Problems with Restroom issues | ADHD Information
I know that some of her problems are withprocrastination, but I also notice a marked difference
in her wetting or waiting till the minute to go when
her activities have been changed from the norm. I
didn't know if this was due to the ADHD and her way
of "acting out" so to speak. We have had her tested
repeatedly for bladder/urinary tract infections, and not
once have them come back that she does have an
infection... I am at my wits ends on this one, and
don't know where to go to find an answer to this. The
doctors (taken her to 2 different ones) say there is
nothing wrong with her, must be just a stage, but this
stage has been going on for a long time. Thank you
for your input!!
-- I think that's fairly common at that age
-- Maybe there are exercises she can do to strengthen the muscles that hold the urine in. Jumping on a trampoline? Other physical activity such as running? Pretending she needs to go to the bathroom even when she doesn't and tightening those muscles? Practicing stopping and starting the flow of urine? (though this can lead to not emptying completely, leading to possible bladder infections, so maybe not appropriate to suggest to a 6-year-old). Gradually extending the time she waits, to gradually strengthen the muscles?
-- I wonder if part of the problem could be procrastinating and not heading for the bathroom until the very last possible minute
That's all I can think of -- don't know if it's any help.
O.k, I have a question and maybe someone can giveme insight on this. Jessie, my 6 yr old daughter who
was just diagnoses with ADHD, wets herself or has
problems getting herself to the restroom on time.
Now, I have seemed to notice this happens moreso
when her routines have been changed, or
something has happen in the family that is different
than the norm. I have had her checked for diabetes
and kidney/bladder problems but they all come back
o.k. Does anyone else have problems with this. Her
teacher right now is having problems with her going
to the restroom a bunch of times a day, and she isn't
sure if she is playing around or what, so I tried to
explain what I have noticed, which of course is not a
concrete answer. Any comments on this would
be so very helpful!!
One of my best friends has a little girl who is 6 and she often wets the bed at night. I know that night is different from the day, but she still has troubles.
Do you know what kind of tests they run? Did they check to see the size of her bladder? Sometimes kids have small bladders which makes them feel like they need to go all the time.
Have you tried limiting the ammount of fluids during school hours, and see if this changes her schedule at school? My other friend had a little girl 5 who had a valve in her bladder that was not closing correctly. Causing her to have plenty of infections and peeing her pants often. Have they checked for this?
How long has this been going on? Is it possible she may have an infection now?
MOM
It may just be a stage, but you would think she would grow out of it? Have you tried rewarding her when she does not wet?
I don't have much advice in this issue, eccept that eventually she will be embarassed to wet her pants. So does she wear a pullup to school or underwear? If a pullup there may lie your problem. She may wet her pants because she knows no one can tell she has wet, and she still gets attention from whoever is helping her change her pants. If she wets her pants and it trickles down her legs, she will be too embarassed to do that again.
Another I dea is to like someone else said, set a timer for say a half hour, and every time it goes off she goes to the bathroom, weather she feels like it or not.
Have you tried making her wash and change her own wet underpants? It is a good Idea I learned from my sister in law, when my seven year old nephew wets the bed, they make him change his sheets. It like your daughter is not because of his health, he just likes to get attention when he is staying there, they only get him on weekends.
Tynisha did this in up until about 6 months ago. I am not sure if she was just waiting to long, being lazy, or just didn't pay attention until "it was to late" even now at 7 she still pees the bed at night (getitng better) but thankfully 
no more accidents at school. We had her wear a pull up in grade 1 almost all year because of peeing at school, and I didn't want her getting teased about stinking. We had her tested also and there was nothing wrong. For some strange reason she did it and then one day she stopped and it hasn't happened since.
The night time was explained by the ped as they go so hard, when they go to sleep they actually crash, and sleep heavier than most normal people, thus wetting the bed. Not sure if that helps you out or not. Just try and get her to go, whether you remind her every 10 minutes or 15 minutes. It might help.
PS...we still remind Tynisha to go pee quite often during the day.
My son is 5 and sometimes he waits until the absolute last minute - and by then it can be too late. So I recognize his 'dance' when he has to go - and then I remind him. You might want to ask her to go potty every so often until she starts becoming more aware of the feeling to 'go'. I think its a 'kid thing' and not so much an ADHD thing. They just get busy and don't want to stop playing. My son also doesn't like to go in public restrooms or other people's bathrooms. This can become very annoying!!Thank you all for your replies!!!
