Seeking Advice on Son's Bedwetting

First of all it is very NORMAL for a child especially a boy to have trouble controling their bladder at night even when they have been potty trained for many years. I have a 6 year old son as well who has to wear over night pull ups to bed. Each night he wets them. He is a very hard sleeper. (Can sleep through the fire alarm going off in his room.) The doctor states that once he gets 8 years and still can not control it then there are some medical type alternatives i.e. "potty pager" or medicine. Again the doctors state that there is nothing medically wrong with him. I also have a 4 year old son who has been potty trained both day and night since he was two. The doctor always says NOT to compare them as their bodies grow differently. For more facts just google it as it is VERY common... Hope that helps some.

my grandson is 10 he still wets the bed and we take he liquid away from him but if he drinks anything it is water no soda or milk and make him go to the bathroom before he goes to bed also I bought some night time underwear its padded to keep him dry but my grandson won't wear them anymore but he still wets sometimes if he gets cold he does good luck

my stepson is 7 will be 8 this year and has the same problem. We cut his fluids off...we make him go before bed,we wake him up in the middle of the night to pee and he still has accidents. We talked to the dr. about it and basically it is just something he has to grow out of himself. He eventually will. You can talk to your pediatrician about it if you like bc there is a medication that helps with this issue. Our son's problem is he sleeps so heavy...you literally have to lift him and shake him alil to make him wake up enough to stand up to go to the bathroom. Sorry i can't be of more help other than to tell you he'll grow out of it....but its not his fault! bribes dont work bc he cant help it. He doesnt want to wet the bed anymore than you want it.trust me! I know its frustrating but hang in there! and maybe talk to your ped about it.

I have a soon to be 7 year old that had the same problem. Unfortenutely, I don't have any different advice except the cutting the drinks off! I had to cut his drinking out after supper which was about 6:30. That was hard because he is one that wants to drink all the time! It took a little time but it worked and we haven't looked back. The good thing is that after a while, we were able to let him start drinking again after 6:30 and he still doesn't wet the bed. It just took some time to get him used to it! We still don't let him drink a lot before bed time. Sorry I can't offer any other suggestions, but know you aren't alone on this! Best of Luck!

Hi C.,
My son had the same problem and we did the same thing you are doing...withholding liquids after 7 pm. While it helped some it wasn't a cure all. I took him to his pediatrician and had him checked out. He had an imature bladder. So we started him on a medication to aid him in making it through the night. I think we only had him on the med for less than a year...enough time for his bladder to mature. Sorry...it's been 10 years ago and I don't remember the medication's name.
Good luck...
W. Q

Our oldest son and youngest daughter were both bedwetters. Our son was about your son's age when we enlisted the help of a company called Pacific International, LTD ( www.stopwetting.com ). They were wonderful and it worked. We were just about to get their help again, and decided to try some of their techniques with our youngest daughter, and just using a few things worked for her. We would go to bed later, so one thing we did,just before we would go to bed, we would be to wake her up fully (she had to splash her face with cold water, etc.) and have her go then.

Since this is a common occurance and not a random one, you may have already done so, but if not, take him to your pediatrician for the concern. This is not something that bribery will touch .. it's accidental. Even boys can get urinary tract problems.

C., he may be enuretic. Enuretics are deep sleepers and find it hard to awake to go. My son was 10 before we discovered his enuresis. We went through a special program that worked wonders. This was many years ago in the mid 70s. You could probably go online and find information about it. Praying for you.

My daughter is six and had the same problem....... still has an accident occasionally, usually when she's having a growth spurt. We figured out when she was five and it was really bad that she was sleeping so incredibly deeply that there was no way she could wake up and go to the bathroom. I thought I'd try waking her around 10:30 or 11:00 p.m. right before I'd go to bed to have her empty her bladder, and I couldn't even get her awake to get out of the bed. Then carrying her to the bathroom proceeded to her slithering onto the floor, still asleep! So we finally quit beating ourselves up about it -- it was also very upsetting to her because she really wanted to keep her bed dry -- and when she seems to be having the problem we have her wear Pull-Ups at night, or Good Nites. Everybody gets a good nights' sleep and in no way does it teach her to just go in the Pull-Up....... she often wakes up in the morning with it dry. Her doctor also comforted us in saying that she really can't help it and sometimes when they have a growth spurt it's so fast that their bladder can't keep up, and they also sleep more deeply which doesn't help. Be absolutely sure he is emptying his bladder right before bedtime, because that can often be the culprit, too. So give yourselves a break and try it......... she's doing great now (knock on wood!) and hasn't needed to wear one at night in a while!

