Bed Wetting Problems

My 5 yr old was doing great until a few months ago and then she started wetting the bed a few nights a week and then every night. I talked to my pediatrician and he said not to worry it was a "growing thing" she grew and the bladder didn't. So, for now, she is back in a pull up and I have told her that in a few months when her bladder grows some more - we'll try again. She is OK with that. I think the stress of wetting the sheets was bothering her. Now she knows that it isn't her fault.

Put pull-ups on him, be patient, and don't make a big deal or a fuss about it. It will happen on his time.

have you asked a doctor? some kids grow faster than ther bladders do but you might want to get a doctors advice. He may grow out of it. but I don't know all kids are different.

This may sound strange, but does he still have tonsils, and snore at night. A lot of kids with large tonsils have some degree of sleep problems--sometimes removing tonsils makes the bedwetting stop. (I am a nurse,mom of three, work part time with in my husband's office (Ear, Nose, and Throat doctor). People are surprised at how obstructive sleep problems affect so many other things in a child. Our youngest had the bedwetting problem because of this problem, but we were able to treat it with nose spray (Like Rhinocort)!

Don't worry tooo much! My 9 year old still wets her pull-up every night. A few years ago the doctor put her thru the tests to find out why and discovered that her right urinary tract is toooo long. Our options were surgery or to wait it out. We are still waiting. So put a pull-up or GoodNight on him and wait.

Hello,my 9year old still wets the bed almost evreynight. We have stopped the drinking at supper time and he is on med. which still are not working. It is really hard to deal with when he has a 5 year old sister who does not wet the bed at all. I hope that for your sake your son wont be still wetting the bed at 9. I have suggested the "boxer" for him to sleep in but he is "too old" for diapers. He is a solid boy at 100 pounds, he has great self esteem, my brother wet the bed until he was 16 almost 17 and I dont want that for my son,it is scarey thinking we could have another 7 years left of this. We had him checked out by the doc, he had ultra sounds done, xrays and they put him on meds and we have upped the meds 2 different times and still he is waking up wet. We wake him up in the middle of the night sometimes even 2 or 3 time and each time he gets up and goes to the bathroom, but he still is wet in the morning.We did the reward chart, we would set and alarm for him to get up on his own to build the independace for it all for him.I feel like we have tried it all. I guess I really dont have any advice for you but I just want to wish you well and let you know you are not alone. Boys are harder! Best of Luck!

I have a 6 year old son with the same problem. He is completely potty trained during the day, but anytime he sleeps, he could possibly soak the bed and won't even wake up. I still put him in pull-ups at night. I have been told that boys take longer to train that girls, but how do I know when I should take him to the doctor?

This has to be something that he grows out of...My daughter is 4 also, and I still wake her up at night to go before I go to bed. She has been potty trained since 22 mons. and has JUST now gotten to where she can wake up in the middle of the night to go by herself (and then gets in bed with us...a whole other story...haha) Anyway, I think if you ask around, there are more people than you think that wet the bed way past the age of 4 and I dont think I would be too concerned if I were you. The only thing, you may have him checked for diabetes. Peeing alot, as well as drinking alot are signs of diabetes. Other than that, I wouldnt dwell on bedwetting. Just my advice.

My oldest wore a pull up till he was 5. He is now 7 and since out grown it. They say boys do that for a longer period of time than girls. But if it does continue past 6 they do make a nose spray, yes I said nose spray, to help control bed wetting.
we have a cousin that uses it and is doing great, he is 8.

Hi C. H,
That can be a big problem for a lot of children. Especially if he hasn't been potty trained for very long. For one I would get a waterproof pad for the mattress. Uhh just in case u didn't already do so. You can also try those "Big Boy" pants just in case of accidents. Not the pullups, coz those are more like diapers. I'm talking about the ones that look like lil boxers.. lol.. So in case he does wet the bed, you do not have to worry about changing the sheets. Will cut down on your laundry. I know most mothers would like that.. LOL.. I know I would.. Ok.. also keep on doing what u are doing.. It looks like you are doing really good!!! If u want.. you can also try to make it a game or a reward system. Make a chart and some stars and every time he doesn't wet the bed, put a star on that day. Then by day 6 or 7 let him pick out what he would like to do the next day.. I know.. Its not making alot of sense... But my daughter is not at this stage yet. If he doesn't stop soon, you might need to go and take him to a Doctor to find out if he has any UT or bladder problems. Good Luck!!

