Son Urinating in Inappropriate Places

My 7 year old son pees in his room, laudry hamper,heat vent,drawers, toy boxes etc. We have tried therapy and time out and writting a letter to us. I also have an issue with the quailty of work at school, his teacher says he willing does it over again and is a great little boy.

Thank you for reaching out to us for help. The situation with your son sounds very frustrating. It is great that you have him in therapy and hopefully as that progresses the behavior will decrease and eventually stop. Meanwhile, make sure to communicate your expectations clearly so he will know exactly what your tolerances are.

R einforce or reward even small improvements toward the desired behavior. If negative consequences are not working, make sure to switch them around so they are not predictable. One of the consequences can be to "un-do" the problem by requiring him to clean up the area where he has urinated. If it is the toy box, he takes all of the toys out and washes them, cleans out the toy box itself and puts everything back in. Instead of watching TV, playing on the computer or whatever else he likes to do, this consequence is followed-through with first. Check those areas daily to monitor if the behavior is continuing, if it is not, reward him, perhaps just with a high-five or something he is reinforced by. Sometimes we have to measure progress by less frequent misbehaviors.

You mentioned that you have other children in your family. Make sure they are receiving attention for the good things they are doing. It is easy for them to see the amount of attention their brother is receiving for his inappropriate behaviors. What you want to avoid is for them to misbehave in order to get more attention for themselves.

If you would like to talk about this or other parenting issues, please give us a call at the Hotline at 1-800-448-3000. We are available 24 hours a day 7 days a week.

Sincerely,
Pat, Crisis Counselor

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