Tween Bladder Control

My oldest son wet the bed nightly until he was almost 14. All of a sudden he just stopped. You're doing the right thing. Let your son outgrow it and be supportive of him without unnecessary medication. At 13 he's old enough to change his own bed linens, which is what our doctor suggested we have our son do. Turns out he loved making his own bed and doing laundry, and at 36 still does these chores in his own home.
Good luck to you. L.

I am assuming they checked him for diabetes? and low blood sugar problems? Both of these can cause night wetting.

Also, Milk has an affect on bedwetting for many. Try cutting out milk.

Poor thing! It's hard enough developing into a "tween" without this trouble, too!

My son had trouble, too, but it tapered off around age 10 and we haven't had trouble since thank goodness.

The best thing that we did, was NOT make it an issue. The idea was to try to not let it effect his self-confidence.

The only thing he had to do, was to remove his sheets for me, so i knew when to wash them and I made his bed for him, so it wasn't a constant "chore" as a punishment in his eyes. We never "spoke" about it.

I just want you to know that i agree with your decision to avoid any meds to help control this. I believe it will take care of itself.....in time. The hard part is waiting for it to be over.

I'm not sure if you know, but they do have "boxers" for older boys to wear at night, to help absorb while they sleep. I don't know much about them, but I know of another mom who claimed they worked great for them.

Just keep trying to to not make it embarrassing for him. Try not to loose your temper when changing his sheets AGAIN, because he might interpret that as anger towards him (I had trouble with that). I believe that it is normal, and it will eventually "run it's course".

Hang in there :O)

~N.

My eldest son had the same problem. He also has special needs........which is a challenge in itself. Anyway..he was in his late teens when it stoppped.I didn't put him on meds either. But what I did do is keep a journal of what he did throughout the day, which included what he ate and drank and even how much. It turns out that he suffered from sleep apnia, and was such a heavy sleeper that he wouldn't feel the urge so he pee'd when he was sleeping. I starting waking him up in the middle of the night to check to have him go to the bathroom and soon it began a habit for him. He is now in his twenties and soes not have that problem anymore. And if overnite stays scare you there are undergarments that can be used....and if you know the parents that he is staying with just let them know the situration and they could help you. Any parent that is concerned with their own child's self esteem should be more than willing to help you. I hope this helps you and your son.....xoxoxox H. A.

My daughter had the same issue. She finally grew out of it by 15. We tried all the strategies and meds and all with no luck for various reasons. When she got to be 13, I let her deal with it. She did not seem bothered by it, so I wasn't either. If your son is bothered by it, then you should just be encouraging and help him thru it, but if he is not stressed by it, let it run its course and he will grow out of it.

Yeah, we're right there with you. Our son is 13 and is exactly as you describe yours. A couple of years ago we did research that showed that alarms have the greatest chance of success. It did help...but he didn't stick with it. So he seems to be slowly improving, but not entirely dry, and now pretty much refuses to wear the alarm. So if your son is willing, I'd definitely suggest trying an alarm...Malem has a great one. Before the alarm, we did try the standard med...it decreased the amount of urine but he was still wet every night, so we gave that up. BTW, because of many reasons, we have not limited his sleepovers or outings...generally just hope for the best! We have noticed that when it really matters to stay dry, like at a friend's house, he is dry...I think he is subconsciously more aware and perhaps does not sleep as soundly. He has been away for home under these circumstances for up to two weeks..dry every night! Then comes home and is wet. Sigh. Male delayed nighttime dryness runs in my side of the family, so we just figure he will outgrow it, and slowly, slowly, that seems to be what is happening. But do try the alarm...it really made the difference and, if he would stick with it, I am sure it would speed the process. Good luck.

Chiropractic! Probably has nerve interference to the bladder. Definitely check it out.
E.
Aptos

You can buy an alarm pad that will set itself off when he wets his bed. That might train him to wake up when he starts wetting the bed. Check the internet.

My uncle had this issue until he was 16 and my 38 year old brother still has this issue occasionally. The doctor explained it having to do with him sleeping SOOOOOO deeply that his bladder doesn't wake him up at night. Just get him some men's bladder control guards (they are the ones that go in front) and for sleepovers, make sure that he has extra baggy sleep pants or sweats so that it isn't obvious. Explain to him that he is actually lucky to have this problem in this day and age. My brother and my uncle never had the option of bladder control guards and pants and neither of them went to any sleep-overs because of that. Good luck.

I was one of those tweens who had a bladder control issue, and I'm not a boy. It does happen with girls too, though I understand not as much as with boys. My problem was that I was such a deep sleeper I couldn't wake up to go to the bathroom in the night. Often I would be dreaming that I was going to the bathroom or in a situation where I couldn't and was trying to hold it, and sometimes I would actually wake up just as I was actually going. It would frustrate me, but I couldn't seem to help what was happening.
You do need to be supportive, and not punitive with him. Do what you can regarding nightime protection. If you have a good protective cover on his mattress, you won't need to go to the expense of large protective pants for him every night. I would advise having those for times when he is sleeping over or having kids sleep over at your house. Teach him to go into the bathroom to get ready for bed and put those on under his pajamas so no one needs to even be aware he's wearing them. Kids can be cruel about another child wearing a "diaper" to bed, so you want to avoid that possibility. For regular nights, you can minimize the work of washing wet bedding by having an extra waterproof pad.. I'd actually use something that stretches across the width of the bed, and is wide enough to be sure to cover any movement he tends to make in bed while sleeping... Put a folded sheet or lightweight blanket just over that pad, and that item and his pajamas should be the only things you need to wash the next day. It doesn't even hurt to teach him to put those things into the washer when he gets up and dressed each morning for himself. It's good training in being responsible, and may even help him to gain control of his bladder problems. That doesn't need to seem punitive to him, just tell him we all have things that happen and we need to be responsible for them.
Also be aware when he has these problems of what the eating pattern has been the evening before he wets the bed. You may detect something in the foods or drinks he's consuming that are a problem. If so, you don't necessarily need to eliminate those items from his diet, but simply have him eat those earlier in the day. For me, it was watermelon... not too surprising considering how juicy those are, and the fact that I couldn't stop with only one slice! As long as I had my watermelon prior to 4 pm, it didn't seem to bother me.