My kids didn't wet for long, but it was getting old to be woken up once or twice a week. We had all the mattress protectors, but the sheets still get soaking. Now I don't like making the bed at noon on a sunny day, and I certainly don't want to be making a bed at 2am. I would put a large beach towel, folded double, over the sheets for the boys to lay on. If they had an accident, they would just put the towel in the bathroom hamper with their wet pj's and crawl back into bed (sometimes clothed, sometimes naked!)...no waking of mom or dad needed.
It's much nicer to change sheets in the morning...My oldest was doing this at 3.5 yrs. Good Luck, J.

My daughter had the same problem, and when she would wet herself at night, sometimes she would sleep right through it. She actually didn't stop until she was about 7. By that time when she would feel it she would get up and change the bed and go back to sleep.

We used the goodnights. Every once in a while we would try to skip them to see how she was doing but let her go at her own pace with it. I didn't wake up to take her to the bathroom but what I would do is wake her before I went to bed because I noticed that was about the time she was doing it. I would pick her up, put on the toilet and she would sit there til she went.

To save the bed, I used an old shower curtain...MUCH cheaper than the things they try to sell you in the store.

Other than that, you seem to be doing everything as you should, it just takes patients. Good luck.

I would suggest taking your son to the Dr and checking to be sure that he doesn't have any urinary issues that may be causing this problem, especially if he seems to control his urine function during the day. There may be some underlying cause that you may not be aware of. Most of those are usually harmless and the children grow out of them.

I am sorry, but this post really bothered me. You seem really annoyed that you still have to wake him up to go to the bathroom and its normal for kids to pee and not wake up. Hes 4! I dont know how old your daughter is but it is very normal for them to pee at night well through childhood. If you will visit goodnights.com that will give you some facts about your childs body. Their bladders develop at their own rate and your child should not ever be punished or had something said to him about peeing in the bed at night. Can he not wear a goodnight or pullup at night that way he stays dry? Im sorry if I sound annoyed but I just get really upset with people that dont understand that peeing at night is the last thing that is controlled and it has nothing to do with him wanting or not wanting to. He really cant help it. What cuts things down for my SIX year old is anytime she wants something to drink after around 7 or 8, she must go pee after that. It cuts down on how often she is "thirsty". So, I think that is a step in the right direction for you but I also think you should invest in some good nights because until his bladder develops to where he can hold his pee all night long, he will continue to pee in the bed.

I have no help, wish I did, I have a 7 year old with the same problem, he has been potty trained, other then at night since before he was 3, but I have not been able to resolve the night issue.

HI C. I have the problem with my three yr old. He is going to the doc this week to be put on some medication for bedwetting. He just sleeps to deep to wake up. Talk to your doc about it and ask him about the medication.

Probably not the advice you are looking for, but....
I fought my then three year old for several months waking him at midnight and three am and still sometimes finding a wet bed. I then followed my pediatrician's advice and just let him wear pullups at night. This allows him more hours of uninterrupted sleep, me more peace of mind and always dry sheets, and just generally more peace at home. I do still stop his drinking after dinner.
I will report that the wetness in the pullups wakes him and he will usually get up and finish in the bathroom. I don't want to jynx things, but he seems to be getting up more to go to the bathroom before he starts to "go" and lately we are only having a wet pullup about a morning a week.

I don't really have any new advice to give you. Have you talked to his Pediatrican? I have heard that it is common for kids up to about 6 or 7 to have accidents at night because their bodies grow faster than their bladders. Sorry I couldn't be more help. my 4 yr old daughter has accidents occasionally. Usually when she is really tired and sleeping hard, or she fell asleep before we could do the go potty before bed thing.

This may sound crazy, but, I was a bedwetter and all 3 of my son's were bedwetters. My mother took me to a Chiropractor and I stopped wetting the bed. I took all 3 of my son's to a chiropractor and they stopped wetting the bed immediately also. I waited a good while after they were well established potty training during the day before I took them and when the pediatrician said they should not be wetting the bed at night. It worked for us. You might want to call a well known, established Chiropractor in your area and talk with them. Hope this helps.

Try cutting him off at 5 or 6 at the latest. I had to do that with my 4 year old. You might also want to talk to his doctor to see if there is some other underlying issue.

Please try to be patient with your child. I had a friend when I was growing up who wet the bed into his teens, even with being roused up during the night to go. As you can imagine it was a very embarrassing problem. Most boys grow out of this by age 6. It sound like you are doing all the right things. Have you discussed this with your pediatrician? You might want to do that, too.

My oldest daughter took forever to potty train,,but after she had mastered it during waking hours,, she still would have accidents almost every night. Her pediatrician told us that it was completely normal for kids to do this. And that I should not be concerned unless she was 9/10 and still doing it. Of course, she stopped within the year.

