Frequent Bedwetting

Maybe they sleep so soundly that a need to "go" doesn't wake them. What about waking them up once or twice each night to go? Maybe they'll eventually develop that habit. You've probably already tried this. Can't think of anything else. Good luck.

I had the same issue with my now 10 year old son. We found a very interesting solution! Red Dye #40. If you do a google on it you will find it not only will cause various side affects, but will cause bed wetting as well. Since we eliminatied it from his diet we have had NO problems! Good luck!

You don't say but have they been checked by the doctor. My sister's middle son had a small bladder and he had to take medication. He's an adult now and just fine.

Hi V., my name is D.. I have a sixteen year old that has a bed wetting problem and it runs on his dads side of the family. I'm sure you already know about plastic mattress covers and bed cotton bed pads if not you can get them at walmrt in the pillow section. Any way the reason i wrote you is because the doctor had to put my son on ddvap. When he was little it came in pill form but now that he is a teen it comes in a nasal spray and they have to up the doseage every time it fails, because the same dosage after a while will not work. I hope this helps you.

I just took my teenage dtr to a specialist for bedwetting, which I was also told was hereditary on her fathers side of the family. After taking her to the doctors and having all kinds of tests done, we were told to have her take a stool softener regularly. It seems that when she gets constipated it puts pressure on the bladder, causing it not to feel when it is full. Kind of like when you wear sunglasses and put them on the top of your head, take them off and an hour later you reach for them because you feel like you're still wearing them. The bladder feels numb, not able to sense that it is full and then at night when she relaxes the bladder does too, causing it to empty without her feeling it. In young children it is always appropriate to take them to the doctor and have them monitor the problem..that way if something is abnormal the doctor can find it.

The best advice I can give is to have Patience! They will outgrow it. But at their ages, they need to be totally responsible for immediately changing the sheets and washing them on a daily basis. I know you probably have already taken precauitons re: the mattress, if not, invest in a good plastic matress cover to help with the preserving the mattress. This should be their daily reoutine. Get up, wipe down the plastic matress pad with Pine Sol, (so that it does not smell like urine in their room) Put a fresh set of sheets and blankets on the bed, get ready for school. Put the soild sheets in washer and be ready to put in dryer when they return home and have them on hand for the next time they are needed. By making this their responsibility, it helps them in the daily care of themselves. Unfortunately, it does run in families and it can go on into adult hood. But they need to know how to handle this matter. Don't give up, keep calm and loving and it will click. From a mom who's been there.

You might consider taking them to a chiropractor for an adjustment. Sometimes it is just pressure that needs to be relieved by simple manipulation technique. He could tell you

I would suggest that you visit a urologist. One has prescribed some meds for my nephew and it has helped him.
Good Luck.

My son was a bedwetter also. At age 10 I asked the dr. again about it because by that age he should have "outgrown" it. After asking several questions, he diagnosed him with a hormonal problem and put him on DDAVP. He is now 13 and no longer takes the medicine and no longer wets the bed. Something you might want to keep track of is the frequency of going and how much they go. My son would only go a few times during the day but when he went it seemed like listening to Niagra Falls.

I was a bedwetter until about age 8 or 9 and just out grew it, so hopefully that will happen for your children too. Back then we didn't have some of the gadgets we have now, but have you heard of the mattress pad that detects wettness? As soon as the child starts to go, an alarm sounds and wakes them up. It may help to train them to awake on there own. Just a thought. Also check with your pediatrician and I am sure they can suggest things too.
Good luck!
S.

See your child's health care provider to discuss your options. There are medications that help. My son is on one called ditropan. It seems to be working quite well!

In the event that he does have an accident we have his mattress protected with a "Zippered Vinyl Mattress Protector" from Walmart paid $6.88. It encases the entire mattress! To eliminate the crinkling plastic sound, I put a waterproof fitted mattress cover/w quilted top on the mattress before placing the fitted sheet.

I have an ample supply of the quilted mattress covers and fitted bed sheets, so my son's bed can be remade immediately instead of having to wait all day for laundry to be done.