We do remind her, and sometimes that becomes a
battle and she will fight us, telling us she doesn't
have to go. Sometimes we make her go and at least
try, and sometimes rather than fight with her, we will
leave her be only to have her wet herself 10 mins
later. Very Frustrating!!! She doesn't completely wet
herself during the day. It's like she only releases
some of it then just holds the rest, it's really strange.
I figured the nighttime wetting is like what ray.leanne
said. She sleeps so hard at night, a tornado could
go through her room and she wouldn't even know it.
We have tried the reward thing, and it works for like a
week, then were back where we started. Her routine
is back to normal, so she isn't do it as much. She
does wear a pullup at night, but we have refused to
put one on her during the day. We remind her every
day also, if her body is telling her to go to the
bathroom, not to wait, just go and get it over with.
Sometimes this helps, sometimes it doesn't.
Hopefully this "phase" will end soon!!
Tynisha is better with the day time accidents now. I think just the constant reminding her worked, well and the "rewards" ususally in the shape of gummies worked. If she went all day without a small accident, then she got a handful of gummies, let me tell you gummie candies were the best ever invention to get adhd kids to do what they are supposed to. I can even get her to kindof clean her room with a bowlful of gummies on the table.
If I remember right it was right around her 7th birthday when the daytime accidents stopped. I still catch Tynisha dropping her drawers in the back yard or in the field if she can't make it back to the house. I am not to worried though since we live on a acerage, and if that's what it takes to keep her dry, then do it outside. 
I talked to my family md and he said that until they are about 8 there is nothing they can do aside from putting the child on anti-deppresants to stop it. Well I wasn't about to put a 6 year old on those, so we just dealt with the never ending laundry.
It does get better, just have patience and keep reminding her to go to the washroom all the time. Good Luck
actually diagnosed by a doctor with it... my mom fed
him an awful lot of peanut butter because she read it
was good for children that are hyperactive... he had a
problem with wetting the bed until her was 16 yrs
old, and then her went to the doctor and got some
medication that was a type of inhaler. Once he
started on that with in a month or less, he quit
wetting the bed. I want Jessie to be comfortable and
have self-esteem, which the self-esteem part
worries me with her wetting herself. I have no
problem with her wetting at night at the moment
because we use the pull-ups... but I'm beginning to
wonder if ADHD children have problems with
understanding what their body is telling them. She
had an ear infection, but never told us her ear hurt
until her eardrum ruptured to release the pressure of
the fluid build-up. She had lost high tone pitch in that
ear now because of it, and I felt like a rotten mother
because I didn't know she had a sever ear infection.
So I guess I'm wondering if her using the restroom
is the same thing, she just can't understand or tell
what her body is trying to tell her. Does that make
sense?
Makes all kinds of sense to me. I think that they just get busy doing something else and don't notice that they have to go pee. It is a las tminute thing then OOPS, 
I didn't make it. The accident diden't seem to bug her to much, cause she is raeady for cross country running again this morning. So that is a good thing that she just can ignore having a woops. I wish I could have that kind of attitude, not the oh oh did soething wrong and then hide for a couple days in the house. LOL
.
Did your Dr Say her hearing might repair it's self? My daughters eardrum burst ...and she also had chronic ear infections untill she was five...she had lost some of her hearing and the Dr said that as she got older and the scar tissue started blending with the growth of her body she should get her hearing back and she did, My oldest son's eardrum burst when he was three...he never complained of an earache but did keep on saying his tummy hurt...the Dr said sometimes because they hurt the first thing they complain about is their tummy...he didn't have a fever untill right before it burst...I felt real guilt...I thought I was a pro with ear infections because my Daughter had so many...One thing I learned raising three children is "Stuff" Happens and we have no control over it.
This self esteem thimg is hard... we are always telling Jeffrey what a great kid he is and when he does good things we make sure to let him know we are aware of it. When he does not so Great things we let him know then we discuss what he thinks he should do help him remember not to do the not so good things...sometimes it gets quete interesting:)
ray-leanne,
My youngest used to go all day without going...then he would come dashing into the house and God help anybody if they were in the bathroom...he would have accidents once and awhile. He is not ADHD ...he was an Acidemically gifted child and now a Chemical Engineer....and if you know Engineers their brain is always going and they don't have time to think if their bladder is full or not. I think what he does is figured our how often he goes so he has timed himself...I know Strange...but we love him and his Logics anyhow..LOL..:) Maybe you and your Daughter can plan times to go even if she doesn't have to , but she can at least try. Maybe a watch with a alarm...would be nice if they had watches with vibraters . Maybe have her go every 45 minutes or so ...untill you figure out exactally how often she really has to go..then as she gets older she can try holding it for an extra 5 minutes...to help her strengthen the bladder muscles. This may not work but it is a suggestion.
