not feeling urge to urinate for a child

[mammite]

Hi, I am a mother of an almost three year old daughter. My daughter was fully potty trained (except for nighttime) shortly before her two years of age. She could even wait while we were driving to get to the bathroom. When she was about two and a half, she started peeing in her pants again. The doctor checked her and said that it is because of her being constipated. We treated her constipation with an enema and since then she has been on daily laxative + vegetable fiber. She seams to be fine in this regard and goes to potty when she needs to poop. However, her feeling or urge to urinate has not come back for a half a year now. She is not leaking, because she is mostly dry during the night and she is mostly dry if I put her on potty every 1,5 or 2 hours (so she know how to let it go). However, she does not feel any urge when her bladder is filling up until she pees and is all wet. I have not noticed that she would try to hold it or anything like that. She will be three years old soon and is very unhappy about this herself. I am very worried and I cannot find any other parents who would have experienced something like this with their children. I hope to find some information and advice on what to do, what could help. Thank you very much!

[Stephen Liroff, MD]

This situation is not uncommon in pediatric urology, especially the parental frustration! There are several possibilities to explore, from urinary tract infections to life stresses and abnormal bladder function, spinal cord issues. I think that she ought  to see a pediatric urologist to make sure that there are no serious issues.
Her daily laxatives are not a good thing and should be stopped in favor of continued diet modifications. She should not be subjected to frequent enemas, either.
If nothing is found to be abnormal, many of us would not recommend treatment at her age, just reassurance and encouragement and possibly less parental emphasis on the issue.
But first, again, I would have her evaluated.
S.A.Liroff, M.D.


This information is provided for general medical educational purposes only. It
does not  necessarily reflect the opinions of Henry Ford  Hospital  or the
Vattikuti Urologic Institute.  Please consult your physician for diagnostic
and treatment options pertaining to your specific medical  condition

[kimwilliams76]

My daughter too was once potty trained, had no accidents and she didn't even wet the bed at night. About 2 years ago, around 2 1/2 my daughter started having accedents. This was very frustrating b/c she had done so well in the past. I took my daughter in  to the doctor for somthing else...don't remember what....but I mentioned her wetting her pants now. They did a urine culture and found she had a UTI. She was put on medicine, and she stopped wetting her pants. Awhile later she started wetting her pants again, and she had another UTI. Now my daughter is 4 1/2 and we are still battling recurrent UTI's. Thought your post was interesting and could somewhat relate. I wanted to make a comment to let you know our situation. If you would like to chat about anything in further detail, I would love to discuss anything. I am searching for answers, maybe we can help each other.

[jmasters]

My daughter is 7 years old and we've been battling similar issues for over a year.  Last summer she started wetting herself (daily) and it's continued ever since.  We've seen pediatric urologists, psychologists & biofeedback specialists. Behaviorly, we've tried rewards, punishments, vibrating watch reminders, charts, etc.  Hasn't helped. Physically, we've tried x-rays, ultrasounds & urine cultures. They're all normal.  We're scheduling a VCUG test next month. If this doesn't produce any results then I feel like giving up.  School  is going to start up in the fall and they're going to demand she wear pull-ups again, just like last year. I don't know what else to do or how else to help. If anyone has any suggestions, please share!

[mammite]

Thank you for your comments! So far I had a feeling that we are having a very rare problem because all the parents who responded had kids with pooping issues, but not peeing.
We are battling this for almost a year now and it seems that everyone in our family is traumatized by this already. I hate starting every morning with thinking and constantly reminding her to go to the bathroom, but what else I can do... We also have tried rewards, punishments, ignoring, etc.  Hasn't helped.
We have started using a potty watch/timer now and for most of the time it helps. However, as soon as she has more than an ounce to drink at once, it goes right through her and she is wet in about 15 minutes and can have 2-3 accidents the following hour or two. This bothers me a lot, do your girls have that too?
Her doctor put her on a different laxative (Miralax) now. She is taking it once a day for two weeks now. He said that the previous laxative had not done a good job. Then we saw a pediatric urologist and she will have an ultrasound and VCUG next Thursday. He did not test her for UTI though, just asked if she has a history of having them (she does not, or has not been tested for). If I get no answers after the two tests, maybe I should insist on testing her for UTI. I will let you know the results of the tests. Thanks again for sharing this with me! Let's keep in touch!

[feefee365]

just read your post and the replies , forgive me if im off track  on giving an opinion on reading so little aboutyour daughter but iv worked with children for a few years  and iv noticed one thing , that if parents make an issue out of something,(mostly through worry) the child picks up on it very quickly.
iv come across it were a child maybe had an infection a UTI, this was maybe not picked up  the child  due to the infection wet  when previously was able to control the bladder.the parents worry go to doctor  tests are done  and the child picks up on the anxiety around their toileting  and a previously continent child becomes uncontinent. i must say though i have only seen this in very young children who have only recently been potty trained ie 2-3 years old. generally when the parents ignore the accidents and the childs anxiety level subsides they regain thier control.   this is just an experience i have  and i wish you well