Four Year Old Wetting Bed at Night Again

Updated on January 27, 2009
J.S. asks from Millersburg, OH
19 answers

Hi,
My four year old daughter was fully potty trained at night. For the last few months she has been wetting the bed. (she doesn't even wake up when she goes, she just sleeps in the wet bed). I have tried everything......cutting off drinks at night, taking her the bathroom before I go to bed (11:00ish). Should I go back to pull-ups at night until this passes? I don't want her to think that I am giving in and it is okay to wet the bed. But I am tired of washing sheets every day!! Any advice??

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A.W.

answers from Indianapolis on

What i did that worked for me;is that you need to wake up in the middle of the night.Wake up ever so often and wake her up too.take her to the bathroom and make her go potty. Do this for several nights.This worked for me.

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J.C.

answers from Fort Wayne on

I would buy the Good Nites and have her wear them. This way, she's not uncomfortable when she has an accident, and you're not waking up to dirty sheets. It's something that if you make a big deal out of her wetting the bed, it can really make her feel bad about herself when she in fact has no control over it. It may just be that her bladder isn't caught up to how much the rest of her body is growing. If you don't make a big deal out of it, but rather really be happy for her when she wakes up dry, I would think it's just temporary. I definitely would let her doctor know though, just in case she wants to see her to make sure things are okay.

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R.V.

answers from Toledo on

I myself was a bed wetter until i was (UGH) 12 yrs old. My son is 6 soon to be 7 and he has finally stopped. The last time was about 3 months ago. My problem was that the part of my brain that would alert me that I had to pee went to sleep when I did. I was the same. I never woke up. They do have medication for this, but if you don't want to go that route, here is something we did with our son.
Keep in mind, this is a PAIN to do and it takes about one to two weeks.
We would do what you did, at 1130pm we would wake him up to pee. I set the clock for 2 hour intervals and every 2 hours I would go in and wake him up to pee. It took about 4 days, and he started to wake up automatically and go pee. We had a few accidents after that, but now he stays dry. It is miserable for you, but well worth it. Here's another bit of advice: Go to Walmart and buy sheet protectors, there are 2 kinds. One is a plastic fitted sheet that covers the mattress and goes under the regular sheet. The other is a 3ft by 2ft soft pad that goes right on top of the sheet. It keeps the regular sheet from getting wet. It is great cuz you just pull it up, throw it in the washer and put it back down. I bought 2, so I could have one ready while the other was in the wash. They are very inexpensive and worth it!

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R.K.

answers from Terre Haute on

Hi,
First has anything changed lately, had a baby, moved or something else? Don't punish her for it or tell her she's acting like a baby, it won't work. Sometimes a childs bladder doesn't grow at the same rate as the child. If it continues I would get a absorbent pad for the bed or start using Night time pull ups. I have a niece who is 10 that has bladder problems and can't control her bladder. Maybe take her to the doctor and have her checked out and talk to him/her about it. But don't punish her.

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M.D.

answers from Columbus on

WOW, you have received some great advice. My guess is that her sleeping mode has changed, now she is a heavy sleeper verses a light sleeper. My son is 7 and he has never been able to stay dry. We have tried the medication and it doesn't seem to help. We take him to pee while he is asleep and that treats the sympton but not the problem. My pediatrician suggested ordering the alarm kit that they wear every night. When the child pees it sets off a loud alarm, parent goes in the room takes the child to the bathroom, forces the child to wake up. Half our problem is that nothing will wake him up. I am curious about the chiropractic advice.

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C.W.

answers from Cincinnati on

My sister's middle son went through this. The dr did some tests and stated that his bladder was not growing as fast as he was and gave hime some meds but I don'r know what they were an if they were to stop him from peeing or if it was to make the bladder grow. He also had a circumsion issue and had to be redone and he would not go because he sai it hurt and she thought that was why he peed the bed.

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T.D.

answers from Indianapolis on

Yes! Go back to pull-ups. Drugs for this have major side effects like your child not sleeping. See a professional homeopath for a remedy that will stop this right away and have NO side effects. Many can also help you with nutritional supplements that rebalance the body too.

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M.R.

answers from Columbus on

Hey J.!

It may be that she has entered a time of heavy neurological development and her sleeping is just so sound that she can't wake up to go. I too, would have her checked out by your pediatrician and make sure that nothing is wrong pysically because she had a period of time when she was continent and suddenly regressed.

If it continues, I would keep the attitude light, many kids are just not able to be dry at night, and there is no "thinking" involved at all. All of my kids wore the good nights for quite a while, and my mother had the same problem, but it haunts her now because of the stigma back then and her parents attempts to shame her into waking up. We just matter of factly used the nights because it was "OK" and we did not want our girls to think that something that they had no control over was not "OK" after my mothers experience. They are all dry now, and nobody thinks anything of it.

