Good luck! My son is now 7 and still is having accidents during the day and the night. I have researched everywhere I can think of, talked to pediatricians, and have not had any success. I am about at my last straw which seems to be looking into hypnotherapy. (no joke!) According to this therapist (who's son is ADHD as well) feels that it is worth a try. It is supposed to be very non-evasive. I will let you know how it goes. We have an appointment next month. From the other parents locally that I have talked to (most people don't like to talk about it) - it seems common for soiling and wetting to be an issue. Unfortunately, that doesn't help us parents deal with the frustration or embarrassment of it. Sorry, I know not much help.

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I went to an information night a few years back at a local hospital. It was about bedwetting. It surprised me how many of the parents were talking about kids with ADD/ADHD. Apparently it a co-morbid problem. Even though one doesn't necessarily go with the other, it seems to be more common in this community. The hormone that you're using to help can be a god send. I hope the doctor told you that he will likely create that hormone himself when he gets older, so this probably won't be a lifelong med for him. Another thing we found common was the way that the child sleeps. Does your son sleep the sleep of the dead? I've given my daughter night time antibiotics, like we all have, but I've put it in the mouth of a sleeping child. She would NOT wake up. I'm sure that's part of the reason. They just can't wake up. Now that's she's hitting puberty she no longer has any problem at all. The hormone has kicked in, and her sleep pattern has changed. As for the daytime, I know a young man who would have the same problem whenever he was hyper-focusing on something. Check to see if it's happening at a similar time, or at a particular time of day. He fixed his problem by scheduling his bathroom breaks. Hope this helps.

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Hi Lorraine,

Thanks for the reply. I finally took my son to a neurologist and it was confirmed that he does have ADD. It still has to sink in in me so sad to say, I still haven't really researched more about what ADD really is. You mentioned hyper-focusing. You are spot on!!! His wetting usually happens when he is engaged in play with his friends or using the computer. And just like what you said, he does sleep like a log. A couple of times, about 2 years ago, I tried to see if I can wake him up in the middle of the night to take him to the toilet. It was like carrying the dead. No matter what I do, he just wouldn't wake up.

Thanks so much. My emotional well has been drained and I can start anew.

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Hello....just like to post my experience on this topic. My son, age 11 now, went to a pediatrician nd he found my son was constipated. He explained the bowels are close to the bladder (hope I remember this correctly), when it gets full it presses on the bladder which results in accidents. He suggested we give him some of this liquid stuff (sorry can't remember the name of it) and we also gave him Metamucil biscuits with water. It really helped with the bowels and the bed wetting and accidents occurred less often.

At night time I restrict his liquid intake, make sure he goes to the bathroom before bedtime. He takes his sheets off and makes his own bed when an accident occurs. Glad to say there are not many sheets in the wash these days.

He does get really interested in computer games and forgets he has to go or waits til the very last second. He's not accident free yet but things are getting better.

There is hope....hang in there....you are not alone.

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Crys, Talk about frustration (for us, the family) and embarrassment (for him). Much as I would like to admit I am a model mom, every now and then, I still lose it - temper and patience, then feel guilty about it. It worries me that it will have an emotional and psychological effect on my son. You are right, not a lot of people are open about this matter even if it is more common that we think. Probably because parents experience the same emotional turmoil like I do but are too ashamed to admit it rather than addressing it. Your reply gave me emotional support. Thanks.

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I know this is a really old thread, but just in case there are other parents who would like to know :)... it made life a lot easier for us when we finally found this stuff :)).

My daughter went through / is going through almost this exact same story. Her problems are also hyperfocus and a tendency to constipation (probably because of the hyperfocus- she doesn't want to or can't break off what she's doing to go), which cause her to have wetting / soiling accidents. We went through the whole slew of tests to look for abnormalities, etc., and it ended up being the constipation. The pediatric urologist at Phoenix Children's Hospital told us to use magnesium citrate, which is an over-the-counter liquid laxative, very inexpensive (about 2-3 bucks around here). It's flavored and carbonated, so it looks a bit like Sprite. My daughter's not a big fan of the flavor, but it works great!! You can get it in most major pharmacies or grocery stores, like CVS, Walgreen's or Fry's.

