Regressing...bed Wetting.

I know that this is hard for all of you. My nephew was 10 and his brother was 8 before they stayed dry at night. My neice (their sister) was never a bed wetter. I have heard that aound 8-10 years of age is normal time to stop wetting the bed.
Pampers (or at least I think that it is Pampers) that have come out with boxer looking good nights. Mabe if you take him and let him see them he would wear them at night since they do not look like pull ups or something a baby would wear. You might even look them up on line. It is either by Pampers or Pull Ups. I do not remember now. I do know that they are made for older children.

I have to add to your collection; dont give up on him! It may be till his teens before he stops-yes that late into his years. So for now there are "kids" sleeper "pants" they are like a diaper however they are really like pull ups-only more thick. Let him know this is something he will outgrow sooner or later-don't give him a complex-he really can't help it. Teach him how to change his bed and put those great new "plastic" protectors covers under his sheets to protect the whole bed. Let him be the responsible party for what is happening-this will help him to understand how he is. There are "grown up looking" pull ups for him-sometimes they are harder to find but they are out there. Good luck and the next thing will be the keys to the car!

Hi L.,

Both of my children are very heavy sleepers as well. I noticed that when they would have an accident at night, it was always during a growth spurt. They would eat more, sleep more, etc. I certainly would not make him wear Pull-Ups. He sees himself as a big boy now, and I think that could possibly make matters worse. He may perceive that you are punishing him for something that he cannot control. I feel your pain about not wanting to do laundry all the time. What you could do is pad his sheet with waterproof pads you can buy at Wal-Mart or even layer with a couple of thick towels. That way, when you notice he is wet, when he gets up to change, all you have to do change out the pads rather then changing the whole bed. Or better yet, you can lay out extra clothes and pads can teach him to change out the pads when he changes his clothes, and he will have some control over the situation and possibly not get as angry. Understand, though, he could just be a benign bedwetter. My nephew wet the bed until he was 14, my sister until she was 12 and his dad until he was 14. Good luck to you. J.

My 7 year old sometimes regresses around the time he's coming down with a cold or other illness.

There's also a prescription called Desmopressin that can be prescribed if your physician feels it's necessary.

Hope this helps!

I had this issue when I was a kid and the embarrassment when it happened during sleep overs still bothers me. Have you ever asked your son what he dreams about when he is sleeping. When I was 14 I was finally asked by a councilor. I would dream I was in the bathroom on the toilet. That is why I was so upset when I woke up wet. If anyone got up at night and flushed the toilet the running water would also trigger an event. I was a deep sleeper too,but water sounds would still seep into my dream. I finally learned that if water showed up in my dream to wake up and run to the bathroom. Until then no one was allowed to run water when I was asleep. That actually helped a great deal. Learning to wake myself when water showed up in the dream was harder. Just don't punish or shame him. The damamge from that will last a life time. When my dtrs when thru this phase I remembered what it was like for me and was far more kinder to my girls than I was treated. They were able to pass thru this phase without the shame and embarrassment. I talked to them and told them it was a normal thing to have happen as you get older and taller. Then after the growth spurt it would go away again. They relaxed with that explaination and accepted the situation. We also had the no running water rule after the girls went to bed. The events then became farther and fewer in numbers until they disappeared all together. We used these times to "redecorate" the bedroom (buy more sheets)adding more colors. Kept a plastic cover over the mattress and pillow so it wouldn't get wet and hold odors. Then when the events totally stopped we had another "redecorate" party where we took off the plastic on the mattress and pillow and settled on one color for the bedroom. Treat the events as milestones just like walking,talking and feeding oneself. The child will then not feel so bad and can celebrate when they stop.

if he's becoming emotionally distressed over this issue, then it's time to see the doctor.

Since he is regressing and was able to stay dry during the night, I would take him to the doctor to rule out an infection or something like that first.

I love this advice from Dr Greene and gives some great in site on to bed-wetting. http://www.drgreene.com/21_585.html

and this one:

http://www.mamashealth.com/child/bedwet.asp

I have bed-wetter (he's 7). He's never been able to hold it overnight except a a few times. I was a late bed-wetter.
We use the goodnights that look like boxers. No one knows (expect those who help take care of him) and if he stays the night with anyone else, I've let him know he can change in the bathroom. He knows how to clean himself up in the morning. I don't help him. We keep a box of wipes in the bath room that he uses. Main reason it really does help their brain train itself. Sounds silly but it does work and I do see more dry nights.

