My 8 year old pees her pants during the day

[Fejrednal]

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?

[anxiousmomtobe?]

First I would have a medical examination just to rule out any problems.  

is she dry at night?

[Fejrednal]

Yes, she is dry at night.  She has never had a bed wetting problem.

[anxiousmomtobe?]

Does this happen every day or once in awhile?  If it is just once in awhile I wouldn't worry.  Kids get busy and don't want to leave their play.

[Cleveland Mom]

I agree that if this is occuring infrequently, don't worry.  Its not uncommon for kids to not want to stop an activity to use the toilet.  However, if it has started to happen often she should be seen by her doctor to rule out any physical problems. Best wishes...

[koukla29]

I agree - take her to the doctor to rule out a medical condition that could be causing this situation.  In addition, I don't think it is normal for an 8 year old to be peeing on themselves in the situations you've described as they generally get very embarrassed and teased by the other children - which is not a positive social experience.  Is your daughter feeling embarrassed?  

I would always send her out with a change of clothes in her backpack and a sweater just incase she has an accident.  I have seen this before with a child of her age, and she had a medical condition and was unable to hold her bladder or sense the urgency in her bladder.  This little girl was extremely embarrassed and this was a big issue for her.  We made a schedule for her to use the bathroom.  She went to the bathroom before meals and after meals, and once per hour - even if she didn't have to go, we made it a habbit for her to go to the bathroom.  This helped reduce the number of accidents.

[LizaTV]

My 8 year old daughter ALWAYS has wet pants, day and night.  Pediatrician says she has Irritable Bowel Syndrome which causes her to become extremely constipated.  This "compacted bowel" presses on her bladder, forcing small amounts of urine to be squeezed out throughout the day.  Over the course of a day it amounts to quite a bit.  I now give her miralax every day after school.  If she gets too loose, I give her less.  I've decreased her dairy intake & given her a calcium supplement because dairy seems to worsen the constipation.  I can foresee bad days when she awakens with a tummyache and can't have a B.M.   I admit that she, too is so accustomed to wet pullups that she has no motivation to change out of them.  She also sleeps so hard that she wets almost nightly.  Pediatrician has me wake her up a little bit before I go to bed so as to send her potty and to pull her back from this deep sleep.
I wish you the best as I know how humiliating it is for not only your child, but for you the parent.  Other adults just don't understand why any child of 8 would have wet pants and can be rather unkind about it.
I hope this offers you a useful point of view.

[Ashley88]

when i was around that age i had that problem not alot during the day but expecialy at night when i was sleeping my grandmother used to literly beat me for it and when they took me to the dr turned out i had an abnormaly small bladder and some times i jsut coulndt make it and when i was sleeping i didnt even know i had to go untill i woke up

[Lori170]

I have a six year old that started going potty in her pants.  She has always gone in her pants off and on for a couple of years now.  I took her to the doctor and she is completely fine medically, but muy daughter tells me that she doesn't want to stop what she is doing to go.  She only goes in her pants when she is doing something fun, like playing at the park or on the playground at school with her friends.  I explained to her that if she would go in the toilet she could come back to what she was doing and she wouldn't loose her turn or miss out on anything.  She could pick up where she left off, but she is still doing it.  Last night her rear end even burned and I had to put creme on it and I'm sure it is from them being wet at school and her not changing them.  I have put clean underwear in her backpack and she still doesn't change them, because she if afraid someone might see her get them.  I don't know what to do.  I do know I would never resort to diapers or pull-ups.  I want to help her, not degrade or humiliate her.  Any suggestions?

[wetpants]

my six year old, out of the blue, started peeing on himself. i don't understand why and i need help. i took him to the doctor and had his urine tested. it had a little blood and protein in it but she said "nothing to worry about" the test results came back neg. when they sent it to the lab. What can i do? some days he has to change at least four times. Today i tried punishment by no tv time and he went outside to play and came back in wet. HELP! it's been going on for about 3 months. He started wetting the bed and then it stopped and now it's just in the day time and being wet is not bothering him now. he used to change immediatley. when he was potty traing he very rarley wet the bed at night and if he did he stripped his bed and got dry clothes and a blanket all by himself. We live in the woods so he has always stopped playing and went outside but now he doesn't.