Dear Journalists, Here Are 6 Stories to Cover Instead of the Bogus Kindergartners-in-Diapers "Trend"

By Steve Hodges, M.D.

"Kindergartners in diapers" is not a real trend, says pediatric urologist Dr. Steve Hodges.

The other day a journalist asked to interview me about “the increasing number of children going to kindergarten in diapers” — what’s causing this “trend” and how I advise parents and schools to “handle” it.

I know “fake news” is a cliché, but seriously, the kindergartners-in-diapers “trend” is bogus and tiresome to read about. Meanwhile, journalists are ignoring important stories pertaining to childhood toileting dysfunction — stories that would hold major medical organizations accountable for spreading falsehoods and would help families make informed treatment decisions. I’ll get to those topics in a moment.

First, let’s dispense with the so-called trend. As I’ve explained here and here and here, no actual evidence demonstrates that more kindergartners are showing up to school in diapers than in some vaguely defined past. But this doesn’t stop media outlets around the world — in the U.S., the UK, Australia — from declaring every year that such a trend exists and suggesting that lazy and/or uninformed parents are at fault..

Here's a sampling of articles announcing this “new” trend  — articles that date back to 2008. By the way, I randomly chose 2008 as a starting point and googled "kindergartners in diapers."

•Absolutely potty! How children are still wearing nappies to SCHOOL - with dire risks to their health (2008)

•Students who aren’t potty trained an issue for kindergarten teachers (2014)

•Teachers wasting time potty training kids because parents are too lazy or busy to teach them at home” (2016)

•Teachers report ‘heartbreaking’ rise in number of West Australian children attending school in nappies (2021)

•Teachers Are Seeing More Kindergartners Arrive at School Still in Diapers (2023)

I don’t think that in 2026, the world needs yet another story on this manufactured topic. (But if you're a journalist intent on writing about this, I will talk to you and explain why it's not a trend!)

The real harm in these stories is the assumption that 5-year-olds who need to wear diapers to school are “not potty trained.” Of course these kids were toilet trained, usually by loving, frustrated parents.

When elementary-age children lack bladder or bowel control, it’s because they suffer from chronic constipation that has gone untreated or under-treated. The clogged, enlarged rectum is wreaking havoc on the bladder nerves and compromising rectal tone and sensation. Lack of toileting instruction has nothing to do with it.

READ: Even Severe Constipation Goes Undiagnosed in Bedwetting Children. Here’s Why.

I’m not sure why kindergartners-in-diapers articles are so popular. My best guess, based on the cruel social media comments these articles stir up, is that the topic makes for good click bait. Interest appears to stem from parental insecurity and competition.

READ: Potty Training is not a Competitive Sport

I sense that folks like to read about other people’s parenting nightmares because it makes them feel better about their own family’s issues. Something like: Well, my kid may be [insert your child’s challenges here], but at least she isn’t wearing diapers to kindergarten!

Enough already. If journalists want to cover childhood toileting dysfunction, here are six meaningful topics screaming for responsible coverage. I have pitched these ideas to countless media outlets over the years and have a stellar track record of being ignored. (Well except by Slate, which has published two of my articles — here and here. Thank you, Slate!)

Journalists: Feel free to contact me about any of the following topics!

•Autism, bedwetting and accidents: What doctors and autism advocates get wrong, causing families to suffer.

In autistic children, enuresis (bedwetting and daytime wetting) and encopresis (chronic poop accidents) are dismissed by doctors as “part of the deal,” so parents just accept they need to buy XXL pull-ups for years on end.

READ: Constipation, Bedwetting, and Autism: What the Medical Community Overlooks and How to Help Your Child

The Autism Society buys into this assumption, too, and unfortunately has partnered with Goodnites to normalize bedwetting among autistic children (as I explain in my Zoom course, Autism, ADHD, and Accidents).

The media buys into this assumption hook, line and sinker. A recent Wall Street Journal story referred to an 8-year-old who “is minimally verbal, still wears diapers at night, and is prone to sporadic meltdowns.” The implication is that the boy’s wetting is a symptom of autism. False. The New York Times similarly missed the boat in an article about an autistic teenager.

READ: Autism and Chronic Constipation: This New York Times Article is Exactly What I’m Talking About

I have a large caseload of autistic children, and virtually all were told by doctors that their incontinence was caused by their autism. So, these kids miss out on treatment that will stop their accidents. It’s a catastrophe for them and their parents.