I'm on another mom website and I see parents discipling their child over this. That just breaks my heart when I hear that. Bed wetting for a normal child is nothing to be ashamed of or a child acting defiant. Using discpline can actually make the issue worse or they will try to hide it. I'm sure there a few exception where it's a physiological order, but you would see this in their everyday behavior.

I'm sure you aren't using discpline and I'm just rambling. =)

Best of luck. You can let him know he's not the only boy that has problems with this. You can share my son's story with him if you'd like. I think they feel a lone and they are the only one who does it.

There may not be anything pyschologically wrong with him, especially since he seems fine otherwise. I am thinking that it may be more of a physical thing, children can sometimes get their back misaligned, especially during growth spurts, which can cause the connection for the brain to the bladder to become a little strained. Since he is such a heavy sleeper, this could be happening and may only get worse as he gets less and less sleep and falls into deeper sleeps at night. I actually had this problem growing up and chiropractors weren't as popular back then but my parents ended up getting me a system to help. The system consists of a mat that you lay on the bed that has a metal grid on top of a plastic liner. You lay a towel in between the liner and the grid and it is attached to an alarm. When you have an accident, the alarm goes off (and it about scares the life out of you) but within a few months, I had been trained to not sleep in such a deep sleep and was trained to not wet the bed. My mom would hide the system when I had friends over so that I wouldn't get embarrassed, but it was so worth it now looking back on it. Good luck!

Have you taken him to the doctor to see if he may have a urinary track infection or some sort of infection that is causing the night wetting. Just a thought. Good luck and God Bless.

I don't think there is anything wrong with your son. It might make you feel better to talk with his pediatrician about this and he/she may offer you some advice. I have always heard that boys tend to wet the bed more than girls. I have 3 sisters and 1 brother and he is the only one who ever wet the bed well after the potty training stage. It has to do with their bodies growing faster than their bladder. My son who is 3 and potty trained great started wetting the bed not quite 1 month ago. I was having to wash his sheets almost everyday, even after not giving him anything to drink and making sure he went potty. I finally started using pull-ups at naptime and nighttime which he didn't really like, but I just called it his "nap/nighttime underwear." I also believe my son was going through a growth spurt because during that time he was sleeping a lot and has grown! I understand your son at 5 not liking the pullups because he is older and probably going through a growth spurt too. There are some thicker underwear you can buy. You might try googling that because I know they are out there. At least with a thicker underwear it will absorb more when he pees at night, so he doesn't have to wake up feeling bad and hopefully give you a break doing laundry. I hope it gets better for your son.
V.

Have you tried chiropractic it has worked on many children in the past and there is an acupressure point on the hand as well for bed wetting. I know a Doctor who has helped several children in the past with this issue he is a wonderful doctor and loves children. He is at ###-###-#### Dr.Rockers in Olathe Good Luck!!

Hello! I can definitely understand where you are at right now. My youngest daughter is now 9 years old and until just a few months ago, struggled with bed wetting. We tried all the things you are doing, but it never seemed to quite work. She too, is a very heavy sleeper. I finally bought a bedwetting alarm. I found it online (I first saw a brochure for it at my doctor's office) at The Bedwetting Store. We bought the starter kit, with a book, alarm and pads. We started using the washable waterproof pads under her when she went to bed (it's much easier to wash that instead of all the bedding). She puts the alarm sensor on her underwear and the alarm itself on the shoulder of her pajamas. It is very loud and woke everyone up except for the wetter because she was such a sound sleeper. It has taken a while, but she is dry almost every night now. She is still using the alarm, but I don't think we will be for now. It was kind of expensive--approx $125 for everything plus shipping and handling, but seems to have been worth it. Between the cost of laundry and pull ups, it will pay for itself. My e-mail is ____@____.com if you have any questions. Good luck with this!

I don't have any suggestions, but I do have a lot of personal experience and know the frustrations! My daughter, 7 1/2 JUST started being consistant with nighttime dryness. I went through the whole frustrations and searching every fix and (though I never bought any) "systems" available... I just gave up. The last time she wet was around Valentine's Day when we were out of town at my family's house. I'm not sure if that was the kicker or if it was just her time. Nite time is just one of those things that will be on their own time...
I wouldn't do a total cleaning at night when he wets, but change clothes and make sure his sleep place is dry. He can clean better when he's awake and just reinforce that it's not his fault and you understand his frustrations.
Good Luck and may God bless you all with patience during this time :)