I know about the racing in the house after shool to get to the bathroom. I always make sure the door is open and the light is on, because Tynisha is coming into the house from the bus at warp speed to gte the the washroom. 
I knew she could run fast, but man she is like a olympic sprinter when school is over.
Jaquie: We have had her ears checked by her ped.
doctor, then were referred to an ear specialist that
said the scarring in her ear was kinds bad, and that
the high pitch tones she would not be able to
register, but for the most part her hearing is fine. We
had the ears checked out because the doctor said
sometimes children with hearing impairment will
display ADD/ADHD symptons, so we had to
eliminate that before seeing the psychologist for the
ADHD testing. Her self-esteem is good now, we tell
her every day that she is a wonderful, beautiful girl
and we love her with all our hearts, but I know
sometimes she is her own worst critic and can be
quite hard on herself about things. So far the wetting
the bed isn't really that big of problem and doesn't
seem to affect her at the moment, but like I said, I'm
concern for when she gets older and wants to do
stuff, but still has this problem... I would like so much
to get a control on it now rather than later on down
the line.
I know how even a bit of hearing loss is frustrating. I lost certain tones when I was thirty...now that I am 50 something... it has gotten worse...I can't watch TV when there are other sounds around...I can see where it can look like ADHD symtoms.
Jeffrey is his own worst critic at times to. We went through a stage where he kept on saying I'm so stupid..untill we sat him down and showed him his grades and progress reports. He got in trouble the other day for getting into a fight with another boy so they were both put into to "Planning" Room...it is actualy a time out room. And then a day later he was playing with some scissors and his teacher told him to put them away which he didn't so back to the room. She had mentioned to my daughter a couple of weeks ago that she noticed that he is becoming less focused on instruction...and she thought it might be time for them to up his meds...he has been on this dose for a year and a half and we knew as he grew he would probably need more. I was just talking to my daughter and the Dr was on the other line with her.
Jessie just went 2 weeks with no problems with
school and then all hell broke loose and she has
been getting into trouble again. For awhile there just
before and after spring break, she was always going
to the bathroom all the time at school. The teacher
didn't know if she was having bladder/kidney
problems or if she was just playing. I had to let her
know that when her activites/routine has been
change, that she will go through a period of wetting
herself, or having to go to the restroom alot more. I
just find this so odd and can't understand why... and
not understanding is probably what is driving me
crazy the most.
I go crazy when I can't find a rhyme or reason to the things Tynisha does also. Somedays I really wonder if I am sane and they are all crazy, or if they (family) are all sane and I am crazy 
. Today is one of those I am going crzy days again..........LOl
Good to hear Jessie went that long without a accident, that is always a start.
Sky2mark:
I understand your problem. I have a 7 year old son who has ADHD, has been on concerta for 1 1/2 years, and is having a problem with messing his pants, or he does not clean well. His friends complain he stinks, and it makes no difference to him. We have tried rewards, and punishments and his response is the same, "so what". The doctor says it is a behavior problem, however by watching him, I know that it is the focus problem. We had him tested because he could not focus on simple things, even what his body is telling him. He has been diagnosed with the ADHD Inattentive type. He gets hyper focused.
I wish I could give you more than support of knowing what you are going through. I read the other posts to your message, and I felt as if they just don't understand! Well I can tell you I DO UNDERSTAND! Because I have a problem also.
We've even tried pull ups so that it would cut down on the stinky laundry, we've tried him cleaning his own pants, nothing is working!!
[QUOTE=jacquie]She will out grow it...just maybe not as soon as you would like....It will get better.[/QUOTE]
Not til college did I get it totally under control. Hopefully my case was an anomaly.
Definitely some people do leak urine because of weakness of the muscles that hold it closed. I don't see any reason to assume this isn't a factor with this girl. It may or may not be. Even if it is, the muscles may get stronger on their own.
When she wets after a change of routine, it seems to me that one possibility is that she is feeling anxious. Fear can cause people to pee. Another possibility is that she is so interested in what is happening that she forgets to go or puts it off too long. Still another possibility is that she needs the routine to signal to her body when it's time to go.
