Seeking Help with Nighttime Bedwetting

Has he always been like this? Was an UTI already ruled out?

I have never had this problem (my kiddos are a lot younger - potty training the oldest now), but I would probably take him in to a urologist to see what they had to say. Many urologists specialize in children, too.

My youngest had difficulty potty training, but I was, at the time, in an abusive relationship. It took me divorcing my ex husband before I could do anything with my son. (Ex claimed that nothing was wrong with his boy...)

But reading that there is a history in your family of this, and the possibility that it might be physiological, I am offering suggestions on how to get around the post wetting issues.

- Buy a new mattress, but DO NOT remove the plastics. (Patch ANY holes, if any) Wrap that plastic with those cushy bed undergarments before putting the bedsheet down. DOn't have too many blankets-but have a light one for warm days, warm (not necessarily thick) for cooler days.

- When you change the wet sheets, WIPE that plastic down with Lysol, spray it, then let it air dry before putting bedclothes on it again.

- Isolate sleeping clothes and wash these on their own. If he falls asleep in regular day clothes, wash them twice, and try to reinforce the difference between day and night clothes.

- Have a designated area for "wet clothes" like a specific laundry basket (go plastic-NOT wood or cloth)

- If you have carpet, make sure he has a removable rug or plastic runner he can tread on to get him to the location to remove his clothes and wipe his feet (so he's not treading urine off his feet or body on any carpeted area)

- Don't let him drink anything, or have any juicy stuff (like watermelons) about 45 mins before going to bed.

- Reward him for dry nights.

- I would definitely consider conferring with a urologist to see non-invasive options, clear that he is NOT diabetic/has a bladder infection, and watch wht he eats too. Salty stuff triggers the thirst mechanism, for example, making him want to drink more.

- invest in carpet cleaner/Febreeze/air purifier like ionic breeze (the one that goes into a bathroom)

Hope that helps

We just "solved" this problem hopefully for good yesterday.

You need to talk to the school. They need to allow him a water bottle at his desk. get a doctors note if you need to. We can't expect our kids to be at school all day with little to drink, then come home and have little to drink.

My son would walk through the door about peeing his pants, yesterday he peed his pants while i was opening the door.

What was happening in our situation was that since water bottles can spill and his teacher is a loonitic, she wouldn't allow him to have one. I had his dad call and then he was allowed a waterbottle, but was too scared to take it out of his backpack, even thought she knew it was coming and asked him about it everyday for a week. He took it out of his backpack yesterday before school, so thats when i knew somethingmore needed to happen.

I called the counselor for the school, explained the situation and how he's been wetting the bed every school nite since school stated, and something needs to change or i'm thinking about homeschooling them or having to come and give him water and make him go potty twice a day. She talked to braiden and to the teacher and i think braidens no longer scared of the teacher and the teacher said it is only his and her business why he needs the water. I guess some other kids goof in the bathroom. so she tells those kids no, but my son, goes in and goes, and comes right back.

Make sure your son is using the bathroom and coming right back. Then raise hell with the school.

I have an 8 year old daughter who is still wetting the bed at night also. I'm not sure why, we've tried everything under the sun to help her overcome this. I did purchase a bed wetting alarm, it has cut her accidents down from every night to about once or twice a week. The accidents are small and rarley wet anything but her underwear. She wakes up goes to the bathroom changes and goes back to sleep. Rarley does she have more than one a night. It seems to come in waves. Some weeks, she will make it for a entire week with no accidents, some weeks she has one every night. It's a very frustrating problem for everyone involved. Her dad and I have just given into waiting for her to grow out of it. She can hold it when we are doing a daytime activity for up to 7 hours and not have an accident, so I dont think her nighttime wettness is a small bladder. She is a very heavy sleeper though. The alarm has helped us do less laundry and puts the responsibilty back on her. She gets up, changes, and goes back to bed. Rarley does she wet enough to get her sheets or even her pj's wet. It's a stepping stone, and along with cutting back on liquids it's helped a lot. The alarm does say though, not to cut back on liquids, because in the begining if you push liquids rather than cut back, it gives them more chances for the alarm to go off and to practice getting up with it. If you choose the alarm route, we've had two and I can tell you the Mahame alarms are the best, they have a vibration and 8 different alerts that you can put on random so it's never the same. Our daugther got used to the first one, and began sleeping through it. That has not happened once with this new alarm.
Good Luck! You may want to speak to his pediatrician about it. There are also some medicines you can give them to help them if they have a very sensitive bladder.

