Parenting advice...

I don't know. I might get flamed here. But I would make my kids stop what they were doing and go to the bathroom at least once every couple of hours. Even if they didn't have to go.

This....my last partners son started doing this when he was 10. All of the sudden out of the blue he was peeing and pooping his pants for no reason. We had him checked out and it simply came down to him wanting to play more than taking a break from activities to do his business. So we started making it mandatory that all kids go to the bathroom when we asked if they needed to pee.

after a while he got the hint.

1. Visit to the doctor.
2. Don't ask him if he needs to go to the bathroom. TELL him it's time to go to the bathroom. And then make him go.

I have three boys, ages 16, 13 and 5. They all get distracted with video games, etc. But I had one in pre-k that would prefer to sit in his own *kitten* then get up and use the restroom. He also wet his bed until a couple of years after kinder. He is now 16 and outgrew it all. :-) My 5 year old won't move away from video games enough to visit the restroom; we have had a handful of accidents.

I did exactly what the quote above suggested. With my first boy, I visited the doctor. Then got in a routine of making him visit the restroom, at times, kicking and screaming. :-)

Good luck.

1. Visit to the doctor.
2. Don't ask him if he needs to go to the bathroom. TELL him it's time to go to the bathroom. And then make him go.

exactly what she said

1. Visit to the doctor.
2. Don't ask him if he needs to go to the bathroom. TELL him it's time to go to the bathroom. And then make him go.

1. We did. It's definitely not his kidney/bladder.
2. Agreed. Sadly I wasn't there, but he has never ever had to be told to go before, so this is all kind of catching me off guard... as to why he's suddenly having accidents when he hasn't in years. I don't want to make it a bigger deal than I should and have a "conversation" if it isn't warranted and just a normal kid thing. But on the other hand, I don't want to miss a problem?

This is probably bothering me more than him *LOL*

It isn't so much that he doesn't know that he needs to go. It's just that he thinks he can handle it, and then all the sudden, the urge becomes overwhelming. He hasn't learned his body's limitations yet.

hrmmm.... didn't think of it like that.

Yes to all of this!

Boys are notorious for NOT wanting to stop what they are doing and go potty. AT that age you should be able to tell him every 2 hours, hey GO POTTY!! Make sure he goes and you should be good.

Boys just gotta play and they don't think about going potty until it is soo very too late and by then, they just can't hold it long enough. And if they do make it to the potty, standing there trying to get their pants down doing the "potty dance" well, they just go!!

I would go with the stop everything and try thing too.

When you are out together use yourself as an example. Such as as you enter the store say.. "I had better go to the bathroom before I begin shopping". This works everywhere....even when you arrive at a friends house....than just tell him it is his turn to go.
Work very well for my son and yes he did out grow it.

Best of luck!

Blessings!! <><

My daughter used to do that too. She would be sitting at the computer and just wet all over herself because she was too into the game she was playing. First, I took the game away from her as punishment. Second, I did consult the doctor , Come to find out she had a bladder infection. I would be more concerned about the reason he is doing this. Ask him questions like, do you know you have to pee before you wet yourself? Or, are you scared to go to the bathroom when you are out in public ? Ask him if he likes smelling like pee and does he get embarrassed about it ? I never made fun of my daughter but I did tell her that if she kept doing that all her friends would think she was a "baby" and God knows she doesn't want to be considered a baby.. LOL I even considered making her go to school in a diaper to make her feel humiliated. But - she stopped wetting herself on on her own so everything is good now. Except sometimes when she is in a rush, she won't wipe.. which causes UTI's.. Not good!

Totally normal 5 year old behavior, totally.

I just ask my big one every so often to go to the bathroom. He went through that phase not too long ago and it was pretty brief. I just think that their little brains are too busy to stop and think... so we do the stop and think for them. This too shall pass.

My son's 8 but he has Asperger's Syndrome and he's been wetting occasionally for the last year. I just tell him that he needs to stop and go to the bathroom when he needs to and get him cleaned up and on his way. The thing with my little guy is he isn't embarrassed about it, he just wants to get changed and get back to doing whatever it was that he was doing. I think it's fairly normal like the other poster's have stated. They grow out of it eventually.