Timmy was not your typical seven year-old. Timmy had had a
problem since he was little with bedwetting. He would wet himself nightly and
his mother wasn’t yet able to get him out of diapers at night. As hard as she
tried, Timmy just didn’t show much interest in stopping his wetting. Every
night his mother would put a disposable diaper on Timmy and would remove it in
the morning. Timmy was fine with that since he really didn’t know anything
different. Timmy also had times when he would have occasional daytime wetting
accidents as well. His mother Sue would simply change his clothes if he wet
himself during the day.
Sue was a divorced single mother of 28 and was exceptionally
gorgeous. Sue’s parents lived 2000 miles away in Pennsylvania in her hometown.
Sue didn’t have many friends but she did have a “best” friend Karen who lived
just a few blocks away.
Timmy has a brother, Kyle, who is two years old and a
sister, Kathy, who is nine. They are both fully aware of Timmy’s wetting
problem but Kathy doesn’t tease him about it, and Kyle is too young to care.
Kyle is still in diapers too and is not showing any interest in his mother’s
attempts to potty train him. Kathy helps her mother a great deal in caring for
Kyle and sometimes helps with Timmy as well. Timmy is very small for his age
and weighs in at 62 pounds soaking wet. In contrast, Kyle is big for his age.
Kyle weighs in at 34 pounds and stands almost as tall as Timmy.
It was a beautiful summer day with the high expected to be
88 degrees. Timmy and Kathy were out of school until late September. Timmy
awoke early and went into the family room to see what he could get into as he
did so many times before. Everyone was still asleep and Timmy was still in his
night diaper and a T-shirt. He was bored and didn’t know what to play with. He
decided to play with some of Kyle’s toys that were strewn about the family
room. Timmy had always played with Kyle’s toys and his mother saw no reason to
deter him from doing so. On Timmy’s last birthday, his mother had bought Timmy
a few of his own baby toys and he seemed to love them. His mother was a little
apprehensive when she bought them for him but was happy when Timmy showed great
interest when he unwrapped them. One of Timmy’s favorite toys was a Fisher Price
activity center that was intended for 1 – 3 year olds. He played with it often.
As he played, Timmy started to suck his thumb as he often
did. Kathy came in and saw Timmy sitting on the floor in his diaper and T-shirt
playing with the baby toy.
She thought to herself “Timmy makes such a cute baby. He
looks just like Kyle”
“Is little Timmy having fun?” she asked Timmy
Timmy replied “I kinda bored”
At that moment his mom came into the room and said “Good
morning” “Timmy, let’s get that diaper off of you and get you dressed”. With
that his mother picked Timmy up and carried him to his room as she had done so
many times before. Timmy wasn’t very heavy so it was easy for here to carry
him. She removed his wet diaper and placed it in the diaper hamper in his room.
She then dressed Timmy for the day.
Timmy went back in the family room. Kathy turned on Barney
and Timmy began watching. While Timmy and Kathy watched TV, their mom got Kyle
up, changed his diaper and dressed him for the day too. When she brought Kyle
into the family room and put him in his playpen, she noticed the smell of a wet
diaper. Kyle began sucking his thumb and playing with his toys. She turned and
noticed that Timmy had wet his pants while watching Barney.
“Timmy, Did you have a little accident?” she asked
Timmy didn’t answer and continued to watch Barney. His
mother picked him up and took him to his room where she changed his clothes and
sent him back to watch Barney and play. She then cleaned up the carpet where
Timmy had been sitting when he wet himself.
“I don’t understand why Timmy does this” she thought as she
cleaned the carpet.
Timmy’s mom was very concerned at Timmy’s lack of control
and wasn’t sure what to do. She decided to talk with Timmy after she put Kyle
down for his afternoon nap.
“Timmy, can we talk about your wetting honey” she asked
“Otay.” Said Timmy.
“Why are you having accidents during the day?” she asked
him.
“I don’t know” replied Timmy “It just happens and I don’t
even feel it happening”
“I see” responded his mother “I think I’ll get a doctors
appointment for you and the doctor can take a look to see what is going on,
Okay?”
“Okay Mommy” said Timmy as he went back to playing with a
plastic ring baby toy of Kyle’s.
Sue went to the
phone and called Doctor Mills office and set up an appointment for the doctor
to see both Timmy and Kyle. Kyle was well but since she had to take Timmy
anyway she figured that she would have him look at Kyle too.
“I’d like an appointment with Doctor Mills for Timmy and
Kyle” Sue asked.
“Okay. Can you bring them in tomorrow at three?” the nurse
asked.
“Sure. Three O’clock tomorrow. Okay, we will be there.”
Responded Sue.
“And what will you be seeing the doctor about?” the nurse
asked
“Well, Timmy is having on-going problems with wetting
himself and Kyle is okay but I wanted the doctor to look at him and suggest a
way I can get him to both potty train and stop sucking his thumb. He is ruining
his teeth.” Sue explained.
“Okay. And Timmy is wetting himself at night?” the nurse inquired.
“Well, at night and more frequently during the day as well”
Sue explained.
“And how long has this been happening?” asked the nurse
“A long time. It’s just beginning to worry me as Timmy gets
older. Maybe the doctor can provide some ideas and suggestions as to how Timmy
can control himself better.” Said Sue.
“How often is he wetting during the day” the nurse asked.
