When You Gotta Go, You Gotta Go! Let Kids Use The Bathroom When They Ask!

Remember when you were in elementary school and you really had to go to the bathroom, so you raised your hand and asked and were given a hall pass to the restroom. Well recently some schools are denying children's request to use the bathroom. Some schools have been limiting students' bathroom breaks.

In late April, a sixth grader in Ohio wet his pants during a standardized test after a teacher refused to let him use the bathroom. And again in May, a California eighth grader urinated into a Gatorade bottle in a classroom corner because the teacher wouldn't dismiss him.

Kids being kids, like to goof around and a lot of times when one child has to go to the bathroom many more follow their lead. However, teachers can't tell whenever the child has to go to the bathroom and when the child just wants to get out of class. Not only can't a teacher tell when the child needs to use the restroom, I don't think the teachers are aware that preventing them to use the bathroom can create health problems as well.

Many of us can hold our bladder, but many of us can't. Even in children it is a 50/50 chance. However, holding your bladder can create a bladder infection also called a urinary tract infection. It's a bacterial infection that affects any part of the urinary tract. If you delay using the bathroom on a regular basis, the bladder may become overfull, causing it to distend or stretch out. This may impact the ability to empty your bladder completely, which might make you have to pee more often, since you are loosing storage space. Bladder weakness may also occur so you may not feel that you have to go to the bathroom until your bladder is extremely full and by then you may not have a lot of time to get to the bathroom. This is where accidents and leakage may occur.

Children who frequently delay a trip to the bathroom are more likely to develop Urinary Tract Infections. Regular urination helps keep the urinary tract sterile by flushing away bacteria. Holding in urine allows bacteria to grow. Keeping the sphincter muscle tight for a long time also makes it more difficult to relax that muscle when it is time to urinate. As a result, the child's bladder may not empty completely. This dysfunctional voiding can set the stage for a urinary infection.

Some urinary problems are very obvious at birth. If your child suffers from any type of urinary problem, it would be a good idea to bring it to the schools and the teacher's attention.

You also need to think from the child's perspective as well. If you really need to go to the bathroom and it gets to the point that you can't hold it anymore and you have an accident, being the laughing stock of the classroom is not a fun ordeal, especially when it is the teacher's fault that you couldn't go to the restroom.

Sometimes your child may urinate more because he or she may be feeling nervous. If your child hasn't been drinking extra fluid or has any type of urinary problem, you may want to sit down with your child and ask them some questions regarding how they are feeling or if anything is making them feel awkward or scared.

By telling our children that they are not allowed to go to the bathroom, may affect their health in the long run. Something that the parents will have to deal with, not the schools, but of course if this type of consequence does happen, I'm sure the schools will hear about it possibly through the courtrooms.

My personal opinion is if your child is in a school where they limit their bathroom breaks, simply tell your child to ask to be excused to the restroom and if they are denied and it is an absolute emergency, tell your child to quietly walk out of class and use the restroom and quietly walk back into class. More than likely the teacher will address you, the parent about this, and I would definitely speak your opinions based on this current matter.

When you gotta go, you gotta go!