When you try to get her to go on demand: children tend to argue that they can't go because they don't "need" to. They seem to believe strongly that it's impossible to go unless they first feel the urge. I believe one reason they do this is that it is actually painful for them -- physically painful, not just embarassing -- to be trying to pee when their body isn't quite ready to. When they try to do that, all sorts of confusing messages run back and forth between their body and their brain, and the muscles don't loosen up in a coordinated way but in a mixed-up way that can be painful or at least unpleasant. I believe this is one reason children are so adamant about "but I don't need to!" They don't seem to understand that their parents need more of an explanation than that, and they probably wouldn't be able to explain it anyway.
This is very common, IME, and IME it's also very common for them to then pee 10 minutes later. This is because it takes about 5 or 10 minutes (or more) for the message to percolate down into their bodies.
A better way is to get them thinking about going to the washroom, tactfully, about 10 minutes before you want them to go. You can say "I need to go to the washroom -- do you want to come with me?" Try to get them into the washroom. Maybe use some excuse. Get them to wash their hands. Hearing running water, or better feeling running water, often gets them feeling like peeing. Get the idea into their head -- actually being in the washroom is better than just hearing it mentioned, but hearing it mentioned may be enough -- then wait about 5 or 10 minutes, then give them the opportunity.
If you ask a kid whether they need to go to the washroom, the answer IME is always "no". And then they usually need to go about 5 or 10 minute later. This is because when you put the idea into their head, their muscles begin to loosen, and then pretty soon they feel the urge to go, and they may be unable to hold it in. But when you first asked them, the muscles were tight so they didn't feel any urge and if you hadn't said anything they might have stayed that way for another half hour or more.
You can set up a routine. Maybe usually sing a certain song while she's going to the washroom, and then use it to get her thinking about it 10 minutes before. Or have a certain sequence of events that always happens in the 10 minutes before you try to get her to go to the washroom. Certain words you say, or certain things she does, or a certain room you spend time in. The first few times it won't make any difference, but after a while she'll get used to that routine and then it will (probably) make her feel like it's time to go.
I spoke to soon about Tynisha. She joined cross country running and "forgot" to go pee before, and had a acciednt at school today. She was good about it though, she raced to the washroom, took off her undies and put them in her backpack so she wouldn't smell. Guess I should tell her she can alsways call me at work and aI can bring her new stuff to wear.
[QUOTE=jacquie]LOL...I would say you were the exception:) Was that night wetting or day?[/QUOTE]
Why on earth would you laugh out loud about this. Do you think I was kidding? Do you think it was a picnic for me?
Here, sky2mark is obviuosly concerned, as are many others, I open up with my on personal, painful information & you think it is appropriate to LOL!
You are very mean.
Ds's Dr. has explained this is VERY common in ADHD/ADD girls which is why you see them walking around the halls of middle & high school with their jackets/sweatshirts/sweaters tied around their waists.
Sure there may be other reasons this is happening, but I would be remiss not to point out what I have personally lived through.
csmommy,
Far beit for me to try to mediate here, but I really don't think that jacquie was purposely trying to be spiteful or mean, maybe she read your post wrong or you took her reply wrong, but either way, I've gone back and re-read things by both of you, and neither of you seems to be mean spirited. I'm suuuuuuuure this was a misunderstanding. Maybe she didn't realize how serious it must've been for you, as it's not usually one of those things people talk about. Though I don't know either of you, I don't think anyone logs on here just to try to poke fun at anyone else.....hopefully you two can sort this out. Try to keep an open mind, and heart.
God bless,
I didn't take it as being mean. She had her accident at school. Partly the schools fault in my mind, seeing they are having such a "DIFFICULT" time rememberi ng to give her her meds. Oh well, she was not to upset about it. Good thing she is easy going and likes to go comoando otherwise could of been a problem.
I too would have a problem of the school not remembering her meds.You cannot expect a child to remember and at her age they barely know how to tell time ...and if they knew anything about ADHD they would know that when her pills start wearing off that she would have a hard time focusing on what she was supposed to remember. They are the adults and when you are not there They are the ones responsable . How about if you get her a watch and you set the alarm and when it goes off in class...disrupting the class...the teacher will be reminded that it is time for her meds. Do they do this to diabetic children that need their insulin before they eat...no they would not forget because it could be a matter of life and death...I feel they don't take ADHD seriously..I'm sorry for ranting...but it really PMO when Adult Teahers cannot remember to make sure a child gets their meds. When Jeffrey first started on his meds he had allot of tummy problems and he would go to the nurse in tears because he felt so sick...she thought he was faking it...his mother had called the nurse and explained to her about the pills.So Jeffrey went to her one day and she sent him back to class and as soon as he sat down he vomited. Well the nurse couldn't get hold of his Mom(she was at a meeting) so she called me and wanted to tell me the story before Jeffrey did(she wanted to save her butt) I suggested the next time he came to her for her to listen. I told his Mom to send crackers to the nurse so she would have them on hand for him. From then on when he came into her office she would hand him a couple of crackers and let him relax a bit. Thank Goodness he finally adjusted to the meds...now they are thinking on upping the dosage...hopefully his body won't have a reaction to it.
