Mom takes away 13-year-old son's video games because he keeps accidentally wetting himself while playing: 'This should be resulting in a trip to the doctor.'

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A 13-year-old boy playing video games.

Am I the bad guy for taking my son's electronics because of constant bathroom accidents?

So my son (M13 but about to turn 14) is very energetic and can be a bit of a headache to deal with at times. He got into gaming a few years ago and that settled him down because he gets very absorbed in it. The issue is he gets so absorbed that he forgets about everything else
including going to the bathroom. He also forgets to eat and drink. I thought this would be an issue that would be resolved as he gets older and I never worried about it too much. I always thought "He's still quite little this won't be a problem forever" but now he's about to be 14
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and this is still happening. I've been finding myself getting frustrated at him and I told him if he doesn't start going to the bathroom I'm going to take his PC and phone away. He apologised and said okay but then the same thing happened again so I lost it and took it all away which caused him to cry.
via u/Optimal-Sherbet8836
My husband backed my son up and said he clearly just forgets and isn't doing it intentionally and that I shouldn't be so harsh on him. I asked then what does he propose we do because this clearly isn't helping and he needs to learn to manage himself better. He didn't have an answer to that and just shrugged at me.
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I don't want to make my son upset. I wouldn't ever want to do that but it's gotten to a point where I'm exhausted, sick of this and aware he is old enough to realise when he needs to go to the bathroom, eat and drink.
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lilsugarcrisp A 13 (nearly 14) year old regularly soiling themselves is very abnormal behaviour and should be resulting in a trip to the dr, not just having their electronics taken away tbh
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A doctor looking over the files of a 13-year-old boy.
rhubarbpie828 Seriously. This is such incredibly bizarre for a teenager.
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lilsugarcrisp There 100% is an underlying cause (beyond 'video games') that's to blame that needs to be explored, for sure
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angelerulastiel The underlying cause is almost certainly ADHD. If they get into something they can hyper focus and everything else disappears.
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lilsugarcrisp I don't disagree that ADHD is most likely but it could also be a medical condition relating to muscles/nerves etc that OP needs to be able to rule out for the sake of their child, y'know
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Think-Fig-1734 Both my kids have ADHD and haven't soiled themselves since they were toddlers. Definitely look into physical causes. Dad is far too nonchalant about it though. It's not normal for a teenager to not be potty trained. If he's just forgetting because he's immersed in the games, he probably shouldn't be playing games. The gaming is causing the problem in that case. It shouldn't be about punishment though. It's about the games being bad for him. I think mom and dad might be enjoying th
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LilLatte Whoa whoa whoa. Do you mean to sit there and tell me that your son has been soiling himself past the age of six AND YOU HAVE NOT TAKEN HIM TO A DOCTOR TO MAKE SURE THERE'S NO MEDICAL REASON?! If there was a vote GREATER than YTA, I'd be giving it to you.
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Pirate-Percy The worst part is that OP said they just hoped the issue would resolve itself. If your kid is having issues, especially for that long, you don't just "hope it resolves itself" and then get mad when it doesn't "resolve itself."
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major_tubercle ESH. You were right to take it away, but you shouldnt let this behaviour/issue last into puberty.
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Ok-Bit6037 You're a bad parent
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