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Wow, am I glad I found this board, and this thread in particular! My son is 7, and recently diagnosed as ADD. He has been having soiling accidents on an almost daily basis since school began. At first we suspected encopresis, but our doctor had x-rays done and saw no blockages in the bowels. He's in 2nd grade and I am basically having to re-potty train him.

The school nurse has been very patient with him, but she doesn't feel that the toileting issues are ADD related. She thinks that he's just 'reluctant to grow up'.

His psychologist seems to think that the toileting issue is possibly anxiety related, and if we can get either it or the ADD under control, one will take care of the other. My son has four more visits with the psychologist before she completes her evaluation and determines whether or not medication is right for him.

My question is, how common are toileting issues in children with ADD? I'll keep working with him to get this under control, but will medication, if advised, help also? And, is the school nurse being a bit dismissive about this not being ADD related?

Thanks!

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Greetings all. This topic is very much hitting home with me and my 12 year old daughter. She has been having urine accidents for at least a year...sometimes every couple months...recently over the holidays...every couple days. It happens when she is enjoying herself (hyperfocused) and so far is not in the least concerned about the social ramifications. So far, this has not happened in school...but that's my biggest fear right now. My question is...how do we deal with this? We have taken away video games and computer (her major interests) and yet it happens again. Thanks for the ear.

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Hello, I want to thank you for your postings. I thought I was going crazy. My step-son (age 6) has difficulty with wetting his pants. The doctor said that there was nothing wrong physically. He recently was diagnosed with ADHD-hyperactity/impulsive type. His father and I use a reward/punishment behavior modification in our house. This does work, except when he is home for the day (summer, vacations, weekends) because he does get so focused on his play. Then, we have to remind him to use the bathroom. This is working well. The night time wetting is because he does sleep so sound. I have found that on days he has more cinnamon in his diet, his nitetime (big boy words for pull-up, we dont want him assamed of this) is dryer. I also have found an old-fashion remedy for bed-wetting that helps too. We call it "corn tea" right before bed, we have him use the bathroom (regardless if he has to or not) then he gets his tea. It is 1 cup hot water and 15 drops of Corn Silk Extract. This works wonders.

If you have any other suggestions, I would really like to hear them.

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Toilet training problems are very common in children with ADHD.

Your best defense is to train him to control his bladder. It's a 21-day process. The method I know of was developed by a foster mother raising 36 children with severe ADHD. 40% of her kids had this problem. (I'm not selling it, don't worry.)

Day-wetting, bed-wetting, and soiling are common problems with these kids. It's so exasperating. This can last into the teenage years and beyond without specific help.

Wish I had more encouraging news.

One thing I can recommend is to have him wash his bed linens and clothes and disenfect the mattress cover very matter of factly the minute you discover he's wet.

Yours sincerely in parenting success, Debra Sale Wendler

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My son has ADHD and post traumatic stress disorder- I adopted him 2 years ago and at that time he still would not use the bathroom and would constantly go in the bed. He is on medication and this is what I read about and have tried for the bathroom issues- Over the last 3 months we have no accidents during the day- he is asked to go several times a day at the beginning of when we started this whole trainng purpose- now he goes without being asked to go- thankfully He is only six soon to be seven.

As far as the night time stuff it is less and less- I use to make a big deal about it- he does wear nighttime pull ups- his water or liquid intake is restricted and he goes to the bathroom before bed. Usually 4 out of 7 nights are dry- if he is in a new place or another home he is not- I do not make a big deal of it- he goes in changes clothes if needs too- changes sheets if needs to - no discussion he just does it-

I found for us the more of a deal I made out of it the more he did it- so I do not make a deal out of it- there are several mornings- I have walked in his room and he is taking off the sheets and headed to the washer.

It is time taking task and patience on this one-

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My son is 8 years old has add and takes adderall, which for the most part, helps him have a pretty normal life.His big problem is wetting during the day,this happens at school,church,or home.He generally does not acknowledge that it has happened and we have to prompt him to clean himself and change.I have taken him to a uriologist who has given him a clean bill of health.He does not seem ashamed or embarased or bothered by having urine on his clothes.Most recently he had a bowel movement at school in his pants.My son also wets his bed at night,but he sleeps very hard.I just notice that my son's overall concern of general hygeine is pretty terrible.I am glad to know I am not the only mom having this problem.What puzzles me is that the physicans have not made a connection between add and day time wetting.My son always had day time accidents,even before he was diagnosed and given meds.If he does not take his meds the problem only gets worse and he will have twice as many "accidents".I definately think that add and day time wetting are connected.If any one has a similar story please share.I am desprate to find a solution for my son.

