Daytime accidental wetting is common in young children. It may be a normal part of your child's growth and development. Toilet-trained children may get so involved in play that they forget to go to the bathroom until it's too late. Or a child may have a medical problem, such as an infection or problem in the urinary tract. Emotional stress may also lead to daytime accidental wetting.
Treating the cause will usually stop the wetting. If stress is the cause, wetting often stops when you find ways to help your child ease the stress.
Frequent urination is common in children. It doesn't always mean that a child has a urinary problem. A child's bladder is small and doesn't hold as much urine as an adult's bladder. Your child may use the bathroom more simply from habit. Or it may happen because he or she drinks extra fluid or feels nervous. Irritation from a wet diaper can also cause frequent urination. So can contact with a chemical, such as soap or laundry detergent.
Pain while urinating and a need to go a lot can also mean your child has a urinary tract infection. If your child has an infection, you may find him or her trying to urinate more often than usual to soothe the pain. Increased urination or new daytime or nighttime wetting may also be a sign of a more serious problem, such as diabetes.
Daytime accidental wetting (diurnal enuresis) is common in younger children. Children may become so involved in play that they forget to go to the bathroom. Also, they may hold on to urine too long. These children:
Some children have accidental daytime wetting because they try to hold their urine too long. To keep from wetting themselves, children may:
If a child has accidental wetting during the day, it can affect his or her performance in school or friendships. The child may be afraid of wetting at school or on outings. He or she may also be afraid of being teased by friends. Treatment can help the child lead a more normal life and have higher self-esteem.
If a child has both daytime and nighttime accidental wetting, the doctor may treat daytime wetting first, because children normally gain daytime control over their bladders sooner than nighttime control. Accidental daytime or nighttime wetting may increase after treatment is stopped.
If daytime wetting is caused by a medical condition, then treating the medical problem may cause the daytime wetting to stop.
Treatment for daytime wetting that is not caused by another medical condition may include:
Oxybutynin (such as Ditropan or Oxytrol) may be used to treat daytime wetting in children and adults. It helps control the bladder muscle that releases urine.
If the child has daytime wetting that is caused by birth defects within the urinary system, surgery to correct the defect may be needed. But sometimes the surgery does not make the accidental wetting stop.
Sessions with a counselor may be helpful for the child who has accidental wetting that is caused by emotional stress. Counseling may involve psychotherapy or hypnosis (hypnotherapy). The goal is to reduce or help manage the stress or to prevent stress.
If you take your child to the doctor for help with the child's accidental wetting, a medical history and physical exam will be done to discover if the wetting is a symptom of a medical condition. The doctor will ask you and your child questions about the wetting, such as when and how often it happens.
As part of the physical exam, the doctor will examine the child's abdomen, rectum, spine, and genital area and may watch the child urinate. Depending on the results of the physical exam, the doctor may do other tests, such as:
If your child delays going to the bathroom until he or she loses control and wets, there are some things you can try.
Daytime accidental wetting (diurnal enuresis) may be a normal part of a child's growth and development, or it may be caused by a medical condition or by stress.
Daytime accidental wetting is more likely than bed-wetting to develop after a child has had bladder control for at least 6 months to 1 year (secondary diurnal enuresis). If daytime wetting is caused by a medical condition, such as an infection or a defect in the urinary tract, then treating the condition will usually stop the wetting. If it's caused by emotional stress, such as the birth of a new sibling, then the wetting often stops after the stress is addressed and managed.
Daytime accidental wetting is much less common than bed-wetting. But about 1 out of 4 children who wet the bed at night also wet during the day.
Call your doctor now or seek immediate medical care if:
Watch closely for changes in your child's health, and be sure to contact your doctor if:
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