All children are different. Everyone has their own opinion on using nighttime pullups, but I did. It wasn't something she could control, therefore, I didn't think making her feel the wetness would make a difference. It only made her wake up and with the pullups she got more sleep and eventually stopped the night wetting. I would keep cutting off drinks at 7 and using the bathroom right before bed, but just give him some time.. It will come!

C.,
I am a mother of four boys and have been through this!! Your son may be a bedwetter(one of mine was) and will simply develop more control as he ages and grow out of it!! In the meantime, get some sleep and put him in a pull up. I worried, tried everything and one morning he just woke up dry!!
He'll be fine!!!

Relax. There are lots of kids who wet the bed. Pull-ups and plastic mattress pads work well. Pull-ups even makes a brand for older kids. Talk to the pediatrician at your next well child check up and make sure there is nothing wrong medically.

I would stop waking him up in the middle of the night. You may be disrupting his sleep patterns doing that. You don't want a child who wakes up at midnight every night after he is no longer wetting the bed.

The next issue if he continues to wet the bed will be birthday sleepovers. Just pack the pull-up in his bag, pack pajamas with an oversized shirt that the pull up doesn't show in, pack a plastic grocery sack to put the pull-up in the next morning, and instruct him to put the pull-up on in the bathroom so that he is not embarrassed and no one makes fun of him.

My mom thought my younger brother would go to college wetting the bed-fortunately he didn't. He is an orthopedic surgeon now.

I currently have the same problem. My son turned 4 in November. And I still put him in pull-ups to go to bed because he wets the bed. It is like he doesn't wake up at night even when he wets himself. I also am lost at what to do.

Most of the time, bedwetting is a sleep disorder type of thing (sleep so soundly and just don't wake up when they have to go). If you only have to wake him up at midnight, and then he stays dry through the night, then he is well on his way to not needing to be awakened. He is still young, so I wouldn't worry. One thing to always remember, it is not his fault, and more than likely, he will outgrow it. If he doesn't, you can contact a company like Pacific International, and they can help. Two of my four children were bedwetters...it does get better.

Cut him off at six. I think it's good you're not using a pull up. Also, he may get used to the getting up in the middle of the night and wake himself up. You could try a cute alarm clock and set it for 12, and a night light in his room and the bathroom. My daughter has a mattress protector plus a protective pad I got out of one of those catalogs for older people. If you wanted to do that, you could try some of those puppy pads. Sounds goofy, but it's the same principle. In fact, if my daughter has an accident I use that urine remover that's made for dogs. Works great. Good luck!

If your son is only 4 years old, I would think about putting him in pullups or goodnights at bedtime, to save yourself from waking up in the middle of the night. It doesn't seem to help to get up, and he still wets. I have a almost 4 year old girl, who does the same thing. It is very common among kids to wet the bed, I did it when I was young too, and My mom woke me up and made me go in the middle of the night, she restricted my liquid intake, and usually, I would still wet the bed. I myself had alot of Urinary tract infections, and later found out my kidney stopped growing when i was young. You may also look into taking him to the Dr. to make sure he doesn't have an infection or anything. It may be nothing, and probably will outgrow his bedwetting with time.

I have 3 kids who all were totally different on potty training. My 2nd son, wore a pull-up for what seemed like forever! We called them night-time underpants. We were told by our Pediatrician that he had no control over his bladder, some kids bladders mature slower and some are much harder sleepers than others. If his pullup was dry or not in the morning we were not to make an issue out of either. He told us not to wake him up during the night and to wait until you had 7 straight nights of dry until you used regular underpants instead of a pull-up. But to make sure of all things he didn't see this as a problem or feel embarassed about it.
By the time he was 5 we were without pull-ups but would have a problem every once in awhile, always when he was over-tired. By age 6 or 7 the problems were totally gone.

Hope this helps!

Maybe his bladder has not grown as quickly as the rest of him. Try buyiong him some Good Nites pull-ups for big kids. At least that way you won't have to wake him up every night.

C.,
I agree. Stop stressing yourself to get him up in the middle of the night. Put on the pull-up. Keep up the other part of the routine...no drinks and go potty right before bed. Then get a calander and put it on his door. Every morning that he wakes up dry he gets a sticker....then after a full month of getting stickers you can take him to Wal-mart or his favorite ice cream place for a treat.

Good luck. And stop stressing....it is totally natural for some kids to just not get up thru the night...it will pass.

Jen