Here are some other tips:
We let our son load up on fluids early in the day. He stops drinking anything by 6p.m.

Remember that caffeine causes frequent urination, so give it sparingly. Our son gets caffeine only if we are on a family outing or hosting parties. He's only allowed to drink up to 12 ounces of a caffinated beverage, and only during the Lunchtime hour. If we're at a restaurant, he orders water to accompany his caffinated beverage, just in case he's still thirsty. (He's learned to flip his empty cup down to prevent the hostess from topping it off with more soda! LOL)

Before bedtime he is reminded to use the restroom.

He sets his alarm clock for 1a.m. so he can get up in the middle of the night to void. The alarm clock is placed clear across his room so he has to physically get out of bed to turn it off, otherwise he'll turn it off by his bedside and fall back asleep.

If he wants to sleep-in on the weekends, we still wake him around 7 or 8am to have him use the restroom, then let him crawl back into bed.

His medication has to be taken on time, otherwise he will experience nighttime enuresis (bedwetting).

I hope I was helpful. My son is also 12, btw.

P.s. I forgot to add one more tip!!!
If your children's mattresses have been soiled with urine. An easy way to remove it is with "OUT". It's a bacteria & enzyme solution that permanently removes new and old pet stains and odors! One day my son's urnine leaked down the side of his mattress (before I purchased the zipper cover), and I freaked out. I ran to Walmart to purchase carpet cleaning solution in an effort to save his new mattress. Right by the solution was the "OUT". I figured if it removes urine stains for pets then it's bound to do the same for humans! haha! It worked! The stain and odor was lifted in minutes after I soaked the section that was soiled! Just to be on the safe side, I added 8-ounces of "OUT" to my carpet cleaner and gave it another good scrub. WOW!

Oh yeah one other thing, to eliminate the lingering stench of urine in your children's pajamas and bedding, wash their soiled clothes in HOT water only.

My 6 year old is a bedwetter and my husband was as a child. Since your children are a little older than when most children stop on their own, I would consider buying a pee alarm. It worked for my husband. There is a website where you can buy them- bedwettingstore.com or something like that. My doctor also said to have my child drink a lot of liquids during the day to help make her bladder larger. That is one thing I started noticing about my child, she barely drinks liquids. We have to make her drink water. Good Luck.

I was a bed wetter. I used to dream I that I got up and walked into the bathroom, but really I was still in bed. My grandma used to give me a spoonful of honey before bed. Other than that- all the regular stuf: no water after 6, bathroom before bedtime.
good luck

I used to be a bedwetter myself, so I have an understanding of how frustrating that can be for your kids. I know this sounds crazy, but I heard a speaker who studies brain development and she said for bedwetting, have the child hula hoop, 5 minutes a day for 6 weeks to three months. A lot of her studies have to do with reflexes that occur in the womb, as infants and every stage thereafter. The good thing is we can exercise those reflexes to improve overall function. Her name is Ann Anzalone and she had a lot of really fascinating facts about the brain and how it works in relation to our bodies. She has a website, annanzalone.com. I believe you can send questions like this to her and she will give you a better explanation than I've given of why the hula hoop can work for bedwetting. It's worth a try . . .

We use goodnights to protect the matresses. For our duaghter it is a developmental and sensory issue.

I have an 8 year old son that has the same issue. In research and efforts to help him, I have learned that it is a sleep disorder, where they sleep so heavliy, but not restfully. They do not hit REM sleep enough, which is why you may find your 2 children may be tougher to wake up, kind of prone to being cranky in the morning, and even shows signs of being hyper in the daytime (in their efforts to combat their fatigue from not sleeping well, though they sleep heavily) I found success for months with an alarm system, but it does involve alot of work. There are a few great companies out there that provide their services and help with this problem (nocturnal enuresis). We are considering approaching this again. We stopped using the alarm too soon. It is a matter of conditioning their sleep habits, limiting fluids, and all that will not fix the problem.