Good luck!
M.

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P.R.

answers from Indianapolis on

I would continue to monitor drinking at night, go back to pull-ups and set an alarm and get her up every two hours and take her to the bathroom.

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D.F.

answers from Columbus on

I know my granddaughter who is now 8 wets to bed as well and my daughter spoke with her Doctor and they prescribed a medication to help with this issue. You may want to talk with your pediatrician and see about getting her on medication for this problem. She may be coming a sound sleeper and not realize she has to go to the bathroom.

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C.L.

answers from Lima on

There could be a few things going on here. First I would rule out spastic bladder. It usually comes after the child has been trained and then grows some. A pill helps decrease the fluttering and minimizes or eliminates the issue. She could be afraid of going to the restroom at night, this is the age for new fears to begin forming. Leave a light on in the restroom, and a nightlight in hers. She could be having sleep issues. But, I would put her in pull ups until it gets figured out. Good Luck. C.

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S.D.

answers from Indianapolis on

Has anything changed recently? New baby? Something going on at school? I think it's more important that she doesn't think she's bad for it happening. Put her in pullups or cloth training pants and get a bed pad so you don't have to change the sheets all the time.
I'm sure it will change:)

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E.W.

answers from Cleveland on

PLease do not punish her or make a big deal about this to her. She just may be a deep sleeper. Or her bladder has not kept up with her growth. Talk to your pediatrician. My 10 year old boy still occasionally does this. I do get impatient on occasion but I do make sure he goes to the bathroom before be time, sometimes twice we go to make sure. We really need to stop giving him drinks at least 2 hours before bedtime. ANd I have heard ice cream can cause this to happen too. Just be patient.

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L.R.

answers from Canton on

Dear J. S,
My kids were always slow on the potty training part, night and day. I see nothing wrong with pull ups at night. This is obviously an involuntary, physical problem which she has no control over. What I would be concerned about is that at one point she was staying dry all night. I don't want to alarm you but my daughter has type 1 diabetes and one symptom is if they start bedwetting. If you notice her drinking more than normal or other symptoms I would take her to your pediatrician. I am sure there are several other reasons that she could be bedwetting so please don't panic. I just wanted to put this out there. Please let me know how this goes. I forgot to add my son wore pullups until he was about 10. He decided that he wanted to get the alarm that the pediatrician had suggested. Incidentally, the pediatrician assured us that it is totally normal for some kids to bedwet and that when he was ready there were options to help him. The alarm worked in a the first few nights; he has been dry ever since. Please let me know how this works out for you, L. R

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M.C.

answers from Cleveland on

Hi
When my daughter was 10 we still had bed wetting. We had no idea what to do the pediatrician said it was because she was sleeping to hard and that before we went to bed we should get her up to go to the bathroom. She also told us all the normal things like stop fluids after dinner ect. ect.
I was at my chiropractor one day and just was talking to him and mentioned this problem with our daughter and how I was really tired of changing sheets and laundry. He asked me a few questions and the suggested her pelvis could be a little tilted forward and pushing on her bladder. I went home talked to my very sceptic husband about it. Together we agreed to at least let him do the x rays and sure enough we could see on the x ray what he was talking about. She started with full spinal adjustments and he saw her 3 times a week for 2 weeks. The result was no more wet beds. This daughter is almost 30 now and sees her chiropractor every 3 months just to feel good.

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K.P.

answers from Fort Wayne on

Hi J., not to worry, his body just hasn't developed as fast as it might have. I wet the bed until Christmas Eve after I had turned 18 the following July. My Dr. told my mother that I was just being lazy but I knew different because even at that age I didn't know I had wet until I woke up and at that age I would NOT have done it on purpose.
Hang in there it may not take him that long. I did have others in my family that did the same. We all outgrew it.

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J.N.

answers from Dayton on

Take her to a chiropractor, it helped my son with bed wetting.

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D.G.

answers from Columbus on

First off I would have your Daughter checked by a Doctor to be sure it is not a medical problem.A 4 year old that is trained will have an occasional accident but this sounds more medical than anything especially since you said she doesn't wake up.Even babies wake up when they are wet.What changes have happened in your home recently that could keep her from getting up at night to go potty ? Is she suddenly afraid of the dark or anything else.
For your sake and hers I would put pull ups on her at night until the mystery us solved.At least they will pull the moisture away from her skin, I'm surprised she hasn't developed a rash or burn from being in a wet bed all night, Urine will burn the skin if in contact too long.Good Luck and let us know how you come out.

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R.B.

answers from Toledo on

She has no control over this, so you wouldn't be "giving in" by putting pull ups on her. You may want to check with your pediatrician to make sure there is no physical problem. Maybe she is just a deep sleeper, which sounds like the case, as peeing the bed isn't waking her up. Hope it passes soon!

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