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I am so glad to read all these notes. We have been dealing with this, to varying degrees of severity, for the past 3-4 years. I have had days where I feel so desperate and alone. Currently my son is 8 and has wetting accidents every day at school and wears a pull-up at night. Sometimes he will poo in his pull-up while he is awake and reading in his room. He'll keep the pull-up on, oblivious to the smell and the fact that it is completely inappropriate. We try, try, try not to shame him or make a big deal, but as I'm sure you can relate to, it is VERY difficult sometimes. At school he avoids poo accidents right now, but it has been a struggle just to get to this point. Our situation began in kindergarten. He is extremely introverted and 1) did not like to go to the potty which was in the room, and 2) did not like to have to ask his teacher if he could go. So he just wouldn't go. He also would get hyper-involved in an activity. He got constipated, was pooing/peeing daily at school, etc... Got that under control, but now...still working on it. So...here's what our psychologist said to us about 3 months ago, and it makes sense. His ADHD prevents his brain from discerning the importance of various signals. The sensory input is not differentiated...for example, the inputs could be noise from brother singing feeling of needing to pee pleasure at creating cool Leggo structure thirst excitement because neighbor boy is out front the cut on my finger hurts... etc.... All these stimuli are given equal weight and then acted upon only based on one thing...what gives me the most pleasure? Well, going to the bathroom, while hopefully not a negative experience (yet), is not high on the list...so, it's ignored until, whoops! it's too late. But then, how come he's not embarrassed? Doesn't that motivate him? Because that feeling too is judged in the same way the other stimuli were, and the fear of the negative is not as strong as the desire to achieve the positive...so, he again will go for the most pleasureable stimuli. So, he'll pee in his underwear and then decide to go play with the neighbor boy in wet clothes!!!!!!!!!!!!! Play with friend versus change stinky, wet underwear...Easy choice! His brain is just not able (yet) to discriminate stimuli based on internal guidelines other than pleasure, it has to be trained. I'm sorry this is so long. But here's the solution (I hope)...the basics of potty training. Staying dry, responding to the pee stimui, has to become SO SUPER REWARDING that his brain will send a strong message to STOP what he's doing and go pee. You got it, rewarding an 8 year old boy for going pee-pee on the potty. It feels so counterintuitive. But the thing is, you have to stick to it, and the reward has to be REALLY REALLY GOOD, and you have to stick to it. Did I mention you have to stick to it? That's my problem. After awhile, I'm like...just go! And stop asking me for marshmellows!!!!!!!!!!!!! But the idea of it all makes complete sense, so we're going to implement it 1000% over the summer. I'll let you know...

What do you think? Any feedback?

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I'm glad I found this thread. Jordie still wears a pull up and most often it's wet in the morning. She is always constipated, and only poops about once a week (at best). I've had to go so far as to give her an enema to get things going as she'll be screaming in pain because she is so constipated. She has had a handful of pee accidents during the day (once at school) but we've been able to keep them on the low down for the most part. (The school one, I brought another pair of jeans that were the exact same kind/brand for her to change into so no one would notice). We have an appt tomorrow with her GP to get a prescription for her nighttime bedwetting. I'm hoping it will help with her self esteem if we can get this problem solved.

Good luck to everyone,

Jessica

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Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!!

Don't care that the doctor's haven't found a correlation between ADD and day wetting....it appears I've found the answer.

My 6-year-old daughter has been day wetting off and on for 3 years. I have tried EVERYTHING but haven't had any luck. Ironically enough she has also had fairly severe problems paying attention and focusing, both at school and home. (how many times in one morning can I say, "Kaley, brush your teeth!) She can get distracted on her way to the bathroom 5 feet away!!!!

I was 100% convinced her problems were psychological and attributed them to changing schools, me dating, moving, etc...Three years later, when the problems are still continuing with no outward signs of stress, I know better. She has even been seen by a doctor and although they didn't do many tests they gave her a clean bill of health.

Again, thank you, thank you, thank you!

This is the missing puzzle piece that has been missing from our family picture.

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