5 year old sudden onset incontinence

[apple987]

My 5 year old son was toilet trained well at 2.5 years. Five weeks ago he became incontinent of urine (day and night).  Our paed. has confirmed no UTI, no diabetes, ultrasound of kidney and bladder is normal.  We have tried rewards ....nothing works.  He states that "it just comes out".  We can take him to the bathroom to pee and 20 minutes later his pants are wet again.  We never used to have to even remind him.  He is bright and has had no emotional trauma or change in routine.  We have been told to fill out sheets (voiding diary) for one month to "re-train" his bladder.  Three days of this has only proven that we do not believe he has ANY control over this.  He is embarrased and upset.  Is it possible this could be due to a spinal or brain tumor or would there HAVE to be other symptoms (ie. bowel or problems walking).  Our inclination is to request spinal and brain MRI and a urodynamic study...we believe that the physical causes should be ruled out prior to assuming "retraining" is the answer....although in the interim we are trying this route with no apparent success.  Thank you so much for your help.  Jennifer

[Laura7778]

Hey, this happened to my daughter too and as it turned out she has an overactive bladder, so she started taking ditropan daily which stops the muscles of the bladder spasming & is doing just fine now. Maybe worth a try! Good luck, Laura

[sharonk216]

we are going through what you are with your daughter.  Mine is 9 and she started have no bladder control about 13 days after being diagnosed with a bladder infection. after two ultrasounds of her bladder and kidneys, one by a pediatric urologist, we were told that she has detruser fallibility.  she was also x-rayed and told it was due to her constipation and, again like you, when that problem was corrected, nothing changed.  The only tests she has had were the ultrasounds.  No other tests were done, even though we (her parents) both have diabetes.  We are her maternal grandparents. She is on oral medication and we have not seen any improvement.  This has been going on for almost 2 months.  From reading these posts, I need to continue to push for more tests.  Good luck to you and your child.
Sharon216

[Jonesie22]

I just came across your post.  My 8 year old daughter has started "leaking" urine out of nowhere as well.  She had a bladder ultrasound which was normal and an x-ray of her abdomen, which showed she was constipated.  I found that hard to belive b/c she poops every day, but they told me to give her miralax every day.  We have been doing it for 3 weeks now, and there is really no improvement.  We have to go in a month for a test called a flow-emg to see if her bladder muscles have become lazy, or weak.  She wears a pad to school every day, and I am more traumatized than she is , but I just want it to stop.  Did you ever find the cause of your son's wetting?

[jess929]

A spinal tumor could certainly cause incontinence. Usually you'd see weakness in the legs and back pain, that being said I'd push for a full brain & spine MRI with & without contrast just to be sure..

My son is 3 years old, he has a brain tumor. Pediatric brain & spinal cord tumors rare, but it does happen & can present with a variety of symptoms. My sons tumor was found incidentally when he fell at daycare and the ER doctor ordered a CT, despite the large size of his tumor he was symptom free.

I'm sure his MRI will probably be clear, but for your own piece of mind I'd do it. And I completely agree that all medical causes should be ruled out before saying he needs to be "retrained".

Best of luck,
Jessica

[Maria555]

My son who is 5 has started doing the same. He wets himself at least twice per day and poos in pants about twice a week for the past 2 months. He starts school on monday and I am really worried. I have just taken away all his pants and put him in a nappy to see if I can shock him into not doing it. Help any suggestions Maria.

[carolinecaliff]

Thank you,  My son is 6.5 and 3 weeks ago it started happening to him.  The doctors think I am crazy.  He has no bladder infections, UTI, no blood sugar problems, but no answers either.  His teacher at school is reminding him to go every 20 minutes and still at least one day a week he is peeing himself.  Help us please, Caroline