F.,

Get a second opinion from another pediatrician. :) Or even a urologist. He quite obviously has something going on with him that needs to be dealt with. Explain EVERYTHING that's going on.....from the bedwetting to the teachers at school to the family history with your brother. Good luck to you!

J.

F.,

Excessive thirst and constant urination are classic signs of juvenile diabetes, especially if they are accompanied by unexplained weight loss and fatigue (often interpreted as laziness by parents or doctors). Children are often mis-diagnosed by family doctors and pediatricians for months or even years leading to a life threatening condition called diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA). This condition can cause your child to go into a diabetic coma and often leads to death. Please don't ignore this, your child's life may be in danger. It is imperative that you take your son to the doctor immediately and have him run the following tests: HbA1C, 2 Hour Glucose Tolerance Test (Fasting), Urine Dip, CBC (Complete blood count.

Juvenile Diabetes (Type 1) is a condition that occurs in children regardless of family history and is not caused by improper diet, lack of exercise, or obesity. These are all factors that contribute to Type 2 Diabetes. Type 1 or Juvenile diabetes is an auto-immune disorder in which the immune system attacks the insulin producing cells of the pancreas. Once started, this process cannot be reversed and will only get worse. Without insulin, your childs body cannot properly use the glucose in his food and it therefore builds up in his blood stream. The constant thirst and frequent urination are his body's response to this. In essence, his body is attempting to flush out the glucose in his blood. In the mean time it's causing damage to all of his organs.

While you're waiting for the results of these tests, do not limit his fluid intake. The ability to flush the glucose out of his bloodstream may be the only think keeping your child out of DKA. What you may want to limit is his intake of sugars and carbohydrates (as carbohydrates turn into sugar once inside the body). My direct e-mail address is ____@____.com. Please feel free to contact me if you would like more information on this.

I only saw one other person who had a problem with what the school was doing. I have a HUGE problem with that! That could be a big part of his problem. I would get ahold of the Principal right away and talk to him. (He may not even know this is going on.) Tell them that he is to be allowed to get a drink when he needs one, just like any other kid in that classroom. And if he needs to go to the bathroom more often, so what? They may have to make a special consideration here, so that he doesn't have to interrupt the class to ask permission. When he needs to, just go, therefore, minimal interruption. Make him responsible for catching up with the teacher, on what he missed, during recess or something. That way he will work harder at waiting until he HAS to go. I would get a second opinion from another doctor, because it sounds like this one may be just kinda blowing you off.
My son is going to be 7 in December, and he also wets his bed sometimes. Not every night, but enough to make a LOT of laundry. I've seen some ideas here that I will definitely be trying. Thanks for bringing it up!

First, I agree with the individual about getting your son tested for diabetes.
Second, someone needs to talk to your school!! Your son is in school for, what, 8 hours a day? Your school cannot deprive your son of water, regardless of their reasoning!!!! Suggest that they let him drink shortly before classes end, or ten - fifteen minutes before the scheduled bathroom breaks.
Sorry, it infuriates me to hear of school misusing their power. On the opposite end, I've known of a girl (when I was young) who had to seek medical attention because her teacher would not let her use the bathroom, forcing her to hold for most of the day.

I may be way off base but... the first thing I thought of was a bladder infection.

I emphasize with your situation and really agree with Diane P suggestions.
I have experienced this in a previous marriage, my step son began wetting the bed at age 5. It was difficult on all parties, but mostly my step son, he was very ashamed and it did affect his self esteem.
My husband and I, along with my step son's mother, came up with a plan together, that was practiced in both homes for consistency.

My step son agreed to try the 'big' kids overnight pants and it eliminated 90% of the other bed wetting issues..dirty laundry, etc. My step son was responsible for the disposal of his wet pants and he learned to run the wash if he wet the bed and his pj's.
We cut off drinks 2 hours before bedtime, and had a consistent bedtime routine (and time), even as he got older.
Because there was a family history of bedwetting, there was little to do about it, except wait until he outgrew it. In the meantime, giving him the responsibility to clean up, allowed him to feel in control.
We no longer had to discuss whether or not the bed was wet each morning, with the overnight pants, his room did not smell like urine (and there was always a plastic sheet over his mattress) and if he did leak, then it wasn't a big deal, we wiped down the mattress together and that was the end of it. I found the less attention we drew to the matter, the less tension there was in the household and my step son was no longer hanging his head in shame. It took a couple of years..but he did outgrow it.
Unfortunately, there was no great solution around his spending the nights at friends homes, we let him make the choice.
I really feel for you, I remember feeling so helpless to stop this from occuring. It was a long haul, but it did resolve itself.

Best wishes to you!