Potty Training - Portage, MI

this is pretty normal. A lot of kids wet the bed. My son still has a problem with this and he is 11. The amount of fluid doesn't matter that much. He just has a really small bladder and he can't hold it. While it might seem like it is going to last forever, trust me it won't. Just hang in there, and try not to make a big deal about it. Buy some pull ups and keep them on hand for the night.

Good luck,

It will come......he still doesn't have the development to control it at night. My guy was a month over 5 when he got full control at night. We seemed to have more accidents the more we pushed it (that and the stress of starting Kindergarten coinciding). Once he was established into a routine at school, he had no need for pullups.

Hi J..
I have a 6 year old boy and a 3 year old boy. The 6 year old wore pull-ups to bed until he was 5. From about age 3 to 5, he was only wet sporadically, but then when he turned 5, it was like someone flipped a magic switch and he woke up to use the bathroom or held it till morning. My 3 year old has been potty trained for a year and has not worn pull-ups at night for a couple of months now, with only one accident.
What I'm trying to stress is that every child develops in his own time. Your son's bladder may just not be ready yet to make it all night. Pull-ups might give him a little more confidence than a diaper, and they do make some that alert the child to wetness rather than absorb it all. I worry that if you make it too much of a big deal because it bothers you that it may begin to really bother him, and he might not be able to control it. Some kids just sleep that soundly, and if he's doing fine during the day, is it that big a deal??
Something I have done for both of my boys is to buy mattress protectors/plastic sheets. I put a mattress pad over them so it doesn't feel like they're sleeping on plastic. If there is an accident, it's much easier to throw the sheets and all in the washer than it is to scrub a mattress. Plastic liners you can get pretty cheap, and they work.
Good Luck,
L. B.

you could try sleeping in the same room as him for a few nights and whenever he stirs, ask him if he needs to use the toilet. Make sure he isn't wearing a pull up; just underwear and put a protective mattress pad under him. You could put a potty in the bedroom as a transition to going all the way to the bathroom. They usually do wake up when they have to urinate, but if they have the comfort of a pull up, they don't worry about it and then just go back to sleep. They won't train themselves unless it's out of necessity. The pull ups enable them to sleep through the urges.

My DD is 4.5 and we decided that she probably wouldn't night train until we took away the pull ups after her 4th bday. We were right. It took a couple weeks for her to routinely stay dry. Now she has accidents about once or twice per month. It worked so well that I did the same thing with my now 2.5 year old and he only has accidents as often as his sister does.

I have a 3 1/2 yr. old who still wets EVERY night. JUST last week our pediatrician had us perform an ultra-sound of her kidney's/bladder due to her frequent urination! ALL was well-she just has a small bladder. Due to that fact she won't be able to hold it during the night...she has friends that wake after 12 hrs. and still wont'' have to use the bathroom. Every kid is different. She doesn't have the urge to wake, in the middle of the night, and use the restroom. I have her wear pull-ups and she is fine with it as well as I am!! I bet your son just has a small bladder and the 'problem' will correct itself over time!! Good luck.

J.
I would not terribly worry ,I have a 7 year old that just recently came out of pull ups. I know it is stressful but it will eventually work its way out. I never thought it would work but we tried everything. I used to work very early 400am so my kids got up early to go to daycare. I started not letting my son have anything after 630pm and making him go potty right before bed. Then in the morning I would wake him to go potty and to go to daycare. You should know lillte boys play hard therefore the sleep hard. The also have smaller bladders that fill up a lot faster. Sorry this isn't really advise pretty much just support. You are not alone. Don't worry he will get through the nights dry soon. Another thing this is not an issue that should be rewarded, it's not like good behavior deserves good rewards vice versa. He does not realize what is going on. It is mostly likelt NOT a medical problem Drs don't start to worry until they hit middle school ages. If you notice most of your responses tell you it is very normal and to not give up it just takes time. That is your best advise.

M. S

I wanted to encourage you to be patient, which was very hard for me when my two sons were still wetting the bed at ages 8 and 10 while their 5yo sister NEVER wet the bed after being potty trained. I do believe that it takes longer for boys' bladders to train. It is worth the effort to cut off the fluids two or three hours before his bedtime AND to take him to the bathroom once more just before you go to bed. As far as pull-ups versus laundry: if your son is bothered by a wet bed, then I would encourage you NOT to use pull-ups and get him involved in doing the laundry and taking a shower after an accident. If he is not at all aware of being in a wet bed, then save yourself the trouble and use a pull-up for a few months, then try underwear again to see if he is becoming aware. I would recommend some sort of reward every morning he wakes up dry, as an incentive, but to remember that neither of you should be discouraged if he has a setback. Remind him that it's okay and normal for a boy his age and that he'll grow out of it. And that all these measures are to try to speed things along. Try not to set him up for a situation sleeping away from home where he might be embarrassed by having an accident (hotel, relative's house)... let him wear a pull-up in those situations. Perhaps a sleepover at a trusted friend's after several months of waking up dry would be a goal he'd want to strive for. I spent a lot of mornings upset and frustrated by bed wetting. Looking back, wish I would have behaved differently, for them and for me. The mantras "this too shall pass" or "it's only temporary" are lifesavers. Use them to get you through this one (and other phases your child will go through). Unconditional love and patience are what your child needs. No matter how it might seem sometimes, your child is not lazy or doing it on purpose. Just wanted to share with you the benefit of my own experience and how I'd do things better if I had a second chance.

Dear J. W.,

I had a bedwetting daughter and granddaughter who lived with us (and still does for that matter). We found out that bedwetting is just the manifestation for a deep sleeping problem. The child does not hear the brain telling it that the bladder is full and therefore does not realize that it needs to wake up and go sit/stand on/at the toilet. Many on here have tried alarms that wake up the child when any moisture hits the pad that comes with the alarm.