•Bedwetting is not a “mental disorder” — yet the American Psychiatric Association continues to include enuresis the DSM-5. Why?

This is a question I wish a journalist would ask the American Psychiatric Association.

Enuresis has burrowed its way into the psychiatry and psychology literature, with disastrous consequences for children. Many kids are shamed, sent to art therapy, or even prescribed serious psychiatric drugs because their accidents are mistakenly perceived as psychological or behavioral in nature.

Both enuresis and encopresis are included in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5), described by the APA as “an authoritative volume that defines and classifies mental disorders.” Enuresis also rates a 14-page chapter in the Handbook of DSM-5 Disorders in Children and Adolescents and countless entries in online resources for therapists and parents.

These entries should be removed. Enuresis is no more a mental disorder than is an enlarged prostate. The same goes for encopresis.

Here, I delve into the studies — some bogus, some misconstrued — that psychiatry and psychology texts use to support their erroneous characterizations of the conditions I treat every day.

By the way, the American Academy of Pediatrics gets this wrong, too. Its website for parents states that in teenagers, “stress can cause bedwetting; treating the stress can stop the bedwetting.” An enterprising journalist should ask the AAP their source for this false statement.

READ: To the American Academy of Pediatrics: Please Update Your Bedwetting Advice

•Botox is an excellent treatment for bedwetting — as long as the underlying constipation is treated first

Yes, the same substance that plumps out facial wrinkles is highly effective for halting an overactive bladder in children with severe enuresis. I’ve been injecting Botox into kids’ bladders for a decade, with great success. (Here's a study.)

Yet most families are never presented this option. Here, I explain when Botox is appropriate and when it’s not.

•The diaper industry is exploiting families by normalizing bedwetting.

I keep writing about this, and nobody cares.

Well, except parents I work with who are devastated when they learn their teen’s bedwetting could have been treated a decade earlier. And, of course, teens themselves, who have been assured year after year they will “outgrow” their accidents.

READ: Dear Bedwetting Teenagers: Your Condition is 1.) Common, 2.) Not Your Fault, and 3.) Totally Fixable

The diaper industry continues to invest heavily in the normalization of bedwetting, not just among autistic children but among all kids. Here, I dissect Pampers’ shameful video campaign for Ninjamas. And here, I examine Goodnites’ even more troubling and exploitative radio campaign.

•Popular culture gets everything wrong about bedwetting, to the detriment of kids.

One journalist I pitched this idea to replied, “Honestly, it’s boring.” I guess it is, compared to the more titillating topic of “kindergartners in diapers.” On the other hand, this topic has the benefit of being based in reality.

Sarah Silverman’s musical, The Bedwetter, is emotionally true but medically wrong. The political media is obsessed with the term “bedwetting,” defining it as “excessive worry.” In TV, film, and books, bedwetting signals psychological distress. Inevitably, the kid who wets the bed is the one neglected by Mom! (See: Borgen, Fleishman is in Trouble.)

And then there's the media obsession with the fake connection between enuresis and a propensity toward murder. The Netflix release of Monster: The Ed Gein Story prompted this headline: "Psychologist reveals the three disturbing childhood traits linked to future serial killers." The three traits, according to the article: cruelty to animals, obsession with fire-setting, and . . . persistent bedwetting.

More clickbait, I guess.

•Children are abused, even murdered, because society misunderstands bedwetting and accidents.

I have a large collection of media reports on parents convicted of murdering their children because they couldn’t handle the child’s bedwetting or daytime accidents. Obviously, these are extremely disturbed parents, but when society at large shames and blames kids for a medical condition that is no fault of their own, kids will inevitably suffer, and kids with unstable parents will suffer the most.

Here, I wrote about two Florida cops who handcuffed and jailed their sobbing 3-year-old son to teach him "the consequences" of pooping in his pants. I’ve received numerous emails from teens with enuresis shamed and abused by their parents. A high school honor student wrote, "My dad screams about how I’m not a little kid anymore. He wants me to sleep in a wet mattress to learn what ‘discomfort is’ and how disgusting I am that I pee myself still. He has tried punishments like taking away my electronics and my breakfast."

READ: What Frustrated Parents Should Know about Poop and Pee Accidents, Potty "Regression" and "Refusal"

So, journalists, there you have it: Six story ideas to pitch your editor! Six topics that would surprise and inform readers, call esteemed medical organizations on the carpet, and — most important — help children who are missing out on treatment that will restore their social lives and confidence.

If these ideas are too boring, I’ve got plenty more.