How to Deal with Bedwetting?

Read the other posting on a 6 year old bedwetter earlier today (or maybe it was from yesterday). 3 1/2 is way too young to be worried about staying dry all nite, especially for a boy (I was honestly astounded when my own boys were dry at nite when they were this age). If it's that way at 6 (or even later for a boy), you might have a problem. Just keep a diaper (or Goodnite) on him until he's consistently dry for a while. Also, having the diaper be a form of punishment also won't take you in a positive direction. At this age (and really at any age), there should not be any form of punishment for not staying dry at nite.

V.,
I agree that there should be no punishment for bedwetting. This is something that happens to a really large percentage of kids and they cannot help it. It's not so much the bladder growth but the hormones that control the bladder not producing enough to keep up with the growth spurt.

If it's a huge problem, you can ask your doctor for the hormone DDAVP, but there can be side effects, I forget what they are...

But to help yourself stay sane, go to www.bedwettingstore.com and buy some of their products. He's too young for the alarm in my oppinion, so just look at the mattress pad that is waterproof and other items that might help your child stay dry.

There's nothing wrong with asking them to help clean up, put their wet clothes in a certain place etc etc. But don't make them feel bad.

This is what I told another mom...

My stepson is 14 and has had a bed-wetting problem for years. While he was living with us, I had a routine for him. He could have nothing to drink after 6 in the evening and he had to use the bathroom 3 times before going to bed. If he got through the night dry, he got to put a sticker on his calendar. When he got a week of stickers, he could choose his favorite food for dinner. If he made a month dry, he got a prize or an outing. He is also responsible for all of the clean up after an accident. He has to wash his sheets and clothes himself. Your daughter is a little young for that but she can load her own clothes into the washer and dryer. Good luck with this...
button-style link

3 1/2 is still pretty young. I'd put him in a pull-up (or similar) for bedtime, and not make any big deal about it.

Hi V.,

I have to agree with the other poster that being completely dry at night at 3 should not be a terribly high expectation for you. My nine year old potty trained really early but still would have night accidents occasionally into first grade. It seemed like she'd go weeks with no problems and then pee at night for a week straight. I'm so ashamed to admit that I would get so mad at her about it. A very good and honest friend corrected me that I was wrong to punish her because she wasn't doing it to be defiant or make me mad on purpose. I would encourage you to reward the dry nights instead of punishing the wet ones. Put a plastic sheet on the bed to protect it and just try to find the silver lining in the clouds. After watching my dear friend lose her nine month old baby to heart failure a few years ago, I try to remind myself that even the difficult times are a blessing because I have a child that is alive and healthy and lets me have these life making experiences.

Just shared my story on a similar post. If your child drinks milk after 3 or 4 PM, try stopping that. The body processes the milk differently than water resulting in the bladder becoming full while they are asleep.

When my son was 6, I read about this and tried it. It made an almost instant difference. Worked for most people that I have told since then.
C.

My 3 1/2 year old went thru a phase there also - but at that age, it's not something you can expect - their bladder grows very fast in spurts and it's hard for them to keep up with it - it lasted a couple months and we're back to dry - He had been dry thru the night since he was 2. Just be patient - and don't make him nervous about it or it will just get worse.

Be PATIENT, his muscle control and bladder may not be fully developed yet, my son did the same thing until about 7 yrs. old, take your time and don't punish him with the diapers, use pull ups, plastic sheet on top of the mattress, if this is something he can't truly control, you will only make him feel bad. If he is still wetting, I would go to your pediatrician, there is medicine that worked for my son, after years of many doctors telling me he would grow out of it... don't take no for an answer, there is medicine and it works. Good Luck

I went through that for years! I have to tell you that one day it just stopped. We tried several different things...one was a device that he would lay on at night and the first sign of wetness an alarm would go off. It would scare all of us! So we stopped doing it! It was tramatic for the whole family to be thrown into awakeness by this loud alarm! It was a way of making him more aware of when it was happening. After two night of that loud alarm we started setting our clocks and we would get up twice a night and wake him and make him go to the bathroom. This usually happened around 12AM & 2AM! We tired this for awhile. Sometimes we caught it sometimes we didn't. The doctors told us that he was in such a deep sleep that his sences were not waking him up! I honestly felt like he would out grow this as the doctor said he would. I just had to give it time. I washed alot of sheets during that time. Now days they have pullups that I didn't have back then. Try getting up with him twice a night...make sure he is awake when you get him up..talk to him make him talk to you...watch him go to the bathroom. It takes alot out of you...but this might help him! My son is 23 and he remembers those days...he just grew out of it...about middle school age!