Hi V.! We have the same situation with our 10 year old son. It was so serious that we took him to a pediatric urologist. After no physical abnormalities were found, the doc suggested a med called oxybutinin. It's a bladder relaxant and has changed our lives. We also limit the amount of caffeine and sugar he drinks as this aggravates the bladder. Make sure they empty their bladders right before sleep. Seriously, without the med, we still have accidents. With the med, we haven't had a single one! Hopefully you can find what works for your boys.

A couple of hours before they go to bed see if you can get them to drink something with honey in it. For some reason the honey helps. Also having them get up in the middle of the night helps. It breaks their sleep and helps them with not wetting the bed.

Talk to your pediatrician privately(not in front of kids). He may recommend a pediatric urologist. If he does recommend, do not see an adult urologist. ANd if you live in the Cleveland area, University Hospitals does not have a pediatric urologist. Cleveland Clinic does.

Take him to a chiropracter. It worked great for my son.

jo

The alarm worked great for my son.
J. A

Go to www.enuresiscontrolclinic.com They are helping me with my 8 year old son. He has the same problem, it is a deep sleep disorder.

Try the MALEM alarm. It initially sounded barbaric to me, but my son appreciated the help (at age 8) and now very rarely wets the bed.

Hi V.,
I am experiencing the same thing. I have a 10yr. old doing the same except he denies doing it. I know when he needs to go and I tell him and he denies. I make him go now and he usually has to go. My child psychiatrist administered a pill called Desmopressin. You can take 1-3 pills before bed. I work nights so I have gotten in the habit of waking Marqus up at night when I get home about 1am and I do not let him drink after 8pm. I hope this helps I know it's frustrating. C. Byrd mother of 2 age of 38.

Have you spoken to your Pediatrician about this? First of all a medical condition should be ruled out in children this old. Also, there is medication available for older children with bedwetting problems.

A prescription called desmopressin worked really well for my son. It is usually covered by insurance but in the event it isn't, I don't recall it being very expensive. I never noticed any side effects or anything. He just didn't wet the bed anymore. He only used the medicine for about 2 weeks. That has been a really long time ago and his bed is still dry. Good luck. Shannon

Maybe my family or my wifes is related to your husband's family? 2 out of 3 of our boys wet the bed, my youngest nightly and my middlest 4 out of 7 nights. We tried the Potty Pager, and after it was left attached to wet clothes and was washed, dried and replaced, we are also clueless. I am writing more for a high five from the same wet laundry pile than to "solve" anything. My middlest is also 12 and sleeps deeply without a bone in his body and we guess outsleeps that bladder signal. My youngest is on the Autism spectrum and just likes to baffle us. Heads up, maybe we will learn something together.

If this condition runs in the family, it's likely more of a medical problem than a mental issue. Take the family member to the family doctor. There are very effective medicines that even children can take to help hold their bladder and prevent bedwetting.

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Hi V., my name is D. and I have 8 children. My oldest son had a problem with bed wetting until he was about 9 years old. He was a very heavy sleeper and we tried many things. After speaking with his pediatrician and made sure he had no physical problem, my husband hit the jackpot when he tried a baseball game with him.(My son loved to collect baseball cards like his dad!) First we made sure he went to the bathroom right before bed, and he didn't have anything to drink for 2 hours before hand. Then we either stayed up or set our alarm for midnight. We took turns getting him up and taking him to the bathroom. Then each night he didn't wet the bed was a "base". Once he had 4 nights, even if they weren't in a row, he earned a pack of baseball cards. If he got 4 in a row, then he earned a "grand slam" and earned 3 packs of baseball cards. We kept track of it on a chart that was in his room so it was private, and he could see his progress. It did not take very long and he got used to getting up at midnight by himself and stopped wetting the bed. A doctor asked us how we handled it and when we told him he said that it was one of the best plans he had heard of and asked if he could suggest it to his patients with the same problem. It worked for us and hopefully it will work for you, too.

what about an alarm that wakes them up at like eleven then 3 so they no to get up and use the restroom. they might just be deep sleepers also and don't feel the urge