My husband is diabetic so that is what he is going to have a "talk" at the school about on monday. I just need to go to play ref so he doesn't come to unglued on them. I think that is the biggest reason she had a accident, becuase she couldn't concentrate long enough to remember she had to go.
Getting her a Barbie watch and making a small mark on the times might not be a bad idea. Would teach her how to tell time and to know when she needs her meds. That is a really good idea. Thanks
We are lucky she doesn't get sick from her meds. Who am I kidding she hasn't got sick in about 3 years. The kid is really healthy other than adhd.
Hey Sky2mark,
Csmommy gave some pretty good advice! I have two boys, and luckilly I haven't had probs like this, but one thing I might add is to watch what she's eating/drinking. I don't have adhd or anything, but I know that for me, if I have stuff with caffeine in it (tea, soda, chocolate...) that for some reason it makes me feel like I have to pee all the time! My husband told me he found out caffeine is a diuretic, which makes sense if you listen to all those diet ads, I just never connected it to ME! Don't know if this'll help or not, but figured it couldn't hurt!
She will out grow it...just maybe not as soon as you would like....It will get better.CSMommy: Thank you so much!! I never eventhought about her attention span/focus being the
culprit behind this. You just cheered me up!!
Thanks again!!
My daughter always seemed to have wet panties. After years of this the Dr's finally figured out her bladder was normal size...but her uretha was too small...so when she went to the restroom she would push real hard to get the urine out and think she was finished....she would get up and a few minutes later she would leak what was left in the bladder. She had surgery when she was 8 to have her uretha stretched...and she was fine after that. One thing you should try not to do for awhile is make a big deal out of it. If she wets her pants tell her not to come to you tell her she is big enough to change her own panties and clean herself up. (You can peek around the corner if you want.) Maybe if the problem is ignored it will go away...try it for a week or so and see. She will see that it no longer gets you upset and that it's just an accident and she is old enough to take care of it. Good Luck...and I'll tell you what a Dr told me...she will not have this problem by the time she goes to High School..LOL. In the skeem of things this is really not a big problem...it is just a nucense that will go away with or without your help:) Excuse my spelling....no I'm not ADHD...just a bad speller
This must be a problem with mostly girls because Jeffrey can go all day without going:) A Dr told me once that one reason Boys don't have a problem empting their bladders is because when they go they can play...you know take aim and that kind of stuff...girls just get to sit on the boring toilet...so they try to hurry to get off the pot:)We no longer make a big deal out of it. If she wets
day or night, she will get up, wipe herself clean, and
change. She keeps track of her pull-ups and lets us
know when she is getting low. I'm worried though
that she is too comfortable with this arrangement,
which will make it harder for us to get her out of the
pull-ups. She will have an absolute cow if she has
no pull-ups for the night.
Hello
I personally, as a child, had & still at times do have, this problem. AS I am an adult with ADD.
It has nothing to do with laziness, procrastination, her muscles, nor (unfortunately) is it a stage.
When you have ADD/ADHD part of the problem IS inattentiveness/lack of focus. This also means to your body. Most of the time the child (& for some reason it is mostly girls) waits so long to go to the bathroom, because she does not attend/focus on what her body is telling her.
Have you discussed this with your Dr. that is treating her ADD/ADHD?
If he/she is saying this is a stage, or that she is doing this on purpose get a new Dr.! No one wants to have an accident, it is mortifying at any age.
Try to put her on a regular bathroom schedule, & include the teacher, but try not to call to much attention to it in the classroom so the other kids don't start teasing her about how often she is going.
The other problem is that she will not totally empty her bladder, because once on the potty her focus will change. This accounts for why children with this problem go repeatedly, sometimes within 10 minutes of just going. Teach her to sing a song to herself while on the potty like "happy birthday", so she sit still long enough to get it all out.
Let me know if you have any other questions.
Wow! That's great advice. I have the same problem with my 7 yr old. Your response explains a lot! Thank you!