My son is 6 years old and still has to wear Goodnights every night. We cut off his drinks at least an hour before bed. He does not drink and soft drinks during the day, only milk and juice. We often try to wake him before we go to bed at night, but he is such a deep sleeper that we have to carry him into the bathroom and do all the work for him. Even with doing this, he still wakes up with a full Goodnight and sometimes even leaks through to the sheets. His doctor dosn't seem to be concerned, but I am. He is starting to get invited to sleepovers and I know it will son become an issue for him. Any advice?
I found this product, which I have yet to use, as my son is only 3 and it's not recommended for under 6, I think. Anyway, the testimonials seem persuasive...http://www.nativeremedies.com/be_dry_for_bedwetting.shtml
I feel for you - and for him! It sounds like he just has an immature bladder, and being such a deep sleeper doesn't help. You might look at this website and see if you think anything it says would be helpful: www.soilingsolutions.com.
Other than that, I think you've gotten some great advice. The most important thing to remember is not to shame him, and perhaps avoid sleepovers for now. Some parents will let their child go to the party, get into PJ's, and stay until 10 or 11 p.m. That might be a good compromise. Best wishes!
Hi A., My son is 8 and still wets the bed, too. Our Pediatrician said at his last yearly visit that we are lucky to have "pull-ups". He wet the bed until he was twelve. He said he would end up sleeping on the floor and hiding his sheets from his parents. I think we have come a long way and for what ever reason, bed wetting happens. I don't think you have to hide it from other kids, they need to learn tolerance, and you shouldn't make him feel shame for it. It is frustrating but he will grow out of it at some point. One thing our doc said is artificial sweeteners can be a culprit also. Hang in there! R.
My daughter has wet the bed a few times at 5yrs old, which was totally uncharacteristic of her, as she'd been totally potty trained since she was about 3, with no accidents at all. When researching, I found something that said that drinking milk less than 2-3 hours before bed could cause bedwetting. It had something to do with the way our bodies process milk compared to other liquids. The process was slower if I remember correctly. Anyways, I would cut off all liquids 2-3 hours before bed, except maybe a sip or two of water before bed if needed. See if increasing the amount of time between drinking and bedtime helps any. Good luck!
Try removing dairy from his diet. It's something that's rarely considered as a source of bedwetting, but a dairy allergy can aggravate the bladder and cause this problem. In hindsight it's likely why I wet the bed until almost 10. You can google and find some discussion of this topic. Unfortunately, until it is resolved, he really should not go on sleepovers - that would be a far worse experience than him feeling slightly left out for a few more years. Just make sure to invite friends over frequently to play and plan special activities and just tell other parents you tend to be over-protective and thus don't allow sleepovers until your son is older. It would be far, far worse to allow him to sleepover with this issue.
A.,
There's at least 1 post a week on this issue, so I suggest going back and looking at all the advice.
However frustrating it is, know that it is not his fault and that many, many kids wet the bed well beyond age 6. I'm sure that doesn't make you happy. But it's very common and anyone who tells you different is either very lucky or lying.
You've already done whatever one else tries.... but go to www.thebedwettingstore.com and buy yourself a mattress pad or two to help YOU deal with it. Because it's hard on the Mom's as well as the kids that suffers through this problem. All that washing can really make you tired, I know, my son wet the bed till he was 12 pretty much every night and then at 13/14 it went away and now at 17 happens once a month, maybe.
Hormones and bladder control can play a big part in this issue, and there are drugs. And there's a great alarm on the site I gave you. But first make wetting the bed not so traumatic. Get a waterproof mattress pad and a small pad (I use both). That way if he wets just a little I don't have to tear the big pad off the bed. He doesn't do sheets, just a comforter that is small enough I can toss in the washer.
Good luck and please check out the prior posts.