It usually is outgrown in time. Don't punish him because he can't help that he is such a deep sleeper.

L. C.

Hi J., well let me say I know how you are feeling. I have a son that is almost 11 and he still wets at night, although he has been having mostly dry nights for about a month now. We've been to the Dr and did blood work--no problems, we tried a medication but he was like a different person on it, very inactive and no appetite so we stopped that and decided to just let it run its course. It does run in my husbands family, my husband and his brother wet the bed and two of my son's cousins wet the bed ( one outgrew at the age of 12) My suggetion would be to first just make sure there isn't a medical reason and then just be supportive. It never bothered my son until he got a little older like maybe 8. They have Goodnights and Underjams for older kids to wear to bed, they are not cheap but its saves them from humility and it saves you from laundry! You just have to make sure he knows it's not his fault, we tried the chart thing to but really its not something they can control and the more they understand that the better off they will be. I hope I've helped you, just remember you are not alone,, there are a lot of families out there going through this, Good Luck!

Something we did with both of our daughters and now with our son who is potty training: before my husband and I went to bed we would take the child to the bathroom to go potty. Worked real well for us.
Just a thought.
C.

You'll get past it...it is temporary, I promise!

We had a very similar problem with our 3 year old when she was potty trained. Somehow we got a sample of a Good Nites Shorts. We let her wear them to bed one night - she woke up dry. We re-used them for a couple nights, still dry - but the shorts were fairly used up. I bought her some more (be warned - they are not cheap), after going through two packs and a few months of using them we had no accidents and were confident that we could put her in panties. There are a couple styles - the shorts (which are a diaper material with a heavy mesh short over top) and then there are an underpants style, and a couple of off brands. After a few days we asked her what the difference was - she saw them as shorts and she knew she can't pee in her clothes. Diapers were okay to pee in. It's worth a try.

I have three boys myself. We had the same issue at night time. Both of my older boys were potty trained by 2.5, but wore night diapers until 4.5-5. What I ended up doing was buying a plastic sheet for their mattress and putting them in those thick potty training pants. Then, I stopped putting diapers on them. When I woke up during the night, I woke them up to see if they could go potty. We had cut down the drinking before bed months ago, so I knew they just didn't wake up when they had to go. After about a week of getting used to waking up at night when I got them up, the night accidents stopped mostly. The thick potty training underpants worked well because they absorbed most of it instead of it getting all over the sheets, and they could feel it on their skin. If you don't want to wash sheets every day, use one of those plastic sided crib mattress pads on top of the sheet. I know it's tough, but I think that's just how some boys are. I did it with both boys. Good luck!!

Hi J. -

I haven't potty-trained my boys yet (I'm scared!), but you might want to try waking him up once or twice a night and take a trip to the potty with him. Eventually, he's going to outgrow the diapers, so you might want to get him in the habit of waking up to go before that time comes.

Good Luck!
Dana

I think it is probably physiological at this point, so charts and such may not work. My 7 year old daughter still struggles with this and we have seen a urologist. It can be worked with, but he'll probably grow out of it. Hang tight!

C.

My 5 year old still wears a pull-up at night. We have tried everything like you. I finally talked to her doctor about it and she told me it was nothing to worry about. She is probably such a sound sleeper that when she needs to go she doesn't even realize it. In turn she will wet her bed. She said her 4 & 6 yr olds still wear pull-ups at night because the are such sound sleepers and don't realize when they have to go. She said she has even tried setting her alarm in the middle of the night to wake her 6 yr old up to go to the potty and he still has accidents. So I guess what I am trying to say is....Don't worry. He will grow out of it.

Hi J.!
I have a 5 1/2 year old boy who just quit wetting the bed a couple of months ago. I think this is normal. I still get him up to use the bathroom before I go to bed. He has stayed dry for 2 mos. now. (knock on wood). I asked my son's urologist, and he said not to be concerned until 7 years of age! (My son just had a hernia operation.) The doctor also said that reduce sugary fluids, even OJ, etc. after 3 pm. The sugar somehow has some affect, and they urinate more. I just saw this book at the library called "Dry days, Wet Nights" In the kids section. It is a kids book. I hope this helps!

M.

It sounds as if he may have a small bladder and unfortunately at this time he may not realize that there are concerns wearing diapers, considering he is still young. He just may not understand the embarrasment in the situation. I believe that you should just try this and see if it works. Being the parent you may have to set a timer to wake yourself up in the middle of the night just to take him to the restroom. Maybe you and your husband can rotate. This may help in possibly training him to wake up on his own. It may get tiring but it works. I did it with my daughter. If not patience is most important. Your son is amongst many others who has this problem and it gets better as time goes on. Believe me, i'm a mother of 4 who had this issue twice. Buying the Overnighters may be costly but it pays off in the end. Keep your eyes open for coupons and online offers. They are a trememdous help for your pockets. Hope this helps. Good Luck!

My daughter was six before she stopped wearing a pull up to bed. If they are not waking up, they can not help it. Eventually their bladder matures and they will feel it when they have to go at night. My son on the other hand by four had not problem and did not have to wear anything.

Good luck.
J.

My nephew is a couple years older than your son and he had the same problem. His doctor suggested that while he was awake during the day to try and hold his bladder for a bit before he went potty to help "stretch" it out. It worked!

Have you seen a doctor? This may not be a potty 'training' issue, it could be a medical problem. Talk to your pedi to see if he has enuresis issues. Many parents see this as a discipline or self-control issue when it's a body issue.
Here's a link about enuresis:
http://familydoctor.org/online/famdocen/home/children/par...