I Thought He Was Potty Trained?? HELP!

Updated on June 23, 2009
C.D. asks from Fort Myers, FL
7 answers

My 3 yr. old son has been fully potty trained and hasn't worn a diaper since April. The past three nights he has wet the bed, and I'm ready to lose my mind. Is this normal for boys? We have stopped giving him liquids by at least 7:00, and he goes to the bathroom before he goes to bed, but still wets. Even during the day he waits so long to go that he sometimes wets a little then too. Nothing in his environment has changed, so I don't understand the sudden problem that he is having. Just wondering if this is normal and if it would be bad to start putting him in a pull up again at bed time.

Thanks!
C.

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M.C.

answers from Tampa on

This happened with my son too, he did pretty well until about 4 1/2 years old and then he started wetting the bed several times a week. I read on the web that it's entirely normal for kids up to age 6, so I stopped freaking out about it.

I use a great mattress pad (nice and thin but waterproof) but you still have to do laundry every day, so he and I (both) decided to use "good nights" or "underjams". We put them on over his underwear so he feels when he's wet (my husband was afraid if we put them on instead of underwear he wouldn't feel the wetness and wouldn't learn when he needed to go at night).

It works well and though you still have wet undies to deal with, you don't have to wash the sheets/pad every day. Also he can just get up and change out of the wet underjam himself and get back to sleep without having to change out the whole bed (your little guy would probably be too young to do that).

Like another poster said, some kids are just really heavy sleepers and can't get themselves up at night. And age 3 is really young (in my opinion) to be able to sleep all the way through without going to the bathroom - their bladders are just not big enough yet.

At that age I would have had no problem going back to pull ups until he seemed to stay dry through the night. If he's not bothered by using pull ups and you can handle the expense (remember, doing laundry every day is an expense too), it's worth it.

Lots of praise to the little guy when he does stay dry will help him too.

Good luck!

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C.C.

answers from Tampa on

We used to wake my step-daughter up before we went to bed and have her go potty again. She'd have no fluids for about an hour or longer before bed, go potty before bed and then when we went to bed a few hours later we'd get her up one more time. It worked really well.

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T.C.

answers from Tampa on

I am not sure why he is wetting the bed, but my son is the same way. He would rather play with a toy then get up to go potty and wets himself. We havent gone all night without a diaper yet because I am afraid he will also wet the bed. Good luck, and sorry I couldnt be of more help, but I do understand your frustrations.

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A.G.

answers from Punta Gorda on

My youngest daughter went through phases like this until she wad almost 10. She would have a week or so where I thought Iwas loosing my mind and then she would not for 6 or 7 months. I think that it is a combination of things. There bladder does not grow as fast as the rest of there body. There interests change and they do not completely empty there bladder. Also activitys change and they drink different things. We tryied cutting out Gatorade and that made a difference. I also tried making her go to the bathromm more frequently in the evening, like right after dinner, just try. Then reight after a shower, just try. Then right after bed one more time, just try. It seemed to help. Good Luck!

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K.M.

answers from Tampa on

see ChildrensBehaviorHelp.com, they are the best I have seen,
goodluck,k
ps I'm sending you there 'cause I have girls

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R.W.

answers from Tampa on

Put him in a pull up at night. It won't hurt him and save on the laundry.
It could be just because it is so hot out.

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R.S.

answers from Tampa on

My son had the same problem. He was completely potty trained and then started wetting the bed. I had heard some things about kidneys developing slower than others, and so I did what you are doing and encouraged him to get up to go to the bathroom in the night. It think I would have hindered him to put him in a pull up so I didn't, but that was my personal choice. I put a water proof mattress pad on and just changed the bed when it happened. He is now 9, and still have an accident now and again, but just the other night he started getting up in the middle of the night by himself to go to the bathroom. He is a very deep sleeper and has also done some sleep walking. I don't know if they grow out of it, but this was what I did and how long it took. I found patience was the key for me. I hope this helps.

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