It’s estimated that 14 million people in the UK suffer with some form of continence problems. Incontinence involves the uncontrolled leakage of urine from the bladder and is a prevalent problem that many children and adults deal with. It can be tricky to navigate as on your own or as a parent and figure out an effective form of treatment. In this blog post, we’ll take a further look at incontinence in children and a deeper dive into what it is.

Children & incontinence

When children are suffering with incontinence, it means they are involuntarily releasing urine after being potty trained. Most children are potty trained by 5 years old and incontinence issues usually develop after this age. For most, issues with bedwetting and daytime incontinence will resolve on its own, but if the issue persists, it’s important that you see a healthcare professional for advice and treatment options before it becomes a bigger issue later on in their life.

How does our body pass & control urine?

The bladder is a small balloon shaped organ that has the important role of receiving and storing urine that is produced by our kidneys. When your body feels that it is an appropriate time, it empties the urine by contracting the bladder and passes through the urethra. The pelvic floor muscles loosen during this process too and then tighten after to stop the urine.

Urge syndrome

This type of urinary incontinence means you may have an overactive bladder which is accompanied by the sudden and urgent need to urinate. There will only be a few seconds between feeling like you need to need to urinate and the release of urine. Triggers for this type of incontinence include the sound of running water or changing positions when sleeping or sitting down. You will have the need to urinate on a more frequently, including several times during the night.

Overflow incontinence

This type of urinary incontinence is also more commonly referred to as chronic urinary retention. This refers to when the bladder is unable to completely empty itself during urination, leading the bladder to become swollen. It leads to passing urine in small amounts but on a frequent basis and will feel like your bladder is never fully empty even when you try and urinate.

Stress incontinence

Stress incontinence doesn’t refer to literal or mental stress, but stress on the body that results in incontinence. This includes activities or movements such as coughing, laughing or sneezing. Urine may be released involuntarily in small amounts during these activities as pressure is placed on the bladder.

Mixed incontinence

Mixed incontinence is when you exhibit both symptoms from stress and urge incontinence. For example, if you sneeze or cough, it is accompanied by the urge to urinate.

Parental history

If either parent has had incontinence issues growing up, this can also result in their child suffering from urinary incontinence too.

Constipation

Constipation is the biggest cause of daytime incontinence and bed wetting as the nerves in the rectum and bladder are located very close to each other in the body. Sometimes the signals become mixed up, triggering bladder contractions and leading to incontinence issues.

Incomplete/early toilet training

Training a child to use the toilet too early on can create incontinence issues as they will be pushing to urinate. When you urinate, it’s important that it occurs without force and that the pelvic floor muscles relax. If these muscles aren’t relaxed, it can cause urinary incontinence.

Deep sleep

If your child doesn’t wake up from their sleep to urinate then bed wetting can become an issue. If this isn’t resolved, it can become a reoccurring and constant issue resulting in soggy pyjamas and bedsheets.

Frequent UTIs

Children who suffer from reoccurring UTIs can develop urinary incontinence. UTIs or urinary tract infections occur when the urinary tract becomes infected by bacteria. This bacteria comes from the gut through the tube that releases urine out of the body.

Other conditions

Conditions such as type 1 diabetes, attention deficit disorder, anxiety and compulsive behaviour can play a massive role in the development of urinary incontinence in children.