Sometimes children, in particular boys, have issues with wetting the bed due to their bladders not being large enough yet to accomodate their bodies. Cutting off all fluids at 7:00 is not a bad thing if it works. Another option is to get him up and walk him to the bathroom before you go to bed. My folks had this same problem with three of my four brothers and that is what they did. Most of the time my broghers were not even aware that my folks took them to to the restroom. My youngest brother had the hardest time, but eventually, it also worked for him as well. Another thing that my folks found with my youngest brother was that he slept so hard he wasn't even aware of it when he wet the bed. You might also try getting the pullups for older kids for him to sleep in at night just in case of an accident. He will grow out of it and start waking up himself to go to the restroom in the middle of the night, just don't give up and don't make a big deal out of it. Best of Luck
G.

must be trying for you and upsetting for your son. check around, they make a device that attaches to the underpants when your child is sleeping, that alarms when your son wets, after a few times of alarming, the body reconizes the need to urinate and your child will either wake up to go to the bathroom or his body will recognize the feeling of urine in his bladder and not relax enough to let him pee while he is sleeping. had a dr friend recommend this to another friend and in both cases there were good results.

You may want to check with the pediatrician. It could be that his bladder has not grown at the rate it should have. Until such time, use those night time pull ups. Good luck!

My oldest son wet the bed almost every night until he was 6 1/2. I tried everything. Then it just seemed to stop. My middle son just turned 6 in Feb. He wets the bed most nights. Pull-Ups are our friend. I just don't sweat it anymore. I was so worried about my oldest. I would get so frustrated and upset. This time around, I realize he will grow out of it. Life's too short to sweat the wet stuff! Good luck. You are not alone!

Take your son to a Urologist to check for physical problems. Once that is ruled out then you can start to understand that your child is just slow developing his bladder system. It is not his fault...if cutting out drinks isn't working then why do it???? Summer is coming and he can get dehydrated so easy. My daughter we the bed until she was nearly 12 years old. She went to live with my ex and his absolutely wonderful wife. The wife cut off all drinks to M earlier and earlier, even 6pm. She woke her up repeatedly during the night to go potty. M was falling asleep during the day at school because she wasn't getting enough sleep. The wife wore herself out trying to get this child to not wet the bed. Nothing worked...it was a biological issue. Nothing you are doing is hurting but if pull ups will take care of it until he can hold it all night then buy some pull ups. He needs fluids, he needs at least 9 hours of sleep at his age, he needs to feel good about this and that it isn't his fault.

I know how hard this is, I have been through it. The washing sheets everyday, the smelly room, the wet clothes, having to get him showered before he can go to school. Talk to the Doctor. There are many more options now than 30 years ago. My oldest grandson got the same thing and he is 10 and still wets nearly every night. He uses the pull ups that look like shorts so he can do stuff with his friends. They look like shorts and under pajama's you can't tell. He can even attend sleep overs.

Good luck!

Hi C.,
It is important to realize that your son's bedwetting is NOT his fault. It isn't something he can control or believe me he would. I can assure you the very last thing he wants to do is wake up to a wet bed. It doesn't hurt to stop drinks after 7 or to wake him up before you go to bed that helps prevent it from happening. The thing is there are some kids that just take longer to quit wetting the bed it is a developmental thing most times hereditary. You might try getting him some goodnights to wear they were very helpful with my son. We just reused them if they stayed dry at first he wasn't sure of wearing them but when he found out he could wake up dry he didn't mind at all. Also it doesn't hurt to seek advise from his ped. doctor who can explain more in detail and possibly offer other suggestions. Good luck! It won't last forever, promise! ~K.

If he's a heavy sleeper, then its not really his fault. If he's on any kind of allergy or neuro medications, those could be the culprit as well, as they increase his grogginess or desensitize his bladder. My girls did great unless one of em got a Benadryl. :]

He can't help it. His brain is not signaling him to wake up when he has to go. It has to be trained. I had the same problem with my son. I read the book Nighttime Dryness and used a bed wetting alarm from the bedwettingstore.com (i think). It took about 3 months but it worked. He rarely wets the bed anymore. Good luck. ps... the book said many times bed wetting is genetic. It could have been Aunt Tina or whoever, but you don't know b/c noone talks about it.

C.,
First may i suggest talking ith your family doc about the issue some times it can be from an untrained bladder orother issues. MY mother has always believed in pumpkin seeds for bladder issues as bed wettingto help strenghten the bladder. We did give them to our daugher for a spell and it seemed to help. Also with her going to bed before us we would wake her up about an hour into her sleep and take herto the potty it took onl;y a few times of doing that until she got used to the feelingof going to the potty while half a sleep. Best to you and your son.

J.

You need to have him checked by his doctor, there are several medical reasons that he may be wetting the bed. And if not checked out could lead to major medical problems as he gets older. Please don't wait.