Six year old peeing on self during day, is there a deeper meaning or is she being defiant?

Question

my 6 year old was the world easit cild to potty train and did it early! But for the last month, she is wetting herself, DURING THE DAY. Not bedwetting, but during the day. She will either keep them on and not say anuthing, or she changes and hides the wet ones. So, to me, that means she KNOWS its bad. I am assuming that it happens because she doesn't want to get up from whatever she is doing and use the bathroom. I don't know what the proper punishment is or if there should be even be one.

WHY is she doing this and what do I do to stop her? My mom says to spank her. (my mom is an old school Black mom. Thats just hw she does it) but I am not a spank-er unless it was truley deserving of one. Could there be a deeper emotional reason for this? (Daddy is US Army in Afghan., but is coming home around May, so not a NEW issue) Or is she doing it because she isn't making it a priority to what she is doing at that time? I need to stop this ASAP. I don't want her sliding backwards. I'm lost....

Answer 1

First, make a visit to the pediatrician and find out if there is anything medically wrong.  If not, then try this.  Tell her that each day she goes without wetting her pants she will get a star (or something like that) and after she gets so many stars she gets a trip to the store or a special treat that she really likes and doesn't get very often.  I think she's just waiting too long before she finally gets up to go.  I think she'll eventually get tired of having on wet pants and she'll stop.

Answer 2

My daughter is about to turn six.  She pees her pants a little bit at least once a week.  In her case, she's too involved in whatever she's doing, and waits too long to go to the bathroom.  She ends up peeing while she's trying to get her pants off.

I keep paper towels and diaper wipes in the bathroom.  I've told my daughter that if she pees herself, she needs to clean up the floor and herself afterwards, rinse her wet pants, squeeze the water out, and then hang up her wet clothes until I do a load of laundry.  I'm hoping that if she has to go to enough trouble when it happens she will learn to manage her time better and get to the bathroom soon enough.

I don't think it's really that uncommon.  Last year I was taking care of an 8 year old after school, and lots of times she would come home and say that she had wet her pants a little bit at school but didn't want to tell the school.

I don't think you should punish your daughter.  If you really can't wait for her to grow out of it, get a timer and set it for an hour, and tell your daughter to go sit on the toilet and pee every time the timer rings, and then just set it over and over during the day so she goes to the bathroom once an hour.

Answer 3

Or does she maybe have an infection? I think the first thing is to take her to the doctor and find out if there is a physical cause. Punishment is not the answer. Positive reinforcement is. Yes, she may be anxious about Daddy or she may be just really into what she is doing. And children do internalize things, it may take months before behavior shows internal workings. Talk to your daughter about daddy or just life in general. She's six so I assume she goes to school. Anything going on there?

Finally, I would put up a chart and put stars on it for every day she doesn't wet. Encourage her that everyone has accidents and she doesn't have to be afraid or ashamed. I had a problem when I was in the sixth grade so don't worry about it. Just take it as a stage and try to be positive. If she relaxes about it, it may take care of itself.

Answer 4

maybe your child is confused over something or something has upset her at school. there is only one way to find out. talk to her DONT shout at her for what she has done wrong. my advice is to just ask her how her day has been and wether anybody has upset her.

good luck

regards x

Answer 5

She's only six! Give her a break! She has a lot of stress in her life with her daddy facing DEATH every moment of her life (he might not be in a dangerous situation but in her mind he is!)

It could be, as another person suggested, that she's too involved with whatever she's up to and doesn't go to the restroom in time, or she could even have a urinary infection.

The last option, that she's doing it to be defiant or to somehow punish you is insane!

Get her some "pull-ups" in the mean time, and get both of you some counseling.

Kids don't come with instructions and you can't be expected  to instinctively know the answer to every problem that comes up.

Answer 6

Well it could be some infection so you may need to take her to the doctor to see what might be causing this problem. If everythings fine, i'd spank her bottom every time she does it, and make her wear diapers that fit her.