“One or Two times a day” she explained
“I’ll let the doctor know and we will see you tomorrow at
three” the nurse said.
“Okay. See you then” said Sue as she hung-up.
Sue went in to the family room to check on Timmy and Kyle.
Timmy was trying to take a plastic ring toy from Kyle as she entered the room.
“me wanna pay wit dat” said Timmy to Kyle.
Sue was a little shocked that Timmy was talking baby talk
again to Kyle. He had slipped back to talking baby talk many times in the past
and it only lasted a few days until he began talking like a seven year old
again. She just figured it was a phase or something and she had always just ignored
it.
“Otay heaw” said Kyle.
Timmy put the ring in his mouth and tried to suck on it.
“Timmy what are you doing?” asked his mother
“Me pway wit da toy” Timmy said and then realized he was
talking baby talk.
“I was paying with da wing, ring” said Timmy.
A little shocked his mother replied “Okay honey. Play nice
with Kyle”.
As she left the room she wondered “I wonder why he does
that. I guess it doesn’t hurt anything so I won’t say anything to him.”
The phone rang and Sue went to get it.
“Hello” said Sue
“Hi Sue. It’s Karen” responded Sue’s best friend
“Hi Karen. What’s up?” asked Sue
“Not too much. What are you doing this afternoon?” asked
Karen
“Nothing, why?” she asked
“I was thinking that Bobby and I could come and visit for a
little while” announced Karen
Bobby was Karen’s 18 month-old son and he played well with
Kyle and Timmy. The kids had been playing together all their lives.
“That’s fine. I’ll see you when you get here then” said Sue
“Bye”
Sue set about straightening up the house and getting Kyle
and Timmy ready for the day. Sue asked Kathy to help and then get herself ready
for the day too.
Sue was busy changing Kyle’s diaper when the doorbell rang.
She quickly finished and went to answer the door. It was Karen and Bobby.
“Hi Karen, come on in” Sue said with a big smile as she
opened the door for them.
Karen walked in and put Bobby down in the family room to
play with Kyle and Timmy. Timmy was sitting on the floor sucking his thumb and
playing with toys. Kyle was in the playpen also sucking his thumb and looking
out the sliding glass door into the back yard. Karen then noticed that Timmy
had wet his pants.
“Sue?” Karen called “Timmy wet his pants”
Sue came into the family room and picked up Timmy and
carried him to his bedroom to change his wet clothes. When she returned, Timmy
was wearing a cute sweat suit with a dinosaur on the top. It was a little
“babyish” for a seven year old but Sue thought, “It will have to do for now
since Timmy is low on clothes. He has wet just about everything he has.” Timmy
didn’t seem to object.
Timmy went back to playing with Kyle and Bobby and Sue went
to talk with Karen in the Kitchen.
“Does Timmy wet his pants a lot?” asked Karen
“Well, sometimes” answered Sue “I am taking him to the
doctor tomorrow and I want to have the doctor look at Timmy but I also want to
know why Timmy is doing some of the things he does. I hope that the doctor has
some answers.”
“What does Timmy do besides wet his pants?” asked Karen
“Well, he prefers to play with baby toys and he sometimes
lapses back to talking baby talk. I also want to know when he will stop sucking
his thumb.” Answered Sue
“Really. It sounds like Timmy is more like two rather than
seven,” replied Karen
“I know. That’s what I think too sometimes.” Said Sue
“Timmy’s school tested him pre-kindergarten and he scored only a 23 on a
development test. All the other kids scored a 63 or higher and they told me
that Timmy was at a two year old level. That’s why Timmy was sent back to
pre-school last year. He was put in with the toddlers 2-5”. The school said
that they would be happy to retest Timmy to get into kindergarten anytime.
“So how is he doing at pre-school?” Karen asked
“Okay. He seems to have a lot of fun there and really likes
playing with the other toddlers. Timmy doesn’t go back until the fall.”
Answered Sue.
They were both talking for some time before Kathy came in
and announced that Bobby had a poopy diaper and Timmy had wet his pants yet
again.
Karen changed Bobby’s diaper while Sue carried Timmy off to
change his clothes once again. This time Timmy’s pants only were wet but he
didn’t have any clean pants to wear. Sue then thought, “Hmmm. I wonder if
Kyle’s pants would fit Timmy?” She went into the nursery and found a pair of Kyle’s
pants that were too big for Kyle and put them on Timmy. They fit him just fine,
just a little baggy in the seat. These pants also had a snap crotch for easy
diaper changing but Timmy didn’t seem to care. Timmy went back to playing.
“It’s a good thing that Kyle’s pants fit Timmy otherwise I
wouldn’t have any pants for him to wear. I need to put some of Timmy’s clothes
in the washer in case he wets himself again and needs some pants” said Sue.
“Sue. Timmy still has to wear diapers at night doesn’t he? Asked
Karen
“Yes”-replied Sue.
“Well then, why don’t you just put Timmy in a diaper during
the day too?” asked Karen
“Do you think I should?” asked Sue
“I would if I were you,” replied Karen “Why do mountains of
laundry if you don’t have to”
“I guess you have a good point,” said Sue “I just didn’t
want to send the wrong message to Timmy”.
“Yeah, but you seem to be in some kind of denial or something. Send the message that Timmy needs to be potty trained and has to wear a diaper until then” retorted Karen “That’s not the wrong message. That only makes good sense.”