Nighttime Accidents (Not the Typical Question)

Does she wake up EVERY night? Or only on the nights that she happens to stay dry?

If she is not waking up every night, and she is having accidents on the nights she isn't waking up, then you can surmise that she isn't waking up every time, and more time will likely solve it. I am not sure I would bother with an alarm if she is sometime waking and sometimes not.

If, however, she is waking up every night, and using the potty each time she wakes, and is also having accidents on the nights she is using the potty in the middle of the night, that would concern me. Most kids, by 6 yrs old, have a bladder large enough that one nighttime peeing session is enough to get them through the rest of the night. If she is waking up multiple times and using the bathroom and is STILL wetting on those nights... I would definitely talk to her pediatrician about that and see what he says about being concerned that it is something medical, and not just an age/normal growth thing.

This is common. Two of my kids could go through the night at age 2 or 3 on. My son? He wet the bed all the way through elementary school. And then still occassionally in junior high. It's very common. There is a medicine, but we didn't opt to try it. Just have patience.

she is getting up 1 or 2 times each night to pee? It is good her body is waking her up, but at some point she should be able to hold it all night as well. That seems like a lot of peeing, could she have some kind of infection?

We did not have good luck with the alarms at all. They only go off when they are wet, which kind of defeats the purpose. My concern with our son was that he never got any sleep - neither did we, but that's another story. He was exhausted, frustrated, and wet. He couldn't have friends over, couldn't go to sleepovers. It's a developmental thing, and it often runs in families as it sounds like it does in yours. If there's no other underlying cause like an anatomical deficiency or an infection, t's called nocturnal enuresis and it's nothing you can train them out of. It's purely developmental, like learning to walk and learning to talk.

We talked to the pediatrician as well as a pediatric urologist, who told us it's very common (more so in boys) and eventually they grow out of it. He told us about a medication (1 pill taken at night) which stops the symptoms until the child is old enough to grow out of it. I don't jump at every medication out there, believe me, but this was such a boon to us. Everyone slept, and he could have a normal social life. He had absolutely no side effects, and the urologist told me he had some kids who needed it into their teen years and even up to college. Depends on the individual. I think our son took it for a few years, went off at age 9, but the problem came back after about 6-8 weeks. So he went back on it until around age 11, and then everything was fine. No lasting side effects, no problems.

You might have your pediatrician refer you to a urologist for a consultation.

An alarm will work since she wakes up to go potty. When she's wetting she's probably in a deep sleep. My almost 6 year old still wets at night and doesn't wake up at all. I'm hoping to see if she will make the jump thus summer by me waking her at night. I would try the alarm with your child. They have an annoying beep. They are like 15 bucks on eBay. If the sensor is wet it will continue to go off. Make sure she can operate it or you will be loosing sleep getting up with her also

why not try an alarm?? also no drinks a couple hours before bed helps alot.

Some kids go through this till they are 11 or 12 yrs old.
They either wear pullups till they are dry for several weeks in a row.
Or they get good at putting their sheets into the laundry and changing their bed, doing their laundry until it stops happening.
You already know it runs in the family.
It's just a matter of coping with it somehow until it's finished.
My son was 7.5 before he could stay dry through the night.
Many of his friends took a lot longer.