually do not have other symptoms, and it is not known what causes it, although it may be linked to stress. No treatment is necessary and symptoms usually go away after about 3 months. It is also called Extraordinary Daytime Urinary Frequency Syndrome.
I think I would take him back in to rule out diabetes, but the stress of the new babies may be causing this.
Austen did this at 4 1/2 years old exactly. For over three weeks, she decided it was easier to change her clothes than it was to stop playing and go to the bathroom.
Funny enough, it also coincided with the time her brother was born. He was about 3 months old when she started this. One of the angriest times I have ever been with her was January when I bundled them both up, got them in the car and to the store to find out the had wet her pants, AND her car seat.
Her peed tested her for diabetes, but she was fine. She told us to ignore it, and to tell Austen to clean up after herself, and make her in charge of cleaning up the mess. After maybe a week of that, she stopped having accidents.
Good luck to you. I'm changing two sets of diapers and am not happy about it. I can't imagine FIVE!
Just remembered, my peed also suggested having her sing the ABC song on the potty and then seeing if she had to go any more when that was done. She usually did.
It is very common, yes, to have to frequent accidents / toileting regression when there are new babies in a household.
That said, I still think that this could well be a physical problem that should be checked into very thoroughly.
As a mom of an 8 year old with some ADHD issues, I can tell you that when you wrote "lazy" it made me go, hmmm..... Because it is probably not laziness but distraction if his accidents are happening during play. My ADHD kid has wet accidents because she doesn't notice her body's signals that she should go have a bathroom break. She doesn't notice until much, much too late.
So you have three different possible causes:
1) New babies in house = toilet training regression
2) Possible physical problem
3) Possible attention problem
And, even like it's all of the above.
I think you should forcefully follow up with the doctor to rule out physical problems, and then counter-act the new babies problem by giving him as much extra time as you can, reassuring him, and such, and then also counter-act any attention problem by reminding him to go on a routine schedule, so he's not caught by surprise when immersed in play.
Looonnng comment.... I sure feel for you. I know the frustration of the frequent accident well!!!
I stumbled upon your blog (can't even remember how I got here), for the first time, and my first thought while reading your post was... uh oh, could he have diabetes? My daughter was diagnosed almost two months ago, only two days after her first birthday. You can do a urine test to see if he has sugar in the urine (using a keto diastix - you can buy them over the counter in any pharmacy). Has he lost a lot of weight? Is he eating lots? Complaining of stomach or headaches? These are all symptoms. Sorry this is so long, but I have heard horror stories about children who have diabetes and go unchecked. I pray to God that it's not diabetes. I guess I'll be reading your blog more often now!
My goodness, how frustrating! There is a reason whether emotional or physical.
My daughter was diagnosed with Vesicoureteral Reflux at the age of 5. Her only signs were 2 UTIs and frequent accidents long after being trained, oh and her cousin had it too. Vesicoureteral Reflux is when the bladder backs up into the ureters and as far as the kidneys. A person is actually born with this and usually has unexplained fevers. It is also very hereditary so you may want to see if any of his cousin have had this.
She also has a problem emptying her bladder. This sometime requires her to have to go (not just drips but full on piddles) up to 3 times in a half hour.
Here is a link to a hospital explanation:
http://www.childrenshospital.org/az/Site1962/mainpageS1962P0.html
Hey Spencer has been doing this since he was 4, he was PT at 2 and at 4 started peeing alot and alot more. now he is still in pullups at nites. Drs tell me its normal and sometimes boys go thru this. We